The Marion County Sheriff

Last updated: April 28, 2026

Office established: 1820, with the appointment of James Jones as first sheriff
Headquarters: 5 Oak Avenue, Jasper, Tennessee
Current sheriff: Ronnie "Bo" Burnett (first elected 2002; not seeking re-election in 2026)
County jail: Marion County Adult Detention Center, built 1984, capacity 118
Judicial district: 12th Judicial District of Tennessee

The sheriff of Marion County is the county's chief law enforcement officer, responsible for attending the courts, serving warrants and civil processes, keeping the peace, and operating the county jail. The office dates to 1820, when James Jones was appointed as the first sheriff after the county's creation in 1817 and the establishment of Jasper as the county seat. Since then, more than forty men have held the office across more than two centuries of county history.

The sheriff's role in Marion County has reflected the broader currents of the county's life: frontier order-keeping in the 1820s, the breakdown of civil authority during the Civil War, Reconstruction-era transitions, the industrial-era challenges of coal camps and foundry towns, the Prohibition-era violence that culminated in the 1927 Christmas Night Shootout, and the modern professionalization of county law enforcement. The roster of sheriffs preserved on the TNGenWeb Marion County officials list, compiled by Euline Harris and covering 1820 through 1995, is the most complete publicly available record of the office's history.

The first sheriffs (1820s to 1850s)

Jasper courthouse square — The courthouse square in Jasper, seat of the Marion County Sheriff's Office since 1820. Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY-SA 4.0.

James Jones appears in the 1820 Marion County officials roster as the county's first sheriff, serving alongside Amos Griffith (Register), Jesse Beene (Circuit Court Clerk), and John Kelly (Clerk of the Court). These four men constituted the first slate of county officers after Marion County's formal organization. No biographical detail for Jones beyond his name and office has been located in publicly available sources; the Goodspeed's History of Tennessee (1886) does not include a biography for him.

The officials list records only a few sheriffs by name in the early decades. Raphael Shelton served in 1842, and A. M. Stone served from 1852. Pleasant M. Pryor, listed as sheriff in 1858, belonged to the prominent Pryor family whose name recurs throughout Marion County civic and educational history: Jackson Pryor founded the Pryor Institute at Jasper, and the Pryor surname appears across the county's land records, school rosters, and officials lists for more than a century. S. A. Rogers succeeded Pryor in 1859, serving on the eve of the Civil War.

Civil War and Reconstruction

Marion County's location on the Tennessee River made it a contested zone during the Civil War. Normal civil government, including the sheriff's office, was disrupted for much of the war. Both Union and Confederate forces occupied different parts of the county at different times between 1862 and 1865, and the courthouse at Jasper itself changed hands repeatedly.

During Reconstruction, D. M. Ketcham served as sheriff in 1868. His name appears in the same period as a broader reshuffling of Marion County officeholders. In 1874 A. P. Ramsey held the office, followed by Wash McCurry in 1876 and T. P. Hall in 1877. The rapid turnover of sheriffs in this period reflects the political instability of Reconstruction-era Tennessee, where county offices changed hands frequently amid factional disputes and shifting voter access.

The industrial era (1880s to 1910s)

The arrival of the railroad, the coal mines, and the South Pittsburg foundries in the 1870s and 1880s transformed Marion County from a rural farming county into an industrial one. The sheriff's duties expanded to cover the coal camps on Walden Ridge and the company towns along the river.

George B. Smith served as sheriff in 1881, followed by William Rankin in 1884. The 1886 Goodspeed biographical volume provides the most detailed portrait of any 19th-century Marion County sheriff in the person of John Sexton, elected sheriff on the Democratic ticket in 1886. Sexton was born October 3, 1843, in the Sixth District of Marion County, a son of Joseph and Martha Jane (Higdon) Sexton. His family had roots in Polk County, Tennessee, and moved repeatedly between Marion County, Hamilton County, and northern Alabama before settling permanently in the Sixth District.

Sexton enlisted in October 1862 in Company H of the Fourth Georgia Confederate Cavalry and served as sergeant, then as a courier on General D. H. Hill's staff and with General Walker's escort. He fought at Chickamauga, served through the Atlanta campaign, and was at the battles of Franklin and Nashville. After the war he returned to Marion County with, as Goodspeed recorded, "nothing left but a poor horse and a ragged uniform." He rebuilt through farming and timber work, married Mary Hartman in 1867, and by the mid-1880s was one of the "prosperous and well-to-do citizens of the community." His two-year term as sheriff was the capstone of a civic career built on postwar recovery.

John Raulston succeeded Sexton in 1888. He was almost certainly related to the already prominent Raulston family of the Sequatchie Valley, and may have been the father or close relative of Judge John T. Raulston (1868 to 1956), who later presided over the 1925 Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee.

The turn of the century brought rapid turnover: D. D. Rogers served in 1892 and again in 1896, J. R. Jones in 1894, and R. J. Brown from 1898 through 1900. The 1900 roster lists two sheriffs, Brown and F. McCullough, suggesting a mid-term transition, possibly a resignation or death in office. McCullough continued as Frances McCullough in 1902. William J. Harris served in 1904, H. M. Westmoreland in 1906, and W. A. Cantrell from 1910 through at least 1914.

Prohibition, the Coppingers, and the Christmas Night Shootout

Tennessee Historical Commission marker for the 1927 Christmas Night Shootout, South Pittsburg — THC marker 2B-32 at Cedar Avenue and Third Street in South Pittsburg, dedicated July 20, 2014, marking the location of the gun battle that killed Sheriff Wash Coppinger and five other officers. Photo: Tyce H.

The Prohibition era brought its own enforcement challenges. Moonshine production was widespread in the coves and on the plateau, and the sheriff's office was the front line of both alcohol enforcement and the industrial labor disputes that roiled South Pittsburg's foundries in the 1920s.

George Washington "Wash" Coppinger, born October 1, 1859, in Coppinger Cove, first appeared on the officials list as sheriff in 1918. He served through the early 1920s (the 1922 roster lists both Coppinger and John H. Belk, again suggesting a mid-term handoff) and was re-elected in 1926. By the mid-1920s, Coppinger was the central law enforcement figure in Marion County during a period of acute industrial tension.

On December 25, 1927, Sheriff Coppinger was killed in the Christmas Night Shootout on Cedar Avenue in South Pittsburg. The shootout erupted from a months-long labor dispute at the H. Wetter Manufacturing Company foundry. Coppinger, his deputy L. A. Hennessey, and four special policemen (Benjamin Parker, John L. Connor, G. Frank Smith, and Lee Larowe) were killed in the exchange of gunfire. It was the deadliest single incident in the history of Marion County law enforcement.

The day after his father's death, Turner Coppinger, who had been serving as chief deputy, was unanimously elected sheriff by the Marion County Court at Jasper. He was sworn in by County Court Clerk W. T. Hornsby and took charge of the office immediately. The officials list records T. E. Coppinger as sheriff in 1928 and 1934; whether this is Turner or another Coppinger family member has not been resolved in publicly available sources. The Coppinger family's association with Marion County law enforcement thus spanned at least a decade through some of the county's most turbulent years.

Between the Coppingers, A. G. Holloway appears in 1924 and Ben Parker in 1925. Parker's presence on the sheriff's roster is notable: Benjamin Parker later served as a special policeman in South Pittsburg and was among the six officers killed in the 1927 shootout. The Christmas Night Shootout page covers the political backdrop, including Parker's loss to Coppinger in the 1926 sheriff's race and his subsequent appointment as a city marshal.

Depression through mid-century (1930s to 1960s)

The post-Coppinger years saw continued turnover. Jackson Tate served in 1930, C. L. Coffelt in 1932, T. E. Coppinger returned in 1934, and S. E. Beene held office in 1938. The Beene surname connects to one of Marion County's earliest civic families: Jesse Beene was the first Circuit Court Clerk in 1820.

During World War II, Homer Dawson served as sheriff from at least 1942 through 1945, a period when many Marion County men were in military service and the home front presented its own challenges. E. D. Martin succeeded Dawson in 1946, Milt Hudson served from 1950, and Nelson Van Hooser from 1954.

The longest-serving sheriff of the mid-20th century was Johnny Mathews, who first appeared on the roster in 1956 and served through at least 1960 (with a listing also in 1958). Mathews's tenure as sheriff spanned a period of significant change: the 1950s school- consolidation era, the beginnings of the civil rights movement, and the early Interstate highway construction that would reshape the county's geography. After leaving the sheriff's office, Mathews transitioned to the Register of Deeds office, where he served from 1970 through at least 1986, giving him a combined public career of roughly thirty years across two county offices.

Leslie C. Lawhorne served in 1968. Ernest Haskew followed in 1970 and would return to the office in 1990, bookending a career that touched two decades of Marion County governance.

Modern era (1970s to the present)

Lloyd Hood served four terms as sheriff, appearing on the roster in 1974, 1978, 1981, and 1982, making him one of the longest-serving sheriffs in the county's history at that point. His tenure coincided with the professionalization of Tennessee law enforcement in the 1970s and 1980s, including the establishment of training standards through the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy (now the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy, or TLETA).

Johnny Uselton served in 1986. The 1990 roster lists both Roger Webb and Ernest Haskew, and Jim Webb appears in 1995, forming another family connection in the sheriff's office. The TNGenWeb officials list, compiled by Euline Harris and last updated June 18, 2004, ends its coverage at 1995.

Ronnie "Bo" Burnett was first elected sheriff in 2002 and has served continuously since. Burnett began his law enforcement career in 1979 with the Jasper Police Department and graduated from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy in 1981. His tenure of more than two decades is the longest in the recorded history of the office.

In 2021, Sheriff Burnett and Sequatchie County Sheriff Coy Swanger reported concerns about the regional drug task force (DTF) to the district attorney. The ensuing Tennessee Bureau of Investigation inquiry led to findings that the DTF director had misappropriated funds and evidence. Burnett was not a target of the investigation; he acted in his official capacity to raise the alarm about wrongdoing within the multi-county unit.

Burnett announced in early 2026 that he would not seek re-election as sheriff, opting instead to run for county commission. The May 2026 Republican primary features several candidates for the open seat. Among them are Anthony Gamble, a 32-year veteran of Marion County law enforcement; Chris Webb, who began his career at the Marion County Sheriff's Office in 1993 and later served at the Kimball Police Department; Dale Winters, a school resource officer at Marion County High School; Clifford Wayne Jordan, a former South Pittsburg police chief; and Billy Mason, a former Jasper police chief.

The county jail

The Marion County Adult Detention Center in Jasper was built in 1984 and has a capacity of 118 inmates. It is classified as a minimum-security facility operated by the sheriff's office. The history of earlier jail facilities in the county is not well documented in available sources; the 19th-century jail would have been located near the courthouse on the Jasper square, as was standard in Tennessee county seats of that era.

Town police departments

Beyond the sheriff's office, several Marion County municipalities maintain their own police departments. The towns of Jasper, South Pittsburg, Whitwell, and Kimball have each operated police forces at various points in their history. During the industrial era, company towns like Richard City also employed their own security and law enforcement: the Dixie Portland Cement Company's early operations included commissioned deputies to keep order in the company town, and the western movie star Tom Mix reportedly served briefly as a Marion County deputy during his time as a labor supervisor at the cement plant in the early 1900s.

The relationship between county and municipal law enforcement in Marion County follows the standard Tennessee model: the sheriff has countywide jurisdiction, while municipal police departments handle routine enforcement within their town limits. The sheriff's office also serves as the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas of the county, which include much of the plateau, the coves, and the rural Sequatchie Valley.

The complete sheriff roster (1820 to 1995)

The following roster is drawn from the TNGenWeb Marion County officials list, compiled by Euline Harris and published in 2004. The years listed are election or appointment years as recorded on the source; not all terms can be precisely dated. Dual listings in a single year (as in 1900 and 1922) suggest mid-term transitions whose cause, whether death in office, resignation, or election-cycle overlap, has not been documented in available sources.

Year(s)	Sheriff	Notes
1820	James Jones	First sheriff of Marion County
1842	Raphael Shelton
1852	A. M. Stone
1858	Pleasant M. Pryor	Pryor family; pre-Civil War
1859	S. A. Rogers
1868	D. M. Ketcham	Reconstruction era
1874	A. P. Ramsey
1876	Wash McCurry
1877	T. P. Hall
1881	George B. Smith
1884	William Rankin
1886	John Sexton	Confederate veteran; Goodspeed biography
1888	John Raulston	Possibly related to Judge John T. Raulston
1892	D. D. Rogers
1894	J. R. Jones
1896	D. D. Rogers	Second term
1898, 1900	R. J. Brown
1900	F. McCullough	Also listed 1900; mid-term transition
1902	Frances McCullough
1904	William J. Harris
1906	H. M. Westmoreland
1910, 1914	W. A. Cantrell
1915	J. M. Kelly	Kelly family
1916	M. F. Jackson
1918, 1922, 1926	G. W. "Wash" Coppinger	Killed Dec. 25, 1927
1922	John H. Belk	Also listed 1922; mid-term transition
1924	A. G. Holloway
1925	Ben Parker	Later killed in 1927 shootout
1928, 1934	T. E. Coppinger	Coppinger family; possibly Turner Coppinger
1930	Jackson Tate
1932	C. L. Coffelt
1938	S. E. Beene	Beene family
1942, 1945	Homer Dawson	World War II era
1946	E. D. Martin
1950	Milt Hudson
1954	Nelson Van Hooser
1956, 1958, 1960	Johnny Mathews	Later Register of Deeds 1970-1986
1968	Leslie C. Lawhorne
1970, 1990	Ernest Haskew	Two non-consecutive terms
1974, 1978, 1981, 1982	Lloyd Hood	Four terms
1986	Johnny Uselton
1990	Roger Webb	Also listed 1990 with Haskew
1995	Jim Webb	Webb family
2002 to present	Ronnie "Bo" Burnett	Not seeking re-election in 2026

The Marion County Courthouse – two centuries on the Jasper square
Elections and County Commission – the county judge, county executive, county mayor, and legislative body
Town Governments – mayors and boards of the county's incorporated towns
The Christmas Night Shootout (1927) – the deadliest incident in Marion County law enforcement history
County Formation (1817) – the creation of the county and its first officials
Jasper – the county seat and sheriff's headquarters
Labor History – industrial-era law enforcement and labor disputes
Prohibition Era – moonshine enforcement and Prohibition-era violence
Sheriff G. W. "Wash" Coppinger – profile on the People page