New deputy greeting motorists

A new face is greeting drivers who push the boundaries of the speed limit in Donley County.

Deputy Miranda Betts joined the Donley County Sheriff’s Department as its new traffic officer effective June 1, continuing a lifelong passion she has had.

“Being in law enforcement is something I was always interested in from a young age,” Betts said.

The Burkburnett native graduated from Quanah High School in 2000 and joined the Army at the age of 17 where she spent eight years serving as an MP.

She rose to the rank of sergeant, and her military experience took to Missouri, Texas, Korea, and Kentucky before she left the service and entered civilian law enforcement in Louisville. Life eventually brought her back to the Texas Panhandle, and she joined the Childress Police Department in 2013.

She later met and married Grett Betts of Clarendon and moved here in 2014 but kept working in Childress.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said he had an opening for a deputy and Betts was the logical person to hire.

“She was living here, she has military and police experience, and I think the community will be very pleased with her conduct,” Blackburn said. “She is very professional.”

Betts’ duties mainly include working highway traffic and working accidents inside the city limits, and she will fill in wherever needed, she said.

Blackburn said the county is working to receive a grant that would actually pay for Betts position and the cost of her patrol truck for fiscal year 2017, but as it is, her job was already in the current budget.

Betts is the first female deputy to work in Donley County in more than 30 years, according to Blackburn. The first female deputy was hired in the 1970s by then sheriff Truett Berhens.

Even though she’s the only woman officer, Betts says she’s enjoying working with Blackburn’s department.

“It’s much more relaxed here than in Childress,” she said. “The guys seem to have adjusted well to me.”

Betts enjoys being a law officer because it gives her an opportunity to serve and help people.

“I always wanted to do something honorable with my life, and I like to think can do something positive,” she said.