There won’t be a contested race for the office of Chambers County Sheriff in next Tuesday’s Democratic and Republican primary elections, but there will be a race this November. Six-term incumbent Sid Lockhart is unopposed in the Democratic race and three-time challenger Chad Roberts is making another run for the office as a Republican. He’s unopposed in the GOP race and will be up against Lockhart in November.

A 41-year veteran in law enforcement, Lockhart wants to thank the citizens of Chambers County for allowing him to be their sheriff for the past 24 years and asks them to consider voting for him again in November.

In his continuing efforts to better serve the people of Chambers County, Sheriff Lockhart has made numerous improvements to help better protect the citizens. During his tenure, he has been able to develop a K-9 unit with two narcotic detection/tracking dogs, an underwater search and recovery team and was an integral part of forming a countywide SWAT team.

The Sheriff has also instituted the county’s first aviation unit consisting of fixed wing and helicopter assets. This unit has been of major help in crime scene investigations, search and recovery teams, Project Lifesaver and prisoner transports. This comes at no cost to the county taxpayers, as is the majority of the improvements that take place in the Sheriff’s Office.

For more than 20 years now, Sheriff Lockhart has had Sheriff Rodeos that have not only been family-friendly events but have also raised funds to purchase much-needed equipment for the Sheriff’s Office.

“I am proud of my staff and will continue to make sure the citizens are provided the best service available in civil paper service, warrants service, rural patrol, investigations, court services and corrections,” Lockhart said. “I have enjoyed every day of my service and if elected again, I will continue to make improvements in the office to stay current in both training and technology. I will continue to be a hardworking, honest and dependable public servant. I ask for your vote, your prayers and support as we strive to safeguard the lives and welfare of the citizens of Chambers County.”

Lockhart’s Republican opponent, Chad Roberts, is a graduate of Valley High and is currently employed by the Heard County, Ga. Sheriff’s Office. He still lives in the county and would like to bring some improvements to the sheriff’s office.

In a recent candidate forum in LaFayette, Roberts said that Chambers County had a serious problem with unsolved murders and with drug gangs running rampant in neighborhoods all over the county.

He said that he’d had the kind of law enforcement training that could get a handle on this. Roberts said that people are moving out of Chambers County to get away from the violence.

“The drug dealers are ruling the streets,” he said.