‘I’ve received death threats:’ Henry County sheriff speaks about mass exodus in sheriff’s office

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandrett says he has received death threats since becoming the county’s sheriff in 2020.

Scandrett, the first African American sheriff in the history of Henry County, spoke to Channel 2′s Tom Jones on Friday to address a number of concerns made by former sheriff candidate Jim Cox on social media regarding the state of the department.

Cox wrote about a mass exodus from the sheriff’s office and voiced disapproval over Scandrett’s spending habits and leadership, since becoming the sheriff.

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Scandrett says people have left because they said they disagreed with his vision and high standards for the jail.

“We had some people who said, quite frankly, we will never work for an African American sheriff,” Scandrett said.

The sheriff said they’ve been replaced.

Scandrett says it takes around 30 people per shift to run the jail, and they can currently only manage to staff 25.

Speaking to Jones, Scandrett refuted the claims of overspending on sheriff amenities such as a brand new shower with a Bluetooth speaker and a tricked-out truck.

Scandrett provided Channel 2 with documents outlining his spending.

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When he first arrived, Scandrett said he found the jail in horrible condition and decided to give it a facelift upon his arrival in 2020.

Scandrett said he is focusing on bringing the sheriff’s office up to standard and rejects the false narratives he says people enjoy spreading.

“We are not going to embrace that,” Scandrett said. “We’re not going to chase those narratives. We’re running toward the level of excellence.”

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