CAMPAIGN 2026: Autauga County Sheriff’s candidates speak at forum
PINE LEVEL, Ala. (WAKA) – The two candidates in the runoff for Autauga County Sheriff have taken time to address voters at a forum in Pine Level.
Incumbent Sheriff Mark Harrell and challenger Ty Thompson will face off in the Republican runoff on June 16. They emerged from a four-candidate field in the May 19 primary, though neither got a majority of votes, which made the runoff necessary. No Democrats qualified for the race.
Harrell was appointed in 2023 to fill the term of the late Sheriff Joe Sedinger, so this is his first time facing the voters. He previously served in the Prattville Police Department. Thompson is also a veteran of the Prattville Police Department.
“We both have experience in law enforcement, I just have more experience,” Harrell told Action 8 News. “I’m working on my 28th year in law enforcement, and I’ve done a lot of things within the sheriff’s office and the Prattville Police Department before I retired. I also was a DEA task force officer, rode motorcycles, was a K-9 handler. So I think my experience far outweighs his.”
“I’m really big on standards, PT standards, shooting standards, training standards,” Thompson told Action 8 News. “If you set high standards and you hire in the right people to bring the brand and the culture that you want to have, then you can start building something special. I think that’s my goal, and that’s hiring in the right people. Sometimes, you need to hire in some younger officers that can build into what you’re trying to do.”
That is not the only local runoff on the ballot in Autauga County on June 16. In the Circuit Court Judge, 19th Judicial Circuit, Place 5 Republican race, Carol Cook Carter will face Bradley Earl Ekdahl. This is a newly-created judgeship.
