Local & State Headlines

New sheriff in Baker County takes office

• Baker County’s new sheriff plans to address drugs and theft problems.

J.D.Sumner

NEWTON — A new voice answered the phones at the Baker County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday.

It was the voice of a new sheriff.

Dana Meade, the independent-turned-Democratic nominee for Baker County sheriff, took the oath of office Wednesday morning to fill the waning months of former Sheriff Isaac Anderson’s term, which expires Dec. 31.

Meade, who qualified in June as an independant candidate to seek the office, was tapped by state Democratic Party to be its nominee in the November general election. Anderson was the Democratic candidate, but withdrew his bid for re-election, citing health and legal reasons. The nod effectively hands Meade the election, barring a challenge from a write-in candidate, Baker County Probate Judge Angela Hendricks said.

Speaking by phone Wednesday, the former Camilla police investigator said his priorities for the office are far-reaching and touch on the administrative and law enforcement angles of the office.

“Well, firstly I want to restore honesty and integrity to the office,” Meade said. “There have been a lot of thefts in the area and drugs are pretty popular here, so all of those things need to be dealt with before the people in the community can feel safe.”

Meade started his law enforcement career in Baker County, working for the Newton Police Department. He followed that up with road duty for the Camilla Police Department before moving into its investigative division.

Meade said he has already opened the lines of communication with county commissioners — a move that he said wasn’t hard since he knew most of them personally before his appointment.

“In a small town everyone knows everyone else,” Meade said. “Now I’m just going to have to do business with them. That’s the only difference.”

One of the first orders of business between the office and the Baker County Commission is Meade’s plan to push for health insurance coverage for county employees.

“County employees need insurance and that’s one of the administrative things I hope to get accomplished,” he said.

Meade will serve as interim sheriff until Dec. 31. If elected in November, he would begin a four-year term of office on Jan. 1.

Meade replaces Baker County Coroner Andy Belinc, who served as the constitutional sheriff of Baker County when Anderson was forced out of office by the state Attorney General’s Office and the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council.

Anderson fought for more than five years for the right to stay in office after he was investigated and aquitted of charges he aided a Florida man in creating a false accident report to serve as an alibi. Despite aquittal of all criminal charges, POST revoke Anderson’s certification on the grounds that he failed to fully cooperate with the GBI’s investigation.

Anderson challenged the decision to the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which ultimately upheld POST’s revocation of his certification. The Georgia Supreme Court refused to hear the case, effectively affirming the appeallate court decision.