Winston and Oktibbeha counties vote in new sheriffs

OKTIBBEHA/WINSTON COUNTIES, Miss. (WCBI) – Elections are now over, and a couple of places have new faces.

Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney decided it was time to retire, paving the way for new leadership in the county.

“I am very blessed and thankful to be elected sheriff of this county,” said Shank Phelps, Oktibbeha County Sheriff-elect.

It was a similar story in Winston County where Sheriff Jason Pugh decided it was time for a change.

“I am very humbled with the amount of votes that I got, I’m grateful for God putting me in this position,” said Mike Perkins, Winston County Sheriff-elect.

The new men moving into those offices said like anything in law enforcement, getting elected took a team effort.

“It has been a lot of hard work put into this and it’s been a long year. And I met some good people throughout my campaign. If it wasn’t for family friends and supporters of mine, it would be impossible for me to be the sheriff of this county,” said Phelps.

“I was very humbled and pleased with the results. I’m humbled that people put enough confidence in me to lead their county in law enforcement the next four years,” said Perkins.

And the soon-to-be sheriffs wanted their communities to know they could always depend on them.

“My open-door policy is if they have a problem, I want them to call me and I want to know what is going on. I want an open-door policy and I will be fair, firm, and just. And I am going to be firm when it comes to crimes committed in our county,” said Perkins.

“I’m going to get out here and do a good job. I will protect the people of this county because we don’t need any problems in this county. We have always had good law enforcement, and I will continue to have good law enforcement in this county,” said Phelps.

Both men said that they would be available for their communities at all times.

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