Brief History of the Sheriff's Office
There have been a total of 37 sheriffs to serve Cherokee County since it was established in 1836. Some were fathers and sons and possibly grandsons.
Some served multiple terms, some only one. The first sheriff, Moses H. Hughes, was appointed in 1838. It is not known if there were any deputies at that time.
One of the longest serving and most famous sheriffs of Alabama was C.M. (Mac) Garrett. Garrett's service from 1943-1983 was only interrupted by the service of Rusty Leath from 1955-1963. Garrett was followed by the single terms of Jack Smith and Jack Estes, who was the first of two former Alabama State Troopers to be elected sheriff in the county.
Roy Wynn was elected to three consecutive terms before retiring in 2003 and was succeeded by the term of Larry Wilson, who previously served as Wynn's chief deputy. The current sheriff, Jeff Shaver, was elected in 2006 and is the second former Alabama State Trooper to hold the office.
If anyone has any historical information or photographs of any of the former Sheriffs, please contact Bo Jolly at 256-927-3365 to provide our office with this information.
