Fulbright Announces 2024 Bid For Stephens County Sheriff

On October 27, in a social media post on his personal Facebook page, former Stephens County Criminal Investigator Rusty Fulbright announced his candidacy for Stephens County Sheriff in the 2024 elections. 

Fulbright sat down Saturday with WNEG News to talk about his decision to run.

He said that the issues Stephens County continues to face, such as drugs and gang activities, contributed to his decision to seek the county’s top law enforcement office, but added that there is more to the position than just battling those high-profile issues. 

He outlined his law enforcement experience, and discussed his decision to step back from active work as a law enforcement officer in 2017.

In the 2020 race for Stephens County Sheriff, Sheriff Randy Shirley was elected to his fourth term as Stephens County Sheriff, with 3,615 votes, up against 1,936 votes for Fulbright. 

Fulbright said it was a hard decision to run again, but it was a decision he felt he needed to make, and one that his family supports.

Fulbright said there are several things that set him apart as the best choice for the office of Sheriff in Stephens County, and stressed that he would lead the Department as a working law enforcement officer, working alongside the departments’ officers.

Fulbright said that his campaign would be about what he could do for Stephens County. 

A focus of law enforcement in Stephens County needs to be dealing with the issues of drugs and gangs, he acknowledged, but said that homelessness and mental illness needs to be addressed, and said he feels that those are issues the Sheriff’s Office should be involved in.

He added that revamping the culture of the department is also a priority for him. 

Fulbright briefly outlined the specific of how he would address some of the priority issues if he was to take office. 

He added that, while it is important to stay within the department’s set budget, he feels that it is important that the Sheriff’s Office needs the proper equipment.

Fulbright said the most important thing he wants citizens to know is that he understands that the trust the public holds for the Office, and the relationship between the citizens and the Sheriff’s Office, is very important. 

He said if the citizens elect him as sheriff, he hopes to start making the transition as quickly as possible, and that assembling a command staff is the first priority, but said that it wasn’t his plan to institute a full changeover in staffing. 

He added that a major responsibility of the department is to make sure the cases against suspects are ones that can be successfully adjudicated.

The 2024 Stephens County Sheriff’s Election will be held on Tuesday, May 21, with advance voting from April 29 to May 17, and the voter registration deadline to vote in the 2024 General Election will be April 22.