NATCHEZ — The Adams County Sheriff’s Office has been approved to purchase protective, 47 bullet-resistant vests at a cost of $550 each.

ACSO spokeswoman Sgt. Cal Green said the 50-50 grant is coming just in time, as the majority of the vests deputies use are set to expire in 2017. Green said the sheriff’s office had set aside the full $25,850 required to buy the vests in the sheriff’s office budget, but are happy to only be spending half the cost, $12,925.

“It will be really good that we now have half of those budget funds to spend somewhere else,” she said. “We had it in our budget to buy the vests at full cost because we didn’t know if we’d be approved for the grant. You can’t count your chickens before they have hatched, so to speak.”

Green said though the sheriff’s office has been approved for 47 vests, the department might not need to order all 47. Green said 36 sworn-in officers are on the force, including the sheriff and the special operations units.

The additional vests are for the voluntary, auxiliary deputies, Green said. In the past, auxiliary officers have purchased their own bullet-resistant vests, she said.

“(Auxiliary deputies) can do anything (a sworn officer) can do except make arrests,” Green said. “They are armed. And because they are armed, they have to have vests also. These guys have been so dedicated they have purchased their own vests in the past.”

Green said the officers have been fitted for the vests and they will be ordered soon.

“It is part of our policy that officers on duty are required to wear vests at all times,” she said. “You never know what is around the corner, and we would hate to have something happen and someone not be wearing their vest.”

Green said the bullet-resistant vests are important pieces of equipment for deputies.

“They are in place to save lives,” she said. “To save the lives of our officers so they in turn can save the lives of our citizens.”