It appears that longtime DeKalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris will leaving office two weeks before his official departure date.

According to WHNT News 19, Harris cleaned out his office on Monday after county officials informed his staff he would be leaving early.  Harris said this came as a shock to him stating that he didn’t know anything about it.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed Sheriff Nick Welden, who was elected in November, to the job two weeks early. You can read Governor Kay Ivey’s appointment letter below.

Harris said that he had planned to work in office another two weeks and wanted to meet with Welden closer to his last day to go over the transition. Harris had previously announced he was leaving for medical reasons. He said he wasn’t contacted by Ivey’s office and had been told previously by the DeKalb County Commission that he would be paid until Jan. 15.

Michael Edmondson, who was the chief deputy under Harris, said he didn’t know about the change until county officials notified him Monday afternoon.

WHNT News 19 has confirmed that Brad Gregg, the Mentone Police Chief, is the new Chief Deputy at the sheriff’s office. Gregg’s replacement is Gene McKee.

WHNT NEWS 19|www.whnt.com