Video: Lamar County Sheriff Talks About Retirement

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VERNON, Ala. (WCBI) – There are about 14,000 people that live in Lamar County. Since 1987 Sheriff Terry Perkins has taken an oath to protect them.

However, his path to law enforcement started as an iron worker.

“My brother, Larry, he was a deputy here, and he’d come by to pick me up from time to time. And I’d ride with him and I enjoyed it. And I was working out of Local Iron Workers 92 in Birmingham and our work got slow, and I said I’ll just give it a try and I got elected,” recalled Perkins.

Lamar County is small but Perkins says there is still crime.

Like most law enforcement, cases stick with him long after that person is in jail.

Right now, Perkins believes drugs are one of the biggest problems the county faces.

“In ’87 we didn’t have a lot of drugs here, had mostly marijuana, and now we’ve got all these meth labs,” said Perkins.

The long-time sheriff says deputies need to have a passion for the job and he has some simple but well served advice.

“Continue your education in all kinds of seminars, training, listen to what the people say, keep your eyes open,” explained Perkins

Perkins doesn’t care for much attention as prepares for retirement, but says he is grateful for the opportunity to serve.

Perkins explained what he’ll miss most about the job, “You didn’t know what you was going to be doing that day. You didn’t know when the phone was going to ring, when somebody’s gone need help.”

“Lamar County has got wonderful people. I’ve made many, many friends that I would have never known. Can’t thank Lamar County for being as good to me as they was.”

Perkins says he plans to stay busy traveling, along with hunting and fishing. He also says he could apply for a part-time job, at some point.

Sheriff-elect Hal Allred will take office in January.