Farewell To D. T. Marshall

This is probably my last article I will write for the Gazette. By the time this issue is published the election for Montgomery County Sheriff will be decided and I will be ending my 36 year career in law enforcement, 20 years at the Montgomery Police Department and 16 years as your Sheriff. I announced last summer that I was retiring and I was supporting Chief Deputy Derrick Cunningham as the next Sheriff of Montgomery County.

I have known Derrick since he worked for me investigating violent crimes at the Police Department. I got to know the kind of man he was and I was grateful when he accepted my offer to become my Chief Deputy here at the Sheriff’s Office. There is no doubt in my mind that if he is elected, he is the best person for the job and he will continue to serve the citizens of Montgomery in a manor that I have tried to do in the past 16 years. He has worked very hard on his education obtaining his Bachelors degree and Masters degree since becoming the Chief Deputy. He has graduated from the FBI National Academy , he is the Homeland Security coordinator for Montgomery County, he runs the day to day operations of the Sheriff’s Office, he has started many programs that help out the Citizens of Montgomery County and he does so many other things that are too numerous to mention in this article. Thanks to his guidance, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is one of the best trained and best equipped law enforcement agencies in the State of Alabama. To get an idea of some of the things that he has done check out our website at http://www.montgomerysheriff.com. I know that the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office will be in good hands with a Sheriff Derrick Cunningham at the helm.

I leave this office with mixed emotions knowing that I am entering a new phase of my life. After 36 years it will be really difficult to get up in the morning knowing that I will not have the challenge that law enforcement gives. I really enjoyed doing the work for the citizens that I have done both at the Police Department and at the Sheriff’s Office. I realized that after 4 elections that it was time to step down and pass the torch to someone with a fresh mind. I believe that one of the problems with elected officials who homestead a position is that they lose their focus on why they first ran for office. They become complacent and take their position for granted. I did not want this happen to me because too many people depend on the Sheriff and what he can do for all citizens.

I leave knowing that I did my very best for Montgomery County and hope to see many of you in the future. It is time for this old Sheriff to go out to pasture and to relax and maybe do some fishing. I want to thank each and every person who supported me throughout the years and for all of you who showed your faith in me by voting for me in the last 4 elections.

I feel confident that you will elect Chief Cunningham and be assured that he will be an outstanding Sheriff for Montgomery County.