LARNED — The Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility (LJCF) recently formally recognized three newly-promoted staff at the Town Hall meeting May 6 — Charles Perez, Juvenile Corrections Officer II (sergeant); and Justin Veeder, Juvenile Corrections Officer III (lieutenant); and Sam Sullivan, Juvenile Corrections Officer II sergeant);
Charlie Perez first started his employment at LJCF in May of 2012 as a Juvenile Corrections Officer I.  
He and his wife married in June of 2013, and they moved to Hutchinson where he worked for a surveying and electrical company.  In October 2013, he was hired as a corrections officer at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, but moved approximately five months later to work for the city of Meade.  
After deciding that such work wasn’t what he wanted to do, he moved his family back to Larned, returning to LJCF in July of 2014. Perez was selected as the Uniformed Employee of the Third Quarter in 2014.
Justin Veeder began his employment at the Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility in December of 2011 as a Juvenile Corrections Officer I.
He was promoted to a juvenile corrections officer II position in September of 2013.  
During his career in corrections, he has worked various posts and performed assorted job duties, all of which have been on the 2-10 shift.  Justin also volunteered to serve as one of the facility’s Cognitive Reflective Communication instructors.  
Due to his skills, as well as his sincere belief in the process, he has become an exceptional trainer.  He does more than merely teach the concept; he owns it and practices it, in order to instill it in the facility’s culture, thereby helping youth to make positive changes that will enable them to be more successful upon their release. Veeder was selected as the LJCF Uniformed Employee of the Year for 2015.
Born in Seattle, Wash., Sam Sullivan and his family moved to Kansas when he was 7 years old. Throughout high school, he wanted to be a teacher, so that is the direction with which he began his education.  
After speaking with an officer from his hometown, he decided to go into criminal justice.  He did not want to leave teaching behind, so he began looking into juvenile detention centers or correctional facilities for work. He joined LJCF in May of 2012, working the 2 to 10 p.m. shift.  Sullivan was selected as the Uniformed Employee of the First Quarter in 2013.