The following is his statement in response to questions rrspin.com asked him:

In 1984, at the age of 19, I was hired by Sheriff W. C. “Bill” Bailey as a jailer.

Since 1985, I have been promoted through the ranks of the Sheriff’s Office by Sheriffs Bailey, M. L. Stallings and Jeff Frazier.

In 2008, I was promoted to the position of Chief Deputy, overseeing all operations of the Sheriff’s Office.

In August of 2013, the Halifax County Board of Commissioners, by majority vote, appointed me as Sheriff of Halifax County out of four other candidates.

During my course of service, I have completed thousands of hours of continuing education and in service training.

I hold a North Carolina Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate and am certified by the State of North Carolina as a Criminal Investigator.

As an Investigator, my specialties were crimes against children and homicide.

I have administrated and supervised over a narcotics unit that has been successful in the largest federal drug campaign in Halifax County history.

Under my supervision, the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office has been acknowledged as having the area’s highest overall clearance rates in crime, according to the SBI.

I have been serving the citizens of Halifax County for the last 29 years.

I was humbled and blessed to have started at the bottom and work my way up to my current position of Sheriff.

The Sheriff’s job is to protect the lives and property of all citizens within the county.

I am committed to providing a safe and secure environment for Halifax County citizens to live and work.

I have and will continue to enforce the law.

Based on my proven leadership and experience, I wish to continue to serve all the citizens of Halifax County. The state of our local economy is a pressing issue.

Halifax County is a tier one county, which equates to one of the poorest counties in the state. Property crimes and substance abuse are up.

During any given 12-hour shift, we have seven uniformed deputies working 712 square miles.

I have reallocated personnel in scheduling to address crime trends which have resulted in reducing crime in Halifax County.

Visibility is number one in fighting crime. Every township in our county is unique.

I have established “Concerns for Your Community” meetings throughout Halifax County. On a regular basis, I meet with each community to discuss crime trends and learn what the Sheriff’s Office can do to better serve the citizens.

I have also enacted the Sheriff E-Program. This program, through email, allows citizens to learn about crime as its happening in their area.

It enables the individual to protect themselves and their property. To participate, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., list the post office you receive your postal mail.

In reference to “outlawed internet sweepstakes cafes,” there’s no mention of that term in NC General Statute 14-306.4.

It does talk about electronic machines and devices for sweepstakes. Those machines are prohibited. Operators have moved to new software that is designed to fall outside the scope of the statute.

Some operators are using systems that reveal the result of the sweepstake on the screen before any game simulation appears.

Past inspections of vendors in Halifax County found these pre-reveal systems. Criminal prosecutions under 14-306.4 began slowly. There have been convictions at the district court level but most have been appealed.

There also have been many acquittals and not guilty verdicts based on the argument of legality of the pre-reveal systems.

This law is unclear. Law enforcement in our area has not received any state-mandated training concerning this statute.

There needs to be a clear interpretation of how to successfully investigate this statute.

I will not waste county money and manpower charging a vendor only to lose a case because of insufficient evidence to prosecute.

Once we have clear guidance on how to prosecute this statute, yes, we will enforce the law.

The Sheriff’s position is considered to be the top law enforcement officer of the county. It is very important to have strong working relationships with the different municipalities.

Crime fighting needs no boundaries. Law enforcement is a thin blue line. Working together works.

I would like to partner with the District Attorney’s office and have monthly meetings with the police departments to share information.

The Sheriff’s Office has strong working relationships with various federal agencies. Carrying local cases to the federal level for adoption is very crucial for the taxpayers of Halifax County.

Those assets seized by the Sheriff’s Office can have a return up to 80 percent.

This enables a variety of necessary equipment to be acquired without using county tax dollars. Working with the federal agencies in the prosecution of Halifax County drug offenders, we are seeing more substantial prison time.

During the course of our continued federal investigations, federal agencies have requested our participation in the task force officer program.

This will enhance federal forfeitures and result in further federal prosecutions. I am committed to the federal task force officer program.

The Sheriff’s Office is currently an active member of the Federal East Force program with cases being prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina.

As your Sheriff, I manage approximately 90 employees, those sworn and non-sworn. I oversee a budget of approximately $6 million dollars.

We do an excellent job. Could we do better? Yes. Are we perfect? No. With the tight budget, I have reallocated personnel, to address crime on a daily basis.

Others may make promises to get elected; a true leader makes it happen with what is allocated.

I was a jailer, employed with the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, when the current jail was erected in 1984, thirty years ago. Our jail has an 86 bed capacity. The jail expansion project has been in the planning stages for several years, before I took over as Sheriff.

Recently during the last jail inspection, the state inspector imposed a cap of 95 inmates, in-house, due to overcrowding issues.

With the assistance of the elected District Attorney Melissa Pelfrey, my staff along with the DA’s Office has been able to reduce the jail population to stay in compliance with the state mandated cap.

This cooperation is necessary because the District Attorney has control of the court docket.

We need additional space. I, along with county management, have been meeting regularly to make the expansion project more cost effective.

In acquiring more bed space, it’s very possible the county could enter into an agreement with the state in the Misdemeanant Program.

The state has a lack of prison bed space also. The Misdemeanant Program would allow the county to house certain inmate serving misdemeanor sentences which is paid by the state, which could offset costs of the expansion.

Concerning the open cases of Jeffrey Cotton and Amy Bridgeman, I cannot discuss the facts of those cases. I will not jeopardize the integrity of those cases.