“The ones who do participate really turn it around,” he said.

Sandy Burget, Maxwell’s administrative assistant for 17 years, said Maxwell’s perception, vision and people skills make him stand out as a leader unlike any other that she has met.

“He is a natural-born leader,” she said.

And since Maxwell oversaw the growth of the office from approximately 30 employees to nearly 300, his familiarity with the organization gives him an unmatched hands-on style that will be difficult to replace.

“He grew this organization from the ground up,” she said.

In addition to addressing problems of law enforcement in an innovative way, Maxwell has also led a number of community service initiatives during his time as sheriff.

For parents who can’t afford a bicycle for their children, Maxwell and the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office’s annual holiday bike program collects, repairs and donates bikes to families on both sides of the river.

“I always had tripped over (old) bicycles from my kids (at home),” Maxwell said.

So he decided to fill a need for those without garages filled with old bikes.

Each year, since 1990, the department has given away 250 to 300 bikes.

The sheriff’s office also cooks and serves meals for elderly and less fortunate families on Christmas, when Meals on Wheels services are on vacation.

Maxwell said he thinks sometimes residents move so fast through life that they fail to realize the level of poverty that lies in the community in which they live.

Maxwell said it’s always been his dream to some how make a difference in his community.

And since he wasn’t a teacher, preacher, nurse or doctor — “I certainly don’t qualify for those (positions)” — he found his own ways to do that through his career in law enforcement.

Maxwell said he recognizes that with his success, he’s attained his share of enemies, but the power of the relationships he’s fostered over the years prevailed last summer, when the community leaders, citizens and inmates pulled together to save the parish from the floodwaters.

And recognizing that his office belongs to the people of the parish is key to appreciating the time he’s served, he said.

“This is my dream job,” Maxwell said.

Copeland said it’s rare to come across a public servant of Maxwell’s magnitude.

“I will, for one, miss working with him. It’s been an honor and pleasure serving with him,” Copeland said. “I keep looking for words, but they’re awful hard to find.”

Maxwell announced his upcoming retirement in late June, as waters receded from the Mississippi River flood.

The flood fight was a challenge he called a blessing to be a part of but one of the biggest challenges of his career.

Before he was elected sheriff, Maxwell served with the Louisiana State Police for 19 years. He serves on a number of boards, including the Louisiana D.A.R.E Advisory Board, the Red River Delta Law Enforcement Association, the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, the National Sheriff’s Association, the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association Executive Board.

He is an active member of the Ferriday Rotary Club, Vidalia Lions Club, the Concordia Parish Chamber of Commerce and First Baptist Church of Vidalia

He is married to the former Roselinda Durham of Natchez.