FORMER SUMTER COUNTY SHERIFF ARRESTED ON CRIMINAL CHARGES

Former Sumter County Sheriff Tyrone Clark Sr. will face criminal charges.

Clark was removed from office just over one month ago after he was found guilty of willful neglect of duty and corruption in office. But it looks like being ousted won’t be his only punishment.

The counts returned by a Sumter County grand jury include 3 felony ethics counts of using his office for personal gain, 2 counts of using county inmates to work on his home, promoting prison contraband 1st and 2nd degree, conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime, human trafficking 1st degree, and perjury 1st degree.
Sumter County residents like Roosevelt Young are ready to progress through this time of turmoil.
“The community was betrayed. I believe in the law and I feel as though if you are in a position of authority like that, then you should take it move forward with a lot of pride and not do all the nonsense that was going on,” said Young.

New Sumter County Sheriff Brian Harris was sworn in earlier this month.
One of his first priorities as sheriff is to regain the trust of his residents.

“We are just going to have to start from scratch. I think we have to get back and to community oriented policing. I think it’s something that we’ve lost touch with our communities. That’s going to be one of the major factors that I aim for and just rebuild the process, ” said Harris.

Clark’s bond was set at $50,000.

He bonded out Wednesday morning around 10:30.

Harris plans on organizing community meetings to help build positive relationships between his staff and the citizens of Sumter County.