KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – Former home confinement officer Jacques Vance is sentenced to jail time after accepting bribes from an offender. The revelations shocked and disappointed the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department.

“You let all of us down, you let the system down. You in effect corrupted our system,” Judge Charles King said in court Tuesday.

Harsh words from Judge King as he sentenced Jacques Vance to 1-10 years behind bars. 

“I just want to apologize to Sheriff Mike Rutherford and Chief Eric Carpenter for the embarrassment that I have caused the department to endure,” Vance explained.

Vance plead for probation, saying he’s changed, attending counseling and getting a new job. But Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Rutherford says, this is a serious offense.

“You know we have almost 200 employees in the sheriff’s office in all the divisions we have, and this has repercussions to the entire division. They’re embarrassed by it, they’re shocked,” Sheriff Rutherford told 13 News.

Now Sheriff Rutherford is making changes to the Home Confinement program. Officers will rotate areas of coverage every few months, so they’re less likely to become cozy with the people they’re supervising.

“We also have an additional supervisor who has had the load taken off of him and he will go and spot check the different home checks that we do,” Sheriff Rutherford added.

The Sheriff said he’s being proactive, but that will take more than policy changes to heal the department.

“We almost feel like a big family and when someone does something that’s not proper or illegal in this case, it effects everybody. It’s something, that as I said, we’ll never put up with,” Sheriff Rutherford added.

Judge King said Vance’s attorney can appeal for a reconsideration, as he may change his mind to lessen the sentence.