Going the “extra distance” was something Austin Powell strived for to be a college athlete, and putting that motto to use as an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission game warden has helped him make several big cases in just four years on the job.
The 26-year-old, based out of the AGFC Enforcement Division’s Monticello office, dedicated many man hours to his caseload, but he also put time this past year into building a love of the outdoors among youths through such events as the National Wild Turkey Federation’s JAKES Day in Rison. For his work, Powell became among the youngest winners ever of the AGFC’s Monty Carmikle Officer of the Year Award, presented in late July.
“I’ve got to be honest, it’s a really humbling deal,” he said following the AGFC Enforcement Division’s Awards Banquet at the Delta Hotel in west Little Rock. “There are several other people in this room that deserve the award just as much as I do. I’m just the one that was blessed to be up there and receive it. Day in and day out, every guy and girl that works for the agency goes to work for conservation, and you know it’s a blessing to be able to receive the award I received today.”
Powell, who was also named the NWTF’s Arkansas Officer of the Year, received a Lifesaving Award along with Game Warden Aaron Dillard. Powell and Dillard saved a girl who was being swept downstream by Mississippi River current and barge wakes, quickly getting her into their boat and safely to shore.
Coincidentally, an Arkansas island in the Mississippi River is where Powell made a case featured in a “Scales of Justice” article in the March/April issue of Arkansas Wildlife. He used shot shell forensics and DNA analysis to prove two Mississippi turkey hunters were using Arkansas licenses to hunt turkeys illegally and bring them back to their home, where the turkey season was underway.
“His innovative use of technology has allowed him to investigate and prosecute violations that would have gone unchecked in the years past,” Col. Brad Young, chief of the AGFC's Enforcement Division, said.
Powell played college baseball at Arkansas State, Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi; Ole Miss; and finished his career at the University of Arkansas at Monticello before going straight to the AGFC’s Enforcement Cadet School at Mayflower in 2021. Teamwork and determination are integral parts of his makeup.
“In our district we have a pretty good mix of everything,” Powell says of his Drew County base. “Turkey is definitely one of our busier seasons. Especially this year, we had a really good turkey season and were able to help keep violators out of the woods. That case on the island was pretty unique. We started with a little bit of nothing and were able to figure out the two guys that were responsible for the turkeys. So, to say that turkey is the top thing would be hard, but it’s definitely one of our higher priorities.
“There’s a burden of proof that has to be met before you do anything to that extent,” he said. “Just going the extra distance sometimes helps you get that.”
Powell issued 248 citations last year with an average fine rate of $300 per citation. His focus on major violators led to 12 charges of night hunting, 13 for road hunting, 17 for hunting during a closed season (including seven turkey cases and one bear), four for boating while under the influence, five cases of hunting turkey over bait, eight for hunting without permission, four for hunting waterfowl over bait and three for falsifying information.
“We’re very very proud of him,” Young said. “He had some very hard to make cases. It took a lot of hours to apprehend some of those violators.”
Powell was among 12 game wardens from around Arkansas nominated for Officer of the Year. Others nominated were Caleb McClanahan, Jake Stanford, Bradley Huggins, Cody Standifer, Brian Tatum, Ashton Neece, Cody Stone, Roger Tate, Ethan Moore, Troy Faughn and David Bennett.
