In what Clarke County Sheriff Anthony Chancelor called “an attempted coup,” six of his deputies have left the department after a majority signed a letter voicing concerns about the sheriff’s priorities and how following them has put their integrity into question.
Sgt. Andy Lafferty, Sgt. Steve Whitaker, Sgt. Kenneth Hollifield, Deputy Peyton Kennedy and Deputy Ellis Ray Dogget said they are willing to lay down their badges because of pressing issues.
“We didn’t want to have to go this route, but we are not speaking for anyone else other than us five Deputies,” they wrote in an open letter published Sunday on the community page Clarke County Hot Topics. “We are concerned about issues that we don’t have any control over.”
Another deputy who did not sign the letter, Don Moore, is also no longer with the department.
Before the departures, the sheriff’s office had an estimated 16 officers serving a county of about 15,000 residents in eastern Mississippi.
Clarke County Sheriff Anthony Chancelor Credit: Mississippi Sheriffs Association“Our focus now is moving forward and continuing to provide the dependable service and protection the people of Clarke County deserve,” Chancelor said in a statement the day after the resignations.
He said the resignations came as a surprise and he found it disappointing that the men aired their grievances on social media rather than coming directly to him.
The deputies could not immediately be reached, and Chancelor did not respond to a request for further comment.
After the sheriff released his statement, Whitaker’s resignation letter was shared online by a local media outlet called the Scotty Ray Report, and it provided more details about why Whitaker left.
In the his letter, Whitaker cites multiple reasons and events that took place during Chancelor’s administration, including how compared to administrative staff, most deputies have had to work overtime and take on second jobs.
He also included more serious allegations, including how administrative staff showed up or answered radio calls while intoxicated and how charges have been dismissed for people brought to the jail without agreement from the arresting officers.
Whitaker alleged misconduct by the sheriff on and off duty that “(put) his deputies in potential civil and legal situations.”
Chancelor did not respond to a request for comment about the alleged misconduct in Whitaker’s resignation letter.
Monday morning, Whitaker tried to speak with the Clarke County Board of Supervisors during its meeting. In video clips, Chancelor is addressing the board when Whitaker cuts in to say he is resigning and “everybody knows why.”
Whitaker did not elaborate because a supervisor used a gavel at least twice, and Chancelor accused him of interrupting a public meeting.
Later in the meeting, the board went into executive session to talk about personnel issues, but Chancery Clerk Leanne Volking said it took no action. On Tuesday, she said nothing has been presented to the supervisors relating to resignation or termination of the deputies.
“That’s on the sheriff’s department to present that to the board at the next meeting,” she said, declining to comment further. The next meeting is scheduled for June 1.
Whitaker had been with the sheriff’s office just short of five years, according to his Facebook profile.
“I am honored to have served the citizens of Clarke County but I feel this is necessary to maintain my personal morals, principles, and integrity,” he wrote. “I also hope this will bring public awareness and transparency to the citizens of Clarke County.”
A photo of former Clarke County Sheriff Todd Kemp, right, at the county courthouse in Quitman, Miss. (Rory Doyle for The New York Times)Although Whitaker did not share more about alleged misconduct, community members have mentioned a 2019 case under the previous sheriff. Mississippi Today and The New York Times reported about how Clarke County sheriff’s deputies beat Marquise Tilman – an order given by former sheriff Todd Kemp captured in a recording.
Chancelor was one of the deputies accused in the beating and one of six named in the lawsuit alongside Kemp. Tilman settled with Clarke County and the deputies for an undisclosed amount in 2022.
Community members have also pointed to Chancelor’s alleged domestic violence against his wife that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation began looking into in November 2024. At the time, the sheriff called it a “personal matter between my wife and I” and said he and his chief deputy made the decision to call in MBI.
Bailey Martin, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday that MBI’s investigation into Chancelor had been completed and turned over to the attorney general’s office.
MaryAsa Lee, the spokesperson for that office, said the investigation is active and further comment will not be provided.
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