Nation's longest-serving sheriff, elected in Georgia in 1972, has died

ATLANTA — Cullen Talton, believed to be the longest-serving sheriff in American history — but one who rarely wore a badge or toted a gun — died Saturday.

Talton, a dairy farmer who became a lawman in midlife, was elected in Middle Georgia’s Houston County in November 1972 and reelected a dozen times since. He was 92.

His death comes 2 1/2 months shy of what would have been the 52nd anniversary of his Jan. 1, 1973, swearing in. He planned to retire at year’s end.

“I didn’t know I would be here this long,” Talton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview earlier this year. “I wish I could stay here another 10 years. But I can’t. My health won’t let me. I guess … it’s time to do something else. I’m gonna miss this place.”

Alan Everidge, the police chief in Perry, Houston’s county seat, served as a deputy under Talton for three decades and knew well the sheriff who preferred to keep a low profile and let his employees do their jobs.

“He said all the time, ‘This office belongs to the people. Treat people right and have common sense,’” Everidge recalled Saturday. “He served the office with honor.”

In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this year, Sonny Perdue, the former governor whose family farm wasn’t far from Talton’s on the outskirts of Bonaire, referred to the sheriff as a low-key public servant whose mild manner helped change the face of Southern law enforcement.

“A sheriff like Cullen Talton, first of all, is content with his position,” Perdue said. “He’s not looking for attention. He’s not looking to get on the news. He’s just looking to keep the people of Houston County safe and secure. … I think everyone in the county has rewarded that, returning him to office very easily over the years.”

Talton was opposed at the ballot box just three times and had been in office since Jimmy Carter was Georgia’s governor.

“For nearly 52 years, Sheriff Talton remained committed to serving and protecting the people of his community and became a beloved fixture of Georgia law enforcement,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in a written statement Saturday.

When an AJC reporter asked Talton back in the spring about the secret to his longevity, he shrugged but then figured maybe it was that he wasn’t a micromanager.

“When an officer gets a case, I don’t bother him,” Talton said. “I just let him do his job, and I think that’s what a lot of people that worked for me liked about being a deputy.”

He added, “Don’t give the credit to Cullen.”