Stanislaus County Undersheriff William “Bill” Heyne will be retiring from the sheriff’s department on Jan. 4, 2011, it was announced this week.

“I am very proud of Undersheriff Heyne and his dedication to the Sheriff’s Department and citizens of Stanislaus County. He has been an exemplary employee and a tremendous asset to the department for the past 26 years. He will be missed and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Sheriff Adam Christianson in a press release.

Heyne began his career with the sheriff’s department as a jailer in 1985. He was hired as a full-time deputy sheriff in March 1987, and proceeded to serve the department in a variety of ways from a Crimes Against Children detective to patrol sergeant and eventual as the undersheriff beginning in August 2006.

Heyne received the Civitan Award in 1992 and the Gerald McKinsey Award in 2007. He also graduated from the FBI National Academy on June 6, 2008.

He was born in Mariposa and raised in Sonora. He moved to Stanislaus County when he started the sheriff’s academy in 1984. He and his wife, Rebecca, have been married for 18 years and they have four children.