Video: Lowndes, Chickasaw Officials Won’t Seek New Terms Next Year

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LOWNDES/CHICKASAW COUNTIES, Miss. (WCBI) — Two long-time county officials in Northeast Mississippi won’t seek re-election next year.

In Lowndes County, Circuit Court Clerk Haley Salazar says she wants to spend more time with her family and expand her church work. Salazar will have served 24 years by the time her term ends next year. She worked in the office prior to being elected clerk.

She took early retirement six years ago and a 75 percent pay cut to help save money to avoid having to cut her staff.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to make. It’s one I thought about and prayed about for a long time, but I think everyone comes to a point in life when they are ready to see what God has in store for the next chapter,” Salazar said. “I am just to the point where I want to the point where I want to spend more time with my family and more time in service to my church.”

Salazar is supporting Tim Heard in next year’s election. Heard works for the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District and is the county’s I-T director.

All other Lowndes officials are expected to seek re-election.

Qualifying begins Jan. 5 and ends Feb. 27. Party primaries are the first Tuesday in August with the general election Nov. 3.

Meanwhile in Chickasaw County, Sheriff Jimmy Simmons says he won’t seek another term as the county’s top cop.

By the end of next year, Simmons will have been in office 32 years, making him one of the longest-serving sheriffs in the state. Before that, he was a deputy and a city police officer.

Simmons says after so long, it’s time to let someone else run the show. Andy Harmon, a long-time sheriff’s investigator and the county coroner, and Jim Meyers, Simmons’ long-time chief deputy, are among those expected to run for the seat.

Simmons says he won’t back any candidate but will let the voter pick the best person.