Three candidates running for Johnson County sheriff

JOHNSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Early voting has begun and three candidates, Thomas Brown, Johnny Roberts, and interim Sheriff Clifton Worley, are running for Johnson County sheriff.

Clifton Worley was appointed interim sheriff after Sheriff Eddie Tester passed away in August 2023 . Worley said he would like to remain in that position and be elected for another two years.

If elected, some of his main goals include better educating the youth on the dangers of drugs and improving the county jail.

“We have programs in our elementary schools to educate kids on alcohol, smoking, drug abuse and things of that nature,” said Worley. “But I want to continue to do that and I would like to implement that program into higher grades.”

Johnny Roberts has been working in law enforcement for almost 40 years. If he becomes sheriff, one of his primary goals is to focus on the drug problem that Johnson County has been experiencing.

“I have the experience, maturity, common sense, and I actually care about the people,” said Roberts, a current deputy at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO).

“I’d like to get the DEA back in here working and digging deep in some of these cases,” Roberts said.

Roberts said his main concern is ensuring that people in Johnson County know he is here to listen.

“I’m easy to talk to; I actually care, and I know what I’m doing and what needs to be done,” he said.

Thomas “TJ” Brown is another candidate in the race. Brown is a narcotics investigator for the Mountain City Police Department. Like Roberts, he wants to focus on the drug problem, but he takes a different approach.

“I feel like for me, a lot of the reports I get with the school system and the sheriff’s office has kind of had a disconnect for a long time,” said Brown. “I want to be working on that relationship, getting everybody kind of on the same page.”

Another focus Brown has is to improve the county jail.

“I want to be working with our inmates, trying to aid in helping the jail out with keeping our state inmates, which will help with funding, but also starting back up a cleanup crew,” Brown said. “So getting some of the inmates out, picking up trash along the roadways and trying to make Johnson County a little bit more beautiful like we have been in the past.”

Election Day is Aug. 1.

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