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Administration:
(601) 947-4811

Communications Center:
(601) 947-9156
(24 hours)

Investigations:
(601) 247-2058
(601) 247-2064
(601) 247-2065


Email Map

355 Cox Street, Suite B
Lucedale, MS 39452

Administrative Office Hours:
M-F 8:00am - 5:00pm
 

This website is dedicated to the memory of
Sheriff Garry Welford

     
 
History of the Sheriff

History of George County Sheriff’s Department

 

 

The George County Sheriff’s Department was formed in 1910, with Charles Posey Eubanks being the first Sheriff of George County and appointed by the Governor of Mississippi.  Murdock R. Roberts was the first elected Sheriff of George County.

 

Unfortunately, history also shows that there have been two Sheriffs and a Deputy Sheriff have been killed in the line of duty.

 

SHERIFF GARRY M. WELFORD

Sheriff Garry M. Welford was killed on July 21, 2010 while assisting his deputies during a high speed pursuit.  Sheriff Welford, along with three deputies, was set up at the intersection of Howard Road and Bexley Road South in George County waiting for the suspect vehicle to approach his position. Sheriff Welford was struck by the suspect vehicle. The suspects fled from the scene and abandoned their vehicle on Bexley Road North in Greene County and fled into the woods.

Two suspects were captured in Greene County the following morning.  In May 2012 one of the killers was tried in Adams County, MS.  He was convicted of Capital Murder and sentenced to Life in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections.  In September 2012 the other killer was tried in Lafayette County, MS. She was convicted of Capital Murder and sentenced to Life in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections.  In October 2015, the Mississippi Court of Appeals granted her a new trial.  This new trial was held in Lauderdale County, MS in March 2016. Once again she was convicted of Capital Murder and sentenced to Life in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Sheriff Welford was in the third year of his second term as Sheriff at the time of his death.  Sheriff Garry Welford was 63 years old at the time of his death. He left behind his wife, two daughters and a son.

Sheriff Debbie Pipkins Welford, wife of Garry Welford was appointed Sheriff of George County by the Board of Supervisors on July, 30 2010. Mrs Welford served as Sheriff of George County until a special election was held in November 2010.  Debbie Pipkins Welford did not seek election to the Office.

 

 

SHERIFF J.E. NELSON

Sheriff J.E. Nelson was shot and killed on December 21, 1948 while responding to a domestic violence complaint in George County.  Three other persons who were members of the family of the shooter were also killed in the incident.  The man responsible for the shootings fled the scene in the Sheriff’s vehicle.  He was captured in Jackson County at his mother’s home on Christmas morning 1948.  The killer went to trial in Stone County, was convicted of the murders and executed by electrocution in 1951.  Sheriff Nelson was near the end his of first year as Sheriff at the time of his death.  Sheriff Nelson was 45 years old at the time of his death and left behind his wife and a daughter.

 

Sheriff Eula Pitts Nelson, wife of J.E. Nelson, was appointed Sheriff of George County by the Board of Supervisors and approved by Governor Fielding Wright on December 24, 1948.  Mrs. Nelson served as Sheriff of George County until a special election was held on March 1, 1949.  Eula Pitts Nelson did not seek election to the Office.  Mrs. Nelson is the first female to hold the Office of Sheriff in George County history. 

 

 

Former Sheriffs of George County

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEAN HOWELL, SHERIFF.jpg 

Sheriff Dean Howell
2012 - 2015 


Sheriff John A. Keel
2010 - 2011

Sheriff Debbie Welford
2010

Sheriff Garry M. Welford
2004 - 2007 2008 - 2010

Sheriff G.A. Parnell
2003

Sheriff George Miller Sr.
1996 - 1999 2000 - 2003

|Sheriff Eugene C. Howell
1976 - 1979 1980 - 1983
1984 - 1987 1988 - 1991
1992 - 1995

Sheriff Claude Passeau
1968 - 1971 1972 - 1975

Sheriff Eugene C. Howell
1964 - 1967

Sheriff W.D. Berry
1960 - 1963

Sheriff Charles Holland
1956 - 1959

Sheriff Shelby Smith
1952 - 1955

Sheriff W.D. Berry
1949 - 1951

Sheriff Eula Pitts Nelson
1948 - 1949
Sheriff J.E. Nelson
1948

Sheriff E.B Ward
1945 - 1947

Sheriff H.D. Vise
1944 - 1945

Sheriff E.B Ward
1940 - 1943

Sheriff Tom Hempstead
1936 - 1939

C.T. Mcleod
1932 - 1935

Sheriff Joe Catlett
1928 - 1931

Sheriff C.T. Mcleod
1924 - 1927

Sheriff A.E. Dean
1920 - 1923
 
Sheriff W.E. Thomas
1916 - 1919

Sheriff A.E. Dean
1912 - 1915
 
 
Sheriff Charles Eubanks
1910
 
Sheriff Murdock Roberts
1911
 

 

 
 
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