Former police records employee given probation

A Slocomb woman will spend the next three years of her life on probation after she pleaded guilty to misusing confidential law enforcement information.

Houston County Circuit Court Judge Larry Anderson granted the probation request Friday for Sherri Lynn Carroll.

Carroll, 35, pleaded guilty on Dec. 10, 2008, to five felony counts of obtaining criminal records using the Law Enforcement Tactical System (LETS) under false pretenses, and not for criminal justice purposes. Carroll faced a maximum of five years in prison for each charge.

At the time of the offenses, Carroll worked in the records department of the Dothan Police Department. Carroll, who was hired by the city in August 2003, was fired shortly after her arrest. She had previously worked as a police dispatcher.

According to earlier Dothan Eagle reports, Carroll accessed LETS to determine if there was any information listed for people with whom her husband was involved in a lawsuit. But Valerie Judah, one of Carroll’s lawyers, said those charges filed against her were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Carroll, who was arrested on May 27, 2008, originally faced 14 felony counts and 11 misdemeanor counts of improperly obtaining criminal records.

Judah previously said Carroll pleaded guilty to looking at records for her husband’s estranged family members.