For Jim Arnott, law enforcement is more than a career, it's a lifetime commitment. In April 1988, he joined the Greene County Sheriff's Department Uniformed Patrol Reserve Division. In 1988 there was no funding for reserves with the exception of the department providing the actual uniform. Reserve deputies had to provide their own weapon, duty leather, badge and every accessory that was needed for a uniform. Reserve deputies also provided their own liability insurance policies to operate the patrol cars. Jim purchased the items he needed to be a reserve for the department and attended the law enforcement academy. Jim then worked a minimum of an 8 hour shift every week as volunteer while also working a full time job. Many times Jim worked extra to cover shifts when full time deputies were ill or absent from duty.

In 1989, Jim was hired as a full time uniformed patrolman. He worked all aspects in the patrol division, including shift supervisor. During his career in the Patrol Division he made hundreds of arrests ranging from traffic violations to serious felonies. In 1995, Jim was promoted to the rank of Detective. As a detective, he was first assigned property crimes, where he followed up burglary, stealing, auto theft, property damage and white collar fraud cases. Jim then went on to investigate the majority of the child abuse, rape, child sexual abuse, robbery, serious assaults and homicides in the Criminal Investigation Division. Within the next several years, he was promoted to Detective Sergeant, Detective Lieutenant and Detective Captain supervising 38 officers and support staff members in the Criminal Investigation Division.

In January 2006, he was promoted to Chief Deputy. Jim is currently responsible for the administration and operations of the Greene County Sheriff's Department. He oversees the 16.8 million dollar budget, along with overseeing the 278 employees. While serving as the Chief Deputy in 2006, he also acted as interim Jail Director until a replacement was found. While directly supervising the jail, he was able to obtain direct working knowledge of the jail operation. During that time significant changes were made to increase the efficiency of the Jail. Jim was part of a Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, which provided insight into the operation and opened up the lines of communication between the Prosecutors Office, Judiciary, Public Defenders Office and the Sheriff's Department.

In 2005 a Citizens Oversight Committee was formed to evaluate the performance of the Greene County Sheriff's Department. Upon receiving the committee recommendations in 2006, Jim put them into motion. Communication barriers were opened in the jail allowing more fluid communication both up and down the chain of command. Jim also enacted regular supervisory meetings to help establish and maintain a more precise uniformity of all shifts.

In 2006, Jim led the revision of all department policies. He formed a policy committee that was made up of staff from every rank and each division. This group met and revised the policies along with creating new policies to assist the staff and in operations.

Jim & his wife Jennifer have two children, Taylor 14 and Ben 8. They are involved in many community functions as a family and are members of Springhill Baptist Church. They are all members of 4-h and participate in horse riding activities. Both children have participated in Upwards Basketball. Taylor is currently involved in basketball at "The Courts" and Ben is involved with Mighty Mites.