Posted 11:14 pm Thursday, January 01, 2009
Wood County Swears In Officials
By COSHANDRA DILLARD
Staff Writer
QUITMAN -- Wood County officials, including a new sheriff, were sworn in just after midnight, and other newly elected officials will take the oath of office at 10 a.m. today.
Staff Writer
QUITMAN -- Wood County officials, including a new sheriff, were sworn in just after midnight, and other newly elected officials will take the oath of office at 10 a.m. today.
Former Quitman Police Chief Bill Wansley now serves as sheriff, after he beat out incumbent Dwaine Daugherty in the Republican primary last March. Wansley ran for sheriff once before but lost to Daugherty in the 2004 primary.
Wansley has been in law enforcement for more than 20 years.
Among Wansley's priorities are improving community relations, cracking down on the county's narcotics problems and continuing to support efforts to alleviate problems with stray animals.
"I hope to be able to get things better than they are right and have a better relationship with the community," Wansley.
"I will do the best that I can do. We have some good folks in Wood County, and I want to be the sheriff for the whole county."
Wansley has lived in Wood County all of his life. He graduated from Quitman High School in 1966 and served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War from 1969-1971. He and his wife, Jeanette, have a daughter and two grandsons.
Constables Stephen Bowser, Pct. 1; Edward Shadbolt, Pct. 2; Gary Dixon, Pct. 3 and J.L. Pennington, Pct. 4 also were sworn in. The oaths were administered by County Judge Bryan Jeanes.
This morning 402nd District Judge Tim Boswell; commissioners Keith Gilbreath, Pct. 1, and Roger Pace, Pct. 3; and tax collector Carol Taylor will take the oath of office. Boswell will administer the oath to commissioners and Ms. Taylor, while Jeanes will administer the oath for Boswell.
Boswell is the only judge to occupy the bench and was appointed by then-Gov. George W. Bush in 1999 when the district court was formed. He was a practicing attorney for 22 years and a partner in the Mineola law firm of Alexander and Boswell prior to becoming district judge.
