Career professional exudes dedication to the field.

Since Timothy Albin joined the Tulsa County Sheriffs Office in 1989, he has earned accolades both for himself and the sheriff's office through his dedication to colleagues, the inmates under his care and the community in which the jail is located. Among the accomplishments, Albin has successfully taken over jail operations from a private contractor, implemented positive inmate programs and led the way toward ACA accreditation.

Coming from a background of service, Albin--whose father was a career U.S. marine--began his law enforcement career in 1979 after serving in the U.S. Air Force. First joining the Muskogee Police Department in Oklahoma before moving on to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, Albin now serves as chief of the services division, a position he has held since January 2009.

Albin has worked a variety of assignments throughout the years, including as jail administrator of the David L. Moss Detention Facility. There, he said, "I was tasked with putting together a transition team to take the jail back over" from a private contractor. Albin had only 94 days to hire and train 300 employees and write policy to assume control of the facility. "The employees of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office have the reputation of rising to any event and in 2005, when we took the jail back, their dedication was evident from the start," Albin said.

After successfully making the transition in July 2005, Albin wasted no time seeking ACA accreditation--a first for the sheriff's office. Also while serving as jail administrator, Albin was instrumental in implementing several community programs within the jail, such as partnership with the Tulsa City-County Health Department to provide free hepatitis B shots for jail inmates and staff. In addition to the support of the health department, which provides the vaccine, area health organizations have supported the voluntary program by supplying the jail with informational fliers to distribute to inmates.

A partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), spurred by "several high-profile crimes and incidents," Albin explained, was also established under his direction. The program, which allows deputies in the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office to be cross-deputized to help enforce federal immigration law, "has been an extremely beneficial program for our community," Albin said. Thirty employees have been trained to operate under the supervision of ICE in immigration enforcement, and the sheriffs office is the only ICE-approved holding facility in the state of Oklahoma.

However, as beneficial as this program appeared to be for the residents of Tulsa, Hispanics in the community worried that racial profiling would result because of the sheriff's department's added responsibilities. In response, Albin made sure to quell any fears by reaching out to the community and maintaining open communication by holding meetings with community leaders. "Immigration is a very polarizing issue on both ends of the spectrum, but I feel we have a very good relationship with our Hispanic community," Albin said. It is actions such as this that have earned Albin respect among his colleagues and the community in which he works. But Albin says that it is the corrections professionals he has met all across the U.S. that have impressed him. "The professionals around the country who are tasked with running facilities on reduced budgets, manpower shortages and new mandates never cease to amaze me in the creative ways they meet these challenges," he said.

The past 20 years working in corrections have no doubt had their challenges, Albin admits, but they are offset by what he enjoys most about working in the field: "Every day we learn something new and exciting." That is why in the months and years ahead he hopes to become more involved in teaching others, "In the future, I intend to become more active in training and outreach within our community and professional organizations such as ACA," he explained. "I feel that an exchange of ideas and information to the next generation of wardens and jail administrators will provide a safe and secure environment for future corrections employees to work in."

Although Albin has achieved numerous successes throughout his career, he modestly credits the staff he has worked with for these accomplishments. "Any successes that I have had have been due to [their] dedication and hard work."

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Vanessa St. Gerard is a contributing writer for Corrections Today.