Harris calls for action after heated exchange at meeting – Lowndes Signal

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The Lowndes County Commission proposes the former Hayneville City Hall as housing for sheriff’s investigators.

The Lowndes County Commission is asking sheriff’s investigators to relocate and occupy the left side of the former Hayneville City Hall.

Lieutenants Nick Cognasi (left) and Jeremy Marvin (right) present the sheriff’s plan to relocate the detective offices.

Commissioners take no action

Lowndes County 1st District Commissioner Robert Harris is calling for action against Sheriff Chris West.

The request followed a heated exchange at the commission’s June 24 meeting over the relocation of the investigators’ office to the former Hayneville town hall building.

Harris submitted a written statement during the following commission meeting on July 8, which he said contained a detailed account of an exchange between himself and West on June 24.

Harris’ statement was submitted to County Administrator Jacquelyn Thomas for inclusion in the July 8 meeting minutes. It described actions Harris recommended the commissioners take in response to the events of June 24.

“The following actions of the sheriff were observed:

1. Sheriff Chris West exhibited threatening behavior when he asked me to step outside for a physical confrontation while visibly carrying a firearm in a holster on his belt.
2. Disruptive behavior as he screamed and yelled that I was “a stupid man,” “a very stupid man,” and “You are so stupid.”
3. He tried to intimidate me and the other commissioners by threatening to have the commissioners arrested if they tried to turn off the lights in the building that the sheriff himself had told us had mold.

“These actions not only disrupted the meeting, but also had the potential to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation among the county commissioners and those in attendance. This behavior is unacceptable and violates the rules of the commission, the principles of respectful and constructive dialogue that the county upholds.

“I recommend that the county take the following actions in response to this incident: Obtain all videos of this incident to understand the full context and impact of the conduct; consider appropriate disciplinary action that may be taken against the sheriff in accordance with our policies, rules and procedures; and take steps to ensure the safety of all commissioners and participants at future meetings.

“…I think we should recommend that the sheriff…get some kind of training on how to deal with people in these situations. He needs to be dealt with from that point as well. So this is part one of the beginning of what we need to do.”

Following the meeting, West declined to comment on Harris’ call for action but said he will continue to work in the best interests of the citizens of Lowndes County, pointing to the July 10 arrest of John Kreder on nearly a dozen sex offenses involving a minor child as an example of why investigators cannot move into the proposed building.

“When I spoke before the commission, I said we had several rape cases and one sexual assault case,” West said. “All of these things are happening throughout the county, but Harris wants to take power away from the people who investigate these crimes. The Kreder case is just one example of why the people of Lowndes County deserve facilities that are designed to keep them safe. You can’t have the resources needed in a place this small.”

“I don’t want to get involved in anything that doesn’t benefit the safety and well-being of the people. I’m not going to sit with somebody and get involved in irrelevant activities that don’t benefit the people or make them safer. If it doesn’t benefit the agency or strengthen it, I have no communication for it. We’re going to serve the people. I don’t want to do this half-heartedly.”

Lieutenants Nick Cognasi and Jeremy Marvin appeared before the commissioners to present West’s alternative proposal for housing the investigators’ offices. The plan called for renting trailers and housing them on the grounds of the John Hulett Detention Facility, moving the sheriff’s administrative staff currently housed at the facility into the trailers, and then moving the investigators’ offices and evidence storage to the jail. The commissioners did not approve West’s plan, but discussed proposals for an addition to the former Hayneville City Hall to create the needed space.

While Harris’ testimony said West was carrying a firearm during the encounter, West said he was not in possession of a gun and in fact rarely carries his weapon. County Commissioner Dickson Farrior said he did not see West with a gun.

Farrior also said he was frustrated with Harris’ statements and that West never threatened the commissioners’ lives.

“It just doesn’t look good when the sheriff and a commissioner go at each other,” Farrior said. “It just doesn’t send the right message.”

“I didn’t hear Chris threatening the commissioners,” Farrior said. “It was a bad situation. Harris was provoking (West), but I didn’t feel threatened at all. (The construction situation) needs to be resolved, and we’re trying to find a place. We’re trying to find the best way for the county to do that, and if Harris would spend more time on it, maybe the county would be better off.”

During the July 8 meeting, Harris also raised concerns about possible bias on the part of The Lowndes Signal.

“As far as our public is concerned, we have a newspaper here in Lowndes County,” Harris wrote in the statement. “They refused to write the report of what happened and they were sitting right here when it happened. I asked the newspaper spokesman about the incident. He said the dialysis center was more important than the lives of the individual commissioners. So at that point, I felt the newspaper was biased.

“But Commissioner Farrior’s brother-in-law owns the paper, so he can control it as he pleases. I think we can deal with the Lowndes Signal the same way at this point, whether we continue to work with them or not. I think those measures should be taken as well.”

The Lowndes Signal is owned by Greenville Newspapers, Inc., a subsidiary of Boone Newsmedia, Inc. (BNI). BNI founder and Farrior’s brother-in-law, Jim Boone, died in February 2023. Farrior’s sister, Carolyn Boone, is BNI’s board chair.

Farrior said he never gave instructions to the newspaper.

“Harris said I’ll tell you what not to write,” Farrior said. “He’s made these allegations before, and that’s not right.”

Following Harris’ testimony, commission members adjourned the July 8 meeting and took no further steps to address the events during the June 24 meeting. Both West and Farrior confirmed that the sheriff’s office and the commission are working to resolve the dilemma of where to house sheriff’s investigators.

Harris’ full statement is available here.

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Editor’s note: Dickson Farrior did not ask Lowndes Signal to withhold information. Signal staff did not say the dialysis center was more important than the lives of individual commissioners.