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Johnson would focus on employee retention as Dawson County Sheriff
6 Jeff Johnson - Candidate for Dawson County Sheriff.jpg
Jeff Johnson

Candidate for Dawson County Sheriff

Name: Jeff Johnson

Age: 49

How Long have you lived in Dawson County: 36 years

Occupation: Sheriff

Education: Dawson County High School, UNG, Northeast Georgia Police Academy, National Sheriff’s Institute, and 3,400+ POST Training hours

Political Experience: I am a conservative, constitutional Republican. I am honored to serve as your incumbent sheriff.  

Career experience: I have been blessed to serve my entire law enforcement career (27+ years) in detention, patrol, investigations, training and as Sheriff – all critical components of our sheriff’s office.  To make the informed and educated decisions regarding daily operations, a sheriff must possess the first-hand experience to help guide these decisions.

Community involvement: I serve on various boards including Family Connection, Drug Task Force, Domestic Violence Task Force and others. I am proud to have been appointed by former Governor Nathan Deal to serve on the Georgia Commission on Family Violence. Our office continues to serve our community through progressive community programs designed to strengthen and empower our county.

Why are you running for Dawson County Sheriff? In order to keep you and your families’ safe, we must continue to be progressive. We cannot risk becoming stagnant, or far worse, going backward. We are committed more than ever to protect our families, our community and our way of life.

What makes you the best candidate for Dawson County Sheriff? Aside from our training and qualifications, I believe a proven record of success. Collectively our community and our S.O. have partnered together to make our office more autonomous. Today we are better staffed, equipped and prepared to respond to your family’s crises.

What do you consider to be the biggest challenge you will face as sheriff and how do you plan to address this concern? Staffing continues to be one of our biggest challenges. Although we are enjoying great retention, we must remain relevant in the law enforcement market through continued aggressive recruiting, competitive pay and incentives.

What will be your top three priorities as sheriff and why? Employee retention must continue to be our top priority. Without experienced, quality professionals, we will be unable to achieve our next priorities of continuing the war on drugs and reducing crime. Currently, our initiatives are working and the proof is reflected in our retention and our productivity.

What is your definition of leadership and what are some examples of leadership positions you have held throughout your career? Any effective leader should be willing to sacrifice themselves and their position in defense of those they have sworn to protect. I have served in supervisory and leadership roles in patrol, investigations, detention and most recently that of your elected sheriff.

How are you preparing to take office? We are already passionately serving our community.  It’s important for our community to know that they are ultimately electing an entire office, not just a sheriff. Your vote to re-elect will assure that we continue providing optimal services and that we place the needs of our community, far above our own.