Q&A: Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher explains why he is running for re-election

Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher is running for re-election. Unlike in 2020 when he ran unopposed, Wilcher faces two challengers for the job.

Wilcher is running against Kevin Burns, a former Chatham County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Advanced Deputy, and Richard Coleman, a law enforcement officer who has served in multiple departments throughout Georgia.

More: Former Chatham County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Burns explains why he wants the top job

More: Longtime police officer Richard Coleman announced 2024 run for Chatham County Sheriff

Wilcher has worked for the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office since 1974, retiring in 2014 at the rank of colonel. In April 2016, Wilcher won the Chatham County Sheriff special election to replace Sheriff Al St. Lawrence, who died in 2015. In November 2016, Wilcher won the general election to serve a four-year term as sheriff and returned to office for another four-year term in 2020.

In an interview in his office at 1050 Carl Griffin Drive, Wilcher touted his track record and argued against ideas brought by the two other candidates.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why are you running for Chatham County Sheriff?

"All my people who work here, all my very good employees, they asked me to run again. I enjoy the job, and I think I’m the only one that’s really qualified for it. I have 48 years with the county and this is all I’ve ever done. I'm very familiar with the job. I know how to do the job. And I think I do an excellent job."

How does your campaign differ from the other two candidates?

"Well, I don't know much about their campaigns except the little bit I've seen. I think it's pretty much impossible to do some of the things that both candidates are saying they're gonna do, like starter patrol, because we're 150 officers short right now.

Our normal duties is not patrolling, not to do cold cases, or, not to do any of those type things. Our job is, number one, to take care of the jail. There’s 1,191 in jail today. Number two, is to make sure all the judges are set. And number three, serve all the civil and criminal processes. Plus, moving 1013 and 2013’s to mental hospitals back and forth, and then going all over the state and all over the United States to pick up prisoners who are wanted on warrants and things."

According to CCDC records, eight of the 20 inmates who have died at the jail since 2016 committed suicide. How do you seek to address the issue of mental health support for inmates?

"It’s an issue all over the United States with mental health people in jail. We have some 350 here today on psychotropic drugs. We worked out a thing with [Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Kevin Tanner]... He’s given us a million dollar grant, so we can have somebody in here to evaluate people who are waiting to stand trial, so they can get them competent to stand trial.

And some of the mental health patients that come into the jail really don't need to be here. I'm talking about misdemeanors who are coming in on some kind of charge. Like if I take them into shoplifting or something like that, they don't need to be here. I fought together with [Commissioner Helen Stone] and several other representatives to build a place on Derenne and Skidaway there to house those people who need to be taken there. They’re not criminal, but they have committed a crime, so they can get them back on the medication and become successful citizens.

You can't stop somebody that wants to commit suicide. If they really want to commit suicide, you and I can be walking down the street side... and then you step in front of a bus. There's really nothing that I can do about it. And when we think we can do is make sure they get the proper mental health care, proper medication, and everything else. So, you know, there's no way of really stopping it. The only way you could really stop it, if you had probably about 4,000 employees for four different shifts in front of each cell to watch the inmate 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Are you satisfied with Correct Health’s healthcare at the jail?

"Yeah, I’m very happy with it.

Nothing's never going to be perfectly good with mental health or even health conditions at the jail. We get a lot of sick people, especially during the winter, who are homeless, so they can be taken care of. They get food, shelter, clothes, and they're gonna get a shower. And when it gets hot out there, they do the same thing. They come in here again. So, I mean, this is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, we got a hospital. That's what we got, basically."

Five investigations of deaths at the jail are pending investigation, meaning the causes of those deaths are not available to the public. Your opponents have said you haven’t been transparent about the cause of those deaths.

"Because it’s under investigation by the GBI. That would be why they are pending.

You can call me or call us. We are very transparent. Some of the things that we can be transparent on just like if there's a death in the jail and the GBI has investigated. I can't tell you nothing what they're doing because it's actually their investigation. I think there's a misunderstanding between my two opponents of what transparency is and what you can say and what you can't say. HIPAA laws stop you from saying a lot of stuff because there's a medical examination, they have to go to autopsy and all that stuff. And, I'm not a doctor."

Another issue we’ve seen is the smuggling of drugs into the jail by corrections officers and contract workers. There have been at least five arrests of former CCSO corrections officers or contract workers hired by the CCSO within the past two years. How do you plan to fix that?

"We've been in combat mode ever since we came here to try to stop coming [the drugs] in. [CNT Director Mike Sarhatt] and CNT help us work these things. We have [Criminal Investigation Division] and internal affairs working on the cameras in the jail, and this is how we spot a lot of the stuff going on in the jail.

We've been in combat mode for the last nine years. I'm not tolerating an officer or contract person bringing stuff in here. You know, it's just not going to happen. Because as I said earlier, if you remember, we here trying to protect them. And they in here trying to harm themselves by getting somebody to bring drugs from the outside in here to them, so they can sell it to the different people in here and make money off of it. We screen everybody who comes in and everything else. If somebody else has got a better idea, I'm open for it. But I don’t think there’s any other way to combat it."

Opponents have also talked about ramping up street operations to address rising crime. Is that something you plan on doing?

"No. You’ve got so many civil papers, you serve about 16,000 civil papers a year. And I don't know how many subpoenas we serve. And we're recruiting people left and right. The biggest obstacle is to keep them once we get them here.

A lot of this stuff is just not cut out for people to be a correctional officer or even be a police officer, but I don't know that you can do anything, any different. If my officers are riding down the road, and you're driving a new vehicle and he thinks you are drunk, he has the option to pull you over and write your ticket or write you a warrant, or whatever. So I mean, we can do whatever we need to do. Being a constitutional officer, as the sheriff, I have more authority than the city police chief, the county police chief or anything else, but I don't want to assert that authority. I believe in working together and working to do the same job that they want to do that we want done."

What is the staffing like at the jail? How do you plan on adding more officers?

"We’re 150 short right now. If I’m fully staffed, [the capacity is] 675. That’s including civilians and correctional officers and certified officers.

We recruit. We have a pancake day, popcorn day and we have a carnival coming up. This is all to help out the retention. We train above and beyond anything; we train with the county police. That's something has never been heard of. And, you know, it's, I think, all in all it's been eight, almost nine years I've been here, I think we've done a lot of progress here. And eight or nine years. I know we've got six or seven raises for the employees here through the county commissioners. That's a big deal, you know? Because, and really, it's not about the money anymore. It's about what you can do for me. That's basically what it is.

And you got to change with the time, you know? Just because I’m the boss, don’t mean I'm always right. You surround yourself with the best people to give you good suggestions and make good things even better. My staff has a prerogative to come in and shut that door and say, ‘Look, ...you're doing something wrong, let's change it.’ I don't never deny ‘em or whatever. I listen to him. I tell ‘em no. And then two days later, I'll call them back. It's all about the great organization that we have here. I can't ask for no better people than we got here today. I mean, you know, we've come through during the pandemic and everything. You know, people worked a lot of overtime. And they still workin’ overtime. But you know, they are our employees and they mean a lot to us."

Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Why is Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher running for re-election?