A new game warden will soon be on the way to Adams County.

CurrentlyAdams County does not have a game warden. It shares wardens with five other counties.

But Lt. Col. Steve Adcock said that a permanent game warden would be assigned to Adams County out of this year’s academy.

“We are limited with the number of officers we have, therefore we have to budget,” he said, “We take the man power that we have and assign those people to the places they are most needed.”

Adcock said the biggest problem the department is facing is that many of it’s officers are leaving for other fields of law enforcement that provides better compensation for their duties.

Lt. Dave Sullivan, who is also with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and works in the Brookhaven office, which covers District 5B and Adams County, said he agrees with Adcock about officers leaving for other fields of law enforcement.

“”We have eight guys covering six counties,” Sullivan said. As a result, he said, the department has gotten a bad reputation because of officers being spread thin.

“A lot of things fell through the cracks this year. Hopefully that will change next year,” he said.

Sullivan said game wardens working Adams County are coming from other counties. He said he knows that someone out of the academy will be stationed in Adams County, but added that even then the district office will not be fully staffed.

Without the steady presence of a game warden, many Natchez residents have experienced problems with encountering wild animals in domestic and urban environments.

Nathan Calhoun of Natchez found a two and a half long alligator in his front yard earlier in 2006. Calhoun said he was able to capture the alligator and kept in the back of his truck until a game warden arrived.

Calhoun said he had to contact the district office in Brookhaven to get a warden dispatched to his residence, and the warden that arrived was sent from Wilkinson County.

Another problem occurred on Nov. 1, 2006, when the Natchez Police Department responded to a complaint of an injured deer at 213 Lynda Lee Drive. The incident report filed with the police department said when officers arrived to the scene, an injured deer that appeared to have been struck by an automobile was underneath a carport.

The report then said contact was made with Sullivan, and he advised the officers that there wasn’t a game warden in Adams County, and said the deer needed to be put down. As a result, the deer was put down with a bow and arrow.

“With budget constraints we have to schedule officers to areas,” Adcock said.

He also said that if anyone needs the assistance of a game warden, they or the police should call the district office in Brookhaven or department head quarters in Jackson.

“The protocol is the call is sent to the radio room and we send people,” he said.