State officials notified the Carter County Election Commission on Tuesday that all three candidates for sheriff in the upcoming Carter County elections have met all of the state’s requirements for eligibility.

Carter County Administrator of Elections Tracy Harris informed the Elizabethton Star on Tuesday afternoon that she had received the certification notice from the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission.

“This memorandum will serve as an affirmation that the named applicants for the 2018 Sheriff’s Election have met all qualifications for certification as issued by the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission under the requirements of TCA 8-8-102,” states the letter from Brian Grisham, Executive Secretary for the POST Commission. “All applicants whose names appear below have presented a signed, sworn affidavit to the POST commission affirming that all eligibility requirements are met to run for the office of Sheriff. Rocky Lynn Croy. Elbert Eugene Stevenson. Dexter Lunceford.”

Carter Election Commission records show that Croy, Stevenson, and Lunceford have all turned their candidate petitions in at the Election Commission Office and have met the local requirements to qualify as candidates as well.

While the deadline for candidates to turn in their petitions to the local Election Commission is not until Feb. 15, candidates for Sheriff had to have their paperwork submitted to the POST Commission before Feb. 1 to qualify as a candidate for Sheriff.

Under state law, individuals seeking election to the office of county Sheriff in Tennessee must not only submit a completed candidate petition to the county’s Election Commission, but they must also file paperwork with the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission.

The candidates must submit an affidavit sworn to an signed by the candidate affirming that they meet the requirements of the office.

State law sets the following qualifications to be eligible to serve as a county sheriff:

• Be a citizen of the United States;
• Be at least 25 years of age prior to the date of qualifying for election;
• Be a qualified voter of the county and a resident of the county for one (1) full year prior to the date of the qualifying deadline;
• Have obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent in educational training as recognized by the Tennessee state board of education;
• Not have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to or entered a plea of nolo contendere to any misdemeanor crime of domestic violence or any felony charge or any violation of any federal or state laws or city ordinances relating to force, violence, theft, dishonesty, gambling, liquor or controlled substances;
• Be fingerprinted and have the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation make a search of local, state, and federal fingerprint files for any criminal record. Fingerprints are to be taken under the direction of the T.B.I. It shall be the responsibility of the T.B.I. to forward all criminal history results to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) commission for evaluation of qualifications;
• Not have been released, separated, or discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States with a Dishonorable or Bad Conduct discharge, or as a consequence of conviction at court martial for either state or federal offenses;
• Have been certified by a Tennessee licensed health care provider qualified in the psychiatric or psychological fields as being free any disorder, as set forth in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM III) or its successor, of the American Psychiatric Association; at the time of the examination, that would, in the professional judgment of the examiner, impair the subject’s ability to perform any essential function of the job;
• Have at least three (3) years of full-time experience as a peace officer standards and training commission certified law enforcement officer in the previous ten (10) years or at least three (3) years of full-time experience as a state or federal certified law enforcement officer with training equivalent to that required by the peace officer standards and training commission in the previous ten (10) years. (This requirement does not apply in any county having a metropolitan form of government where the sheriff does not have law enforcement powers.)
• Not have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to or entered a plea of nolo contendere to any felony charge or violation of any federal or state laws relating to controlled substance analogues.