Tulare County Sheriff swears in first Pathways Scholarship recipient hire

TULARE COUNTY (KFSN) -- Through a new program, a South Valley sheriff is hoping to hire young deputies and put them to work in the communities they grew up in.

Today, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux swore in the department's first Pathways Scholarship hire, twenty-one-year-old Jasmine Orozco.

The program helps pay tuition costs for college and the police academy before starting a career with the sheriff's office.

Orozco will soon graduate from Fresno State and finish the academy at College of the Sequoias. She will then be assigned as a deputy in Cutler and Orosi, where she grew up.

"I know the people from the town and they know me, so it just makes me automatically more approachable," Orozco said. "Speaking Spanish is a big asset, especially since most of the community there speaks Spanish.

Five other sheriff's employees were sworn in this morning, including two correctional deputies.