Sheriff

Sheriff

The office of sheriff is established by the Tennessee Constitution. The sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer for the county and is elected every four years. This office oversees the county’s law enforcement department, including all staff.

County sheriffs enforce the law in unincorporated areas within a county and also sometimes provide law enforcement services to municipalities lacking their own police departments. Additionally, county sheriffs are in charge of county jails and are sometimes asked to serve subpoenas, protection orders, and eviction notices.

A sheriff candidate must be an American citizen who is at least 25 years old and lived in the county for at least one year. They must have a high school diploma and not have been convicted of any felonies, nor been discharged from the military due to dishonor or court martial. A candidate for sheriff must have at least three years experience as a peace or law enforcement officer in the previous ten years. Candidates must also confirm they have had a psychological evaluation from a certified psychologist or psychiatrist.

DARON HALL

Native Nashvillian Daron Hall is running unopposed for Davidson County Sheriff, an office he’s held since 2002. Hall, a Western Kentucky University graduate, will become Metro Nashville’s longest-serving sheriff at the end of his current term.

Hall strives to “arrest the problem, not the person”. He has focused on programming for inmates and community involvement for law enforcement. According to his office, the number of incarcerated individuals in Davidson County is 50% lower than it was ten years ago. Hall has been criticized for speaking at an event hosted by a group the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as a hate group, and for housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees. In 2019, Hall terminated his office’s contract with ICE, calling it a “distraction from sheriff’s office priorities”.

Hall is passionate about decriminalizing mental illness. In 2017, he was awarded the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ Sam Cochran Award. In 2020, he opened a behavioral care center that offers the mentally ill an alternative to jail. He is seeking his sixth consecutive term.