A 20-year dream job for Becky Joiner

Twenty-year veteran of the Saline County Detention Center, Correctional Officer Becky Joiner, is retiring.

Her coworkers and related law enforcement officers lured Joiner back to work Thursday for a surprise retirement party complete with cake and ice cream, a plaque and storytelling.

For many, the correctional field is a job one takes for the money, security and benefits. But Joiner had a passion for the work from an early age.

"Ever since I was a little girl that's what I wanted to do," Joiner said.

She had two ambitions - to be a correctional officer and to be a nurse. She had her chance to do both - of sorts. She never has been a nurse, but for years she has been in charge of distributing medication to jail inmates.

"I got a little bit of both," Joiner said.

The job is not as simple as handing cups of prescription medication through the cell door chuckhole.

"You have to make sure they swallowed it and are not trying to hoard something," Joiner said.

She says the job has taught her the need for compassion interacting with inmates.

"Everybody makes mistakes. We are all just a step away with the choices we make," Joiner said.

It makes her feel good knowing she helped turn someone's life around.

Of course, a correctional officer must also be on guard for mischief and manipulation.

"Fair and firm. Fair and consistent. 'Be consistent' is what I try to tell the younger ones," Joiner said.

She will most miss the people she worked with, her second family.

"The saying 'I've got your back' literally means something here," Joiner said.

Her post-retirement plans are to raise her kids at home between Mitchellsville and Rudement with her husband, Gerrett.