Sheriff's 'right arm'

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    PRESTON — She wears the badge and the uniform. And she wears her almost two decades of service unpretentiously.

    Betty Kay Fredrickson began her 19-year career in the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in 1988. Then, at 52 years old, Betty Kay, as most people know her, said she decided she was ready to try something new in her life.

    “I just decided I wanted to work — something besides the ranch,” the Weston resident said.

    Betty Kay started her career as a dispatcher in the Sheriff’s Office. She said she cannot remember why she chose to work in law enforcement — all she knows is it was a good choice.

    “It doesn’t fit everybody,” the 71-year-old said. “But it is a good place to be.”

    As the office deputy — a position that takes an oath of office like any other deputy — Betty Kay does a lot of clerical work.

    “She runs the Sheriff’s Office,” Franklin County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy David Fryar quipped. “The leading gal.”

    Franklin County Sheriff Don Beckstead would agree.

    “She is what you would call my right arm,” he said. “She is very important to my office. She does the work of two or three ladies — she is that efficient. She just handles everything that comes along.”

    Her primary duty is issuing drivers’ licenses. In 2005, just more than 9,000 licenses were issued in Franklin County.

    Betty Kay admits the workload has increased in her 19 years serving Franklin County — at least enough to keep her busy. She believes her job will require additional help in the near future.

    “I tell them I need a raise, but they don’t listen,” Betty Kay said with a smile.

    Over the years, the single female sheriff’s deputy has seen many changes in her field. She said the computer system has replaced many of the tasks that once had to be completed by hand. The operations of dispatch have also changed. And as far as drivers’ licenses, well that has “changed just as much as night and day,” Betty Kay said.

    Besides normal clerical differences, Betty Kay has seen faces change too.

    “It is getting more that I don’t know people than I do,” Betty Kay admitted, adding that she enjoys visiting with people who venture into her office in the basement of the Franklin County Courthouse. “I like to keep it informal, to visit and talk to people.”

    The people are part of the reason Betty Kay continues to make the nearly 10-mile commute from Weston to Preston every weekday. But the spontaneity of her job and the benefits of seeing people change for the better are the real reason Betty Kay sits behind the counter day after day.

    “Every day is a new day. Every day there is something new that goes on,” she said. Betty Kay added that the most rewarding part of her job is “just to know you have done the best you could for the day. And seeing people who have bettered themselves.”

    As for retirement, Betty Kay had committed to working until Sheriff Beckstead retires. But with Beckstead toying with the idea of running for office again, Betty Kay is not sure if she wants to stay around as long as the sheriff.

    “It is getting close,” she said of retirement. “But it’s good for me to keep working.”

    When she does retire, Betty Kay has plans to stay home “where it is nice and quiet” with her husband, Kenton Fredrickson. She also wants to spend more time with her four children, 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

By Kelly Hafen

Pioneer Newspapers

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