ADAMS COUNTY K-9 TEAM

The Adams County Sheriff's Office began a K-9 Program in 1982 with one Deputy and one dog that the handler owned. The Deputy was responsible for maintaining and equipping the dog at his own expense, while being used throughout Adams County. Since those days we have expanded tht K-9 Unit to it's current staffing of five patrol/narcotics detection teams and one patrol/explosives detection team. The Sheriff's Office is now purchasing dogs. The Sheriff's Office pays for all related equipment and health care. The patrol dogs used are purchased from brokers and are primarily German Shephards and Belgian Mailinois'.

The training for the dogs and handlers is conducted in house by Deputy Densel Lukens and Deputy HankSimmons both wth over 20 years of experience and both are certified instructors. New handlers attend an eight- week in house academy for patrol and seven weeks for detector. The handlers are responsible for the dogs continuing training and helath care after the academy with the assistance of the Sheriff's Office K-9 trainers.

Dogs with the unit have received three medals in the past two years. Two were life saving medals and one Distinguished Service Medal.

The Sheriff's K-9 Unit conducts many demonstrations throughout the year for community and other groups. The most attended of the demonstrations are those during the Adams County Fair and Rodeo usually held in August. We look forward to seeing you there and answering your questions. For other questions or comments, please contact Lieutenandt Terry Toldness at 720-322-1104 or Deputy Lukens at 720-322-1191.