Richard Coleman, former police chief for two small Georgia cities and interim Thunderbolt Police chief, won the Democratic primary election for Chatham County sheriff.
Coleman succeeded over former sheriff’s office employee, Kevin Burns, and will take on incumbent Republican Sheriff John Wilcher in the November general election. With 98% of the vote counted, Coleman received 53.89% of the vote while Burns received 46.11% of the vote.
Coleman’s win precedes the larger challenge he’ll face: unseating the two-term incumbent Wilcher. The older Republican man is known for crossing political lines and earning support from the left and the right and has overseen tens of millions of dollars in jail budgets — something his challenger Coleman has not had experience dealing with.
Wilcher’s terms have not been without criticism. Malpractice lawsuits have resulted from the jail’s controversial medical provider, CorrectHealth, whose leader donated to Wilcher’s past campaigns. The jail is severely understaffing and corrections staff have been arrested for bringing drugs into the detention center.
Coleman made a major policy announcement this month that he would make visitation to the jail in-person and free again, following decisions by Wilcher’s administration to restrict visitation and his agency increasing revenue collected in fees from phone fees between inmates and family members. According to Wilcher the money is spent on inmate welfare programs.