The Greatest Sheriff

It’s an old saying: There are two kinds of sheriffs in Georgia: those who have been indicted and those who will soon be indicted. Yet Houston County’s sheriff is neither. In fact, he is the longest-serving sheriff in the country and has served without blemish for 50+ years. But I’m not here to recount his life story because you can get that from better sources than I. No, I’m here to bring you some stories from my almost 14 years working closely with him as district attorney.

Sheriff Cullen Talton is the consummate pro. When he ran for sheriff in 1972, he ran on the plank of bringing professionalism to a force that lacked it. He has run it that way ever since, including when I told him the other day that I knew I was his favorite DA because he was my favorite sheriff. He smiled but didn’t say anything. What is there to say? 

When he was elected sheriff, Houston County was part of the Macon Judicial Circuit, which changed in 1974 when Houston branched off on its own. Since then, there have been a bunch of elected DAs (Steve Pace, Avon Buice, JoNeal Lee, Theron Finlayson, Ed Lukemire, me, George Hartwig) and even more unelected ones, but one sheriff. I joked that while I still, amazingly, hold the record as longest serving DA, he’s been sheriff for probably 10 different top prosecutors. 

He graciously offered that while we butted heads sometimes, we always made up, and he respected and loved me. When he was mad at me, and it honestly only happened a few times, we solved it by having breakfast. You can’t stay mad at someone you share a biscuit with. I told him that whenever an assistant district attorney got mad about anything he did, I’d remind them that they were an assistant and he was THE sheriff. I didn’t tell the sheriff how to do his job, and he didn’t tell me how to do mine (well, except for those few times mentioned above). 

Before I was elected, I was appointed to represent a car thief. Said thief broke out of the Talton Hilton (jail, y’all) but got caught in short order. Placed in jail solitary, he broke out again, this time by fashioning a bar of soap into a gun. The next morning, after deputies searched high and low for the escapee all night, the sheriff’s command team assembled in the jail parking lot. The sheriff said to his chief deputy, Willie Talton (possibly related but not likely), “Let’s follow this trail.” The two, unarmed and by themselves, located my client sleeping in a pecan tree. They told him to get down and they waited for the reinforcements to arrive. Want your staff to think you are smarter than all of them put together? Do that.

After getting elected, I had an ambitious computer modernization plan, but my austere budget did not have enough money. I called the sheriff and asked for his advice. He asked how much I needed. I said $10,000 would do it. He told me to come get a check after lunch. Problem solved.

When county department heads were called together to discuss the upcoming SPLOST vote to build a new courthouse and jail, the sheriff and I were the most vocal about the pressing need. We were sitting next to each other and giving the underinformed commissioners our two cents, egging each other on to some degree. I mentioned that maybe the commissioners needed to actually have more data before deciding something of this magnitude, but I might have been less than polite. The sheriff whispered, “You’ll say anything.” I replied that I was just saving him from having his sterling reputation tarnished by saying it himself. Not too long after finishing the new jail we were again shipping inmates out of county until we passed another SPLOST to pay for the right size jail.

When the county moved us into the new courthouse, I declined the automated phone system, telling the county that when the sheriff stopped answering his phone, I’d stop answering mine. And I mimicked his open office policy. I had seen the sheriff meet with anyone, and I followed his lead. 

Over the years I learned a lot by just watching. As DA, I saw other DAs have some difficult times with their sheriff(s), but I had Sheriff Cullen Talton, who set the standard by being a professional. Law enforcement officer. Faithful public servant. Good guy. 

I’m just another voter now. But my advice to our next sheriff? 1) You ain’t ever gonna be Sheriff Talton. 2) Give that man an office and encourage him to stick around as long as he wants. You might learn something.

Kelly Burke, attorney, former district attorney, and magistrate judge, writes about the law, rock’n’roll, and politics or anything that strikes him. Contact Kelly at dakellyburke@gmail.com to comment on this article or suggest articles that you’d like to see, and visit his website at www.kellyrburke.com for an archive of past columns.

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