February 21, 2020
“It has been a wonderful place to work,” said Deputy Sheriff Captain Spencer Woods about the Sheriff’s Office upon receiving a 40-year length of service award from Fairfax County.
Woods has had a very long and honorable history of serving both his country and his community. After earning his bachelor’s degree in sociology, with a minor in secondary education, from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1972, he served four years in the U.S. Army. “I had the good fortune to be stationed in West Germany and placed on special assignment to provide drug and alcohol counseling,” he said. That assignment required him to attend the University of Maryland at Munich for training.
In 1979, after leaving active duty, Woods started his career as a drug counselor at Crossroads, an out-patient and residential treatment facility for people with substance use disorders. The following year he received an “unusual merit increment” in his pay that was based on his exemplary work for helping to expand the Crossroads program in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
In 1981, he joined the Sheriff’s Office as a drug counselor and received his certification from the Virginia Board of Professional Counselors. In the same year, the Sheriff’s Office converted his position from civilian to sworn. He attended the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy, launching his new career as a deputy sheriff.
The following year, Woods joined the Army Reserve, marking the start of his dual career in public service. If that were not enough to keep him challenged, he was also a student again, earning his master’s degree in human resource development from Bowie State University in 1996. He retired from the Army Reserve in 2008.
As Woods rose through the Sheriff’s Office ranks from corporal to captain, he oversaw many notable changes. He was heavily involved with the Courthouse expansion project, ensuring site security, protecting the agency’s interests during the construction phase, and assisting the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court with a seamless transition from the old Historic Courthouse to the newly expanded Courthouse where the General District and Circuit courts were already housed.
Woods received an Outstanding Performance Award for his work on a committee to revamp the Sheriff’s Office promotional process and annual performance assessment. He changed the annual audit process of financial accounts in the ADC so the audits would be conducted by an independent accounting firm rather than internal staff. While assigned to the Alternative Incarceration Branch (AIB), he served as the agency representative on the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) and its Behavioral Health and Oversight Committee. He worked collaboratively with CSB staff to develop and implement a re-entry focused addiction treatment program in the AIB.
Asked what he has enjoyed most during his long career, Woods said, “Helping inmates to make constructive changes during their incarceration to become better prepared to cope and make more appropriate decisions in their lives as they return to society.”
Woods is scheduled to retire at the end of 2020. In addition to spending more time with his family, he plans to volunteer in his community and stay actively engaged with his church. “I’m able to serve my fellow man in accordance with my faith.”