By Laura Camper
The Anniston Star
HEFLIN — After 30 years, Cleburne County’s longtime juvenile probation officer, Melody Gibbs, retired on Wednesday. Jane Norman replaced her in the post on Thursday.
Former Cleburne County District Judge Glea Sarrell said Thursday that Gibbs will be missed.
She was diligent, he said, and had empathy for the kids she dealt with.
“She tried really hard to mentor children,” Sarrell said. “She tried to inspire them.”
Current District Judge Melody Walker agreed. Although as a judge she only worked with Gibbs for eight months, Walker said she dealt with Gibbs all through her judicial career.
Gibbs was an exemplary juvenile probation officer and well-regarded on the state level, Walker said. She went above and beyond the call of duty, Walker added.
Martha Busby, director of Cleburne County’s Department of Human Resources, said Friday the staff developed a close relationship with Gibbs over the years.
“Her phone number is one we knew by memory,” Busby said. “You bond with those you call on late nights and holiday weekends and there have been many of those calls through the years between our department and Mrs. Gibbs. She made herself available when we needed her and that meant everything.”
In the 1980s, Melody Gibbs went to school intending to get into social work. As she took classes, she became interested in the criminal justice system, Gibbs said. In October 1985, she took the job as juvenile probation officer in Cleburne County, which incorporated both those interests, she said.
The job, part officer and part counselor, requires working with the Department of Human Resources to help children being abused or neglected. It also requires coordination with the court to decide whether children younger than 18 who get in trouble with the law should return to their homes or be taken into the court’s custody, Gibbs said.
Like probation officers, Gibbs would check on children who were returned to their homes to make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to do. Like a counselor, her charges would report to her and talk about their problems at home or at school and they would try to work out solutions together.
“It’s been rewarding to help families and kids,” Gibbs said.
But after three decades, she’s ready to relax a little.
Gibbs joked that she plans to do “as little as possible,” during her retirement. She wants to do more with her church and spend more time with her grandkids, Gibbs said.
Walker was responsible for hiring Gibbs’ replacement. She said Friday she was lucky to find someone as experienced as Jane Norman, who has worked in probation for 27 years. Norman has had experience with drug courts and other programs that Walker would like to see in the Cleburne County juvenile system, the judge said.
Norman said Friday she’s worked as an adult probation officer, in child protective services and as a school social worker. She applied for the job because she wanted to contribute to the county.
She hopes to get the children she works with on the right track. Norman wasn’t sure Friday what tools she’ll have at her disposal to do that since it was only her second day. She’s hoping to develop a good network of people to help the children she’ll be working with.
“I just feel we’re going to have a good relationship and work together for the betterment of the child,” Norman said.