Former Lowndes County jail administrator Rick Jones has announced his intent to run for sheriff in 2019.
Jones confirmed to The Dispatch this morning he will seek the county’s top law enforcement position, claiming current Sheriff Mike Arledge pushed him into retirement from the jail late last year.
“He asked me to retire,” Jones said. “I’ll put it like that.”
Jones has 37 years of law enforcement experience, including more than 34 with Columbus Police Department — where he started as a patrolman and left in 2014 as a lieutenant.
“I know I can do the job,” Jones said of running for sheriff. “I have years of experience in all aspects of law enforcement, including patrol, investigations and administration. … I feel like I can bring more to the table and build better working relationships in Lowndes County.”
Jones served as Lowndes County Adult Detention Center administrator for nearly three years, retiring on Oct. 31, 2017, almost two months after armed robbery suspect Delvin Moore escaped from the jail on Sept. 2. Arledge reprimanded the nine jail staff members on duty the night of the escape. However, neither Jones nor Arledge ever commented on the record whether the escape factored into Jones’ retirement.
Authorities found Moore in Georgia on March 30 and arrested him on charges including felony escape.
Jones returned to CPD as a part-time officer on Feb. 1. His duties include assisting with community policing programs and internal investigations.
His pay with the department is $20.38 per hour, which Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell said was Jones’ pay rate when he left CPD. Because Jones also is drawing state retirement while he works, Mitchell said he is not allowed to make more than $26,000 per year from CPD — which is half the salary for a full-time lieutenant.
Qualifying for the 2019 county races doesn’t even begin until Jan. 2, but Jones said he hopes the early start will help him build better name recognition. A Facebook page — “Rick Jones for sheriff” — was established last week.
“A lot of folks know my name, but I’m just trying to help them put my face and my name together,” Jones said. “I’m trying to get out there and meet people. I’d like to work (with citizens) to come up with a strategy to best combat crime and make our county safer.”
Arledge, serving his second term as sheriff, told The Dispatch this morning he hadn’t ruled out running again. But he feels it is “way too early to get into that.”
“We’re more or less worried about running the sheriff’s department to the best of our ability right now,” he said.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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