MADISON – New Boone County deputy sheriff Justin King says he is “anxious” to get started in a career he has dreamed of since he was a young boy. “I have wanted to become a member of law enforcement for as long as I can remember,” King said following his swearing-in ceremony during the Feb. 26 regular session of the Boone County Commission. King, 25, from Nitro, was sworn in by Boone County Commission President Mickey Brown at the Boone County Courthouse Annex. King said he was ready to serve the county and Boone County Sheriff Randall White added that the new deputy would start immediately. “We are glad to have him on board,” White said. King’s mother, Judith, and wife, Pamela, along with several other friends and family members were on hand to see him take his oath. “It’s a little scary, but he is a big boy with his head on straight and I know this is what he has wanted for a long time,” his mother Judith King said. “I will support him 100 percent. I am so proud of him. I just wish his daddy, Joe, was here to see him.” Joe King passed away in November 2005. “I am so proud of him,” said King’s wife, Pamela. “He has wanted this for a while now.” The couple has been married a little over a year and currently has no children. The Boone County Sheriff’s Department now has 22 deputies. King was also presented a new bullet-proof vest by Patrick Bryant and Tyler Walls, two students from Jeffrey-Spencer Elementary School. The boys’ mother Stacie Walls said when her two young sons heard about two West Virginia policemen being killed in the line of duty last year they told her they wanted to do something to try to help. “They were deeply moved by the story and came up with the idea of raising money to help a policeman get a bullet-proof vest to protect them,” Stacie Walls said. Patrick has said that one day he wants to become a policeman. “My brother and I just wanted to help a policeman, so they wouldn’t get hurt or killed like the policemen I saw on the news last years,” said Patrick. “I wanted to help to,” Tyler added. “So they can purchase a bullet proof vest and maybe save a police officer’s life.” The boys came up with a fundraising effort they called “Quarters for Cops.” The two boys set up donation buckets collected quarters from students, teachers and staff that donated at Madison Elementary School, Jeffrey-Spencer Elementary School and Scott High School. They collected $281. On Monday, Feb. 4, the boys and their family came to the new Boone County Sheriff’s Offices at the new judicial annex behind the Boone County Courthouse in Madison to give the money to new Boone County Sheriff Randall White. “That’s a lot of quarters,” said Sheriff White. White used to help purchase a bullet-proof vest for King. The West Virginia Sheriffs’ Association has said it will introduce a law during the upcoming legislative session that would require sheriff's departments to provide bullet-proof vests for their deputies. Currently, it is not a requirement and funding sources for vests are hard to come by, according to the sheriff. “That’s what makes what these boys did for us so special,” White said. “There are no words to explain how good it makes us feel when little fellas like this care for us.” King said he was also honored by what the boys did for him. “What can you say?” he said. “It’s just amazing that these two young boys would do something so honorable and wonderful. I’m just speechless.” The sheriff designated the two boys “Junior Deputies” and gave them policemen badges. The boys challenged others to help raise money to help law enforcement officers in their communities.