New Marr Park Ranger Jayce Horning has further continued down the path to becoming a full ranger by being officially appointed as a certified peace officer. What this means for him is now he can write tickets for infractions in all of the parks the Washington County Conservation Board oversees, as well as carry a firearm in the parks once he passes his weapon certification. He added, it’s a big honor to be certified, and he looks forward to serving the parks and community.

Though he now has the power to officially police the parks, he says the prior lack of that power hasn’t come up very frequently since he started. He believes the park users are mostly good about following the rules, though there’s understandably some hiccups now and then. He feels that usually comes up when people aren’t aware of the regulations, and aren’t due to negligence or actively disobeying the rules. The next step for Horning is to attend the police academy, which needs to be done within one year of becoming a peace officer. Horning is planning on attending the academy this January.