A 91-year-old Georgia sheriff has said he will hand in his badge after more than 50 years as the county’s chief lawman.
Houston County Sheriff Cullen Talton tells WMAZ-TV that he won’t seek reelection in 2024 and will step down at the end of his term.
“It’s time for me to hang it up, so I won’t run again,” Talton said.
Houston County commissioners called Talton the longest-serving sheriff not only in Georgia, but in the United States, when they honored him Tuesday.
Talton — a former dairy farmer who had served as county commissioner in the middle Georgia county — was elected sheriff in 1972. At the time, the county’s population was about 63,000 people. It now has nearly 170,000.