HANCOCK COUNTY — There’s no telling how many lives Pat Powers has helped get back on track through his work as the director of Hancock County Community Corrections.
Powers, who helped design the building in which the program is housed and who developed more work- release opportunities for inmates, is retiring from the position he’s held for 21 years. His last day is June 26.
“I’m ready for it — ready to slow down,” Powers said.
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Powers, 61, will forever be known in the county as the man who grew the community corrections program into what it is today. When Powers started work there, officials operated out of the basement of the jail, where they kept an eye on inmates through electronic monitoring.
When Powers became the director, he turned a 15-bed work-release program into a larger unit that eventually allowed hundreds of inmates to successfully hold jobs as they paid their debts to society. The work-release section of the program flourished for years until it had to be suspended this spring due to the pandemic. At its height, well over 100 men and women at a time were part of work release.
“It was my goal when I took this job to expand community corrections and then retire from community corrections,” Powers said.
Dan Devoy, a longtime community corrections field officer, noted Powers not only opened the community corrections building in 2003, but he orchestrated the work release and home detention programs into successful alternatives to serving time in jail.
“People serving time in these programs could get jobs, go to alcohol and drug treatment programs, see their family and kids, and get additional help with addiction,” Devoy said.
And that wasn’t all.
Numerous law enforcement agencies throughout Indiana came to Hancock County Community Corrections to talk to Powers because of the successful programs he started.
“He always inspired me to never give up, and he taught me that success lies in simple things like hard work and persistence,” Devoy said.
Powers jokingly likes to call himself one of the last of the “old guys” in the county; he’s also known as one of the nicest people in county government.
“If anyone needed help with anything, he was always there for us no matter what,” said his longtime deputy director, Kelly Perry. “The lack of his presence in this building will truly be felt.”
From the daily chats about nothing in particular, to random advice and even the “dad look” Powers liked to give when he knew people were about to get in trouble, he will be missed, Perry said.
Powers first went to work for the county in 1983-84 as a deputy with the sheriff’s department before moving to Florida to be a police officer. He moved back to the county in September 1988 to be an investigator for the prosecutor’s office, a position he kept until moving to his current role in 1999.
While Powers doesn’t like to talk about his accomplishments and even brushes off the thought of getting any kind of credit for helping inmates and being a great boss, those who worked with him praised him.
Beth Ingle, coordinator of Hancock County Drug Court, has worked with Powers since he became the director of community corrections. He gave her an opportunity to be the program coordinator for home detention and later her current role.
“I so appreciated the trust he had in my ability to take up this position, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity he gave me,” she said.
Ingle was just one of several people who have worked with Powers through the years who said he will be greatly missed.
“Pat always made me feel like I worked with him, not for him,” case manager Wade Kennedy said.
Powers hired Kennedy from the jail and allowed him to grow into a more challenging position with community corrections.
“I will remember him as a guy who was always willing to listen to you and help you in any way he could,” Kennedy said.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever met a person as kind as Pat Powers,” home detention coordinator Nicole Raffaelli said. “Pat would give anyone the shirt off his back.”
He was known around the office as a guy who would cook staff lunches, help people on home projects -truly a public servant, Raffaelli noted.
“Community Corrections will be losing a piece of its core the day Pat leaves,” she said.
Powers’ replacement has yet to be named, but there will be a special Community Corrections Advisory Board meeting Thursday, June 25, for the purpose of selecting a new executive director of community corrections.
“It’s going to be a tough position to fill,” Sheriff Brad Burkhart said. “Over the years, Pat has provided a great deal of community service to the patrons over there.”
Burkhart noted the new director won’t have quite as much on their plate with work release on indefinite hiatus.
Powers plans to work through his last day getting next year’s budget in order and to finish up grant work, he said.
In retirement, Powers will go golfing with his two sons and get in as much fishing in Tennessee as possible in between doing a little carpentry and mowing work around the county.
His current golf handicap is 16. Powers plans to have it to single digits by the end of the summer, he said.
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Here is what people are saying about Pat Powers, who is retiring as director of Hancock County Community Corrections:
“I have known Pat since we were in grade school. I have enjoyed working for or with him the last six years. With my husband being self -mployed, and me retiring from the sheriff’s department, insurance is a big deal, and Pat was able to get me on as one of the county’s first full-time/part-time employees in which I’m still able to get the county insurance. Good luck, Pat, in the future!” — Debbie Welch, lifelong friend.
“Pat was a great boss. There weren’t too many things he could not do. From covering lunch breaks by answering the phone to making lunch for everyone in the office to fixing everything in the community corrections building himself. He always made time to listen and answer questions even if he was busy – he will be missed!” — Tracy Shaw, field officer
“Pat is a genuinely nice guy. He has been the core of the building since the beginning, and he will definitely be missed. Everyone always enjoys working for Pat. He is a very easy-going and understanding boss. Thank you again for the opportunities you have given me. Enjoy your retirement; you deserve it! — Missy Wilcher, work-release supervisor.
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