Visitation set for former Washington County Sheriff Ron England

Former Washington County and County Commissioner Ron England has died after an extended illnesss. The Washington County Sheriff's Office is hosting a receiving of friends for former Sheriff Ron England's family on Wednesday, Jan. 21 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the McKinney Center in Jonesborough. A native of Springfield, England moved to Washington County in 1972 for an assistant professor position at ETSU. He served as the Washington County sheriff from 1976 to 1994 and as a county commissioner from 2002 to 2010. He also taught General Education Degree preparatory classes for Washington County Schools at its Asbury Center. During his time as the Washington County sheriff, WCSO was the first sheriff's office in the state to be nationally accredited, the first county east of Nashville to partake in the DARE program and he established the Ron England's Dirty Street Fighters that utilizes inmate labor to clean up areas of the county. This program is still active today. Sheriff England served in the following capacities during his career: President of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Justice Educator. Member of the Tennessee Police Officer Standards and Training Commission President of the Tennessee Sheriff's Association Chairman of the Washington County Emergency Communications District Member of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Planning Commission Co-Founder and first chairperson of The Clean Team, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful Chairman of the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce's Public Safety Committee The England family has requested that all donation in England's memory be made to Friends of the Washington County Sheriff's Office to support community outreach programs of WCSO.