Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith lost Tuesday’s primary race with 22% (3,144) of the votes.
The race will go to a runoff between Jason Akins, who had 42% (5,993) of the votes and J.C. Poe, Jr., who had 35% (4,930) of the votes.
Both Akins and Poe are former sheriff’s deputies. Poe is currently the Jasper Police chief.
Smith was first elected sheriff in 2018. He has faced harsh criticism since the 2023 in-custody death of Anthony “Tony” Mitchell. The death drew national attention and led to more than two dozen indictments and guilty pleas by former jail employees.
The runoff election will be June 16.
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