[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17719]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO RAYMOND M. KIGHT

 Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I recognize the outstanding 
career and service of Raymond M. Kight, who is the longest-serving 
elected sheriff of Montgomery County. Ray Kight was an Army veteran 
when he joined the Montgomery County Police Department in 1963. He was 
sworn in as deputy sheriff in 1967 and was elected sheriff in 1986.
  During his tenure, Sheriff Kight transitioned the office into a 
modern, professional law enforcement agency. In addition to the 
traditional role in the service of legal process, protecting the 
courts, transporting prisoners and apprehending fugitives, the 
Sheriff's Office now provides responsive services to the community, 
including a family law unit that provides immediate law enforcement and 
social service intervention in domestic violence situations. Sheriff 
Kight was part of the strategic planning responsible for designing and 
implementing the interagency Montgomery County Family Justice Center, 
which opened in May, 2009, and has since served over 2,000 domestic 
violence victims.
  Under Sheriff Kight's administration, the Montgomery County Sheriff's 
Office became the first Sheriff's Office in Maryland to be nationally 
accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement 
Agencies, CALEA. Sheriff Kight has also brought professionalism and 
recognition to the office by requiring uniforms for all deputies, 
marked Sheriff's office vehicles, and standardized training. He 
established the Sheriff's Office SWAT team, K-9 explosive detection 
teams, and hostage negotiators. These units are deployed throughout 
Montgomery County in cooperation with the Montgomery County Police 
Department. The sheriff's deputies maintain partnerships and serve in 
major regional Federal, State, and county law enforcement task forces, 
including the U.S. Marshal Service's Capitol Area Regional Fugitive 
Task Force, CARFTF, as well as the Firearms and Gang Task Forces.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting Sheriff Raymond Kight for 
his 50 years of public service. I ask you to join me in thanking him 
for his dedication to the safety of the residents of Montgomery County, 
MD, and in sending him best wishes for a well-deserved 
retirement.

                          ____________________