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Commissioners take no action

Lowndes County District 1 Commissioner Robert Harris is requesting action be taken against Sheriff Chris West.

The request follows a heated exchange at the commission’s June 24 meeting about relocating the investigators’ office to the former Hayneville Town Hall building.

Harris presented a written statement during the following commission meeting, held July 8, that he said provided a detailed account of a June 24 exchange he had with West. 

Harris’ statement was submitted to County Administrator Jacquelyn Thomas for inclusion in the July 8 meeting minutes. It described measures Harris said he recommended commissioners take in response to the June 24 events.

“The following actions were observed of the Sheriff: 

1. Threatening behavior was shown by Sheriff Chris West when he asked me to step outside for a physical altercation while visibly carrying a firearm in a holster on his belt. 
2. Disruptive conduct when he yelled and screamed that I was ‘a stupid man’, ‘very stupid man’ and ‘You are so stupid.’ 
3. He attempted to intimidate me and the other commissioners by threatening to have commissioners arrested if they attempted to have the lights turned off in the building that the Sheriff himself told us has mold in it. 

“These actions not only disrupted the meeting but also could create an environment of fear and intimidation among the county commissioners and the people in attendance. This behavior is unacceptable and goes against the rules of the Commission, the principles of respectable and constructive dialogue that the county upholds. 

“I recommend that the county take the following action in response to this incident: obtain any videos of this incident to understand the full context and the implications of the behavior; consider appropriate disciplinary measures that may be taken against the Sheriff in accordance with our policies, rules, and procedures (and) implement measures to ensure the safety and security of all commissioners and attendees in future meetings.

“…I think that we should recommend that the Sheriff… get some type of training on how to deal with people in situations like this. He needs to be dealt with from this particular point as well. So, this is part one of the beginning of where we need to go.” 

Following the meeting, West declined to comment on Harris’ request for action, but said he will continue working in the best interest of Lowndes County citizens, pointing to the July 10 arrest of John Kreder on nearly a dozen sex charges involving a minor child as exemplary of why investigators cannot relocate to the suggested building.

“When I addressed the commission, I said we have several rape cases and a molestation case,” West said. “We’ve got all these things going on throughout the county, but Harris wants to cut the power off on the people who investigate those types of crimes. The Kreder case is just one example of why the people of Lowndes County deserve facilities that benefit their safety. You can’t have the needed resources in a place that small.

“I don’t want to engage in something that’s not going to benefit the safety and wellbeing of the people. I won’t sit with anyone and engage in irrelevant activity that doesn’t benefit the people or make them safer. If it doesn’t benefit the agency or make it stronger, I don’t have any communication for it. We’re going to serve the people. I don’t want to half-way do it.”

Lieutenants Nick Cognasi and Jeremy Marvin appeared before commissioners to offer West’s alternative suggestion for housing investigators’ offices. The plan included leasing trailers to place on site with the John Hulett Detention Facility, relocating the Sheriff’s administrative staff currently housed within the facility into the trailers, then moving investigators’ offices and evidence into the jail. Commissioners did not vote to approve West’s plan but did discuss suggestions for adding onto the former Hayneville Town Hall to create the needed space.

While Harris’ statement said West was wearing a firearm during the meeting, West said he was not in possession of a weapon, and in fact rarely carries his weapon. District 5 Commissioner Dickson Farrior said he did not see West with a weapon.

Farrior also said he was frustrated by Harris’ statements and that West never threatened commissioners’ lives.

“It just does not look good to have the Sheriff, and a commissioner go at each other,” Farrior said.” It just doesn’t send the right message.

“I did not hear Chris threaten commissioners,” Farrior said. “It was a bad situation. Harris provoked (West), but I did not feel threatened at all. (The building situation) needs to be resolved and we’re trying to find a place. We’re trying to find the best way for the county to do that, and if Harris would spend more time doing that the county might be better off.”

During the July 8 meeting Harris also voiced concerns alleging bias on the part of The Lowndes Signal.

“When it comes to our public knowledge, we have a newspaper here in Lowndes County,” Harris wrote in the statement. “They refused to write the story on what happened, and they were sitting right here when it transpired. I asked the newsperson about the incident. They said that the dialysis center was more important than the individual commissioner’s lives. So, at that particular time, I felt as though the newspaper (was) being biased.

“But Commissioner Farrior’s brother-in-law owns the paper, so he’s at will to pretty much try and control that. I think that anyway that we can deal with the Lowndes Signal at this time, whether we continue to participate with them or not, I think that those actions should be taken as well.”

The Lowndes Signal is owned by Greenville Newspapers, Inc., an affiliate of Boone Newsmedia, Inc. (BNI). BNI’s founder and Farrior’s brother-in-law, Jim Boone, died in February 2023. Farrior’s sister, Carolyn Boone, serves as chairman of the board of BNI. 

Farrior said he has never given the newspaper directives.

“Harris said that I’m telling you what not to write,” Farrior said. “He’s (made these allegations) before, and that’s not right.”

Commissioners adjourned the July 8 meeting after Harris’ statements, taking no further action to address the events occurring during the June 24 meeting. Both West and Farrior confirmed that the Sheriff’s office and the commission are working to solve the dilemma of where to house the sheriff’s investigators.

Harris’ full statement is available here.

Editor’s note: The Lowndes Signal has not been asked to withhold information by Dickson Farrior. Signal staff have not said the dialysis center is more important than the individual commissioner’s lives.