Alamance County’s sheriff Terry Johnson is announcing today that he plans to seek another term in office when the position of sheriff appears on the ballot in 2026.
A native of Snow Camp, Johnson has held the position of sheriff since the fall of 2002, when he became the first Republican in living memory to clinch this post in Alamance County. The 75-year-old incumbent recalls that he had originally sought this office in order to correct problems that he felt had eluded the county’s previous sheriffs.
“The first time I ran for sheriff,” he went on to add, “I was not really pleased with the quality of law enforcement within the county, and there were people asking me to run for sheriff back then.”
Johnson came to the sheriff’s office with nearly three decades of experience as an agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Once he became sheriff, Johnson put his chops as an investigator to good use in order to crack old cases that ranged from grand theft auto to first-degree murder. His tenure has also witnessed frequent crackdowns on the illegal sex trade – with a particular emphasis on human trafficking – while his insights into the SBI’s drug interdiction efforts have widened the scope of narcotics enforcement in Alamance County.
Johnson’s focus on the illicit narcotics ultimately earned him some formidable adversaries, including some high-ranking members of Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel. In the meantime, his recognition that organized crime isn’t constrained by international borders led him to embark on a long-standing partnership with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement – which, even now, contributes millions of dollars to the county’s coffers in exchange for jail space for its detainees. Johnson’s realization that law enforcement is a collaborative endeavor has also extended to other local agencies, which have often followed his lead in dealing with matters like criminal street gangs and mass demonstrations.
Among Johnson’s more recent accomplishments has been the introduction of several next generation technologies to Alamance County. Under his watch, the sheriff’s office became one of the first in the county to use remote-controlled drones for search, rescue, and recognizance missions. Meanwhile, the agency is currently in the process of acquiring body cameras for its patrol officers and jailers thanks to a grant from the state of North Carolina.
Johnson believes that his six terms of sheriff have brought marked improvements to the caliber of law enforcement in Alamance County. He is nevertheless adamant that his job is far from complete even after more than two decades at his agency’s helm.
“We’ve got more work to do,” insists the septuagenarian office holder. “I want to keep pushing my people to work with other agencies to clean up our county. . . and if anybody questions my ability to get around or do things, I’d challenge them to come into this office and follow me around for a week.”
Despite Johnson’s assurances of his continued vigor and vim, his hopes for another four years in office have attracted some potential challengers from among the ranks of his own Republican Party. These prospective opponents include Dana Byrd Pasour, who has recently been making the rounds at city council and county commissioner meetings, as well as Billy Clayton, a long-time Alamance County resident who retired from a post in the top echelon of the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Johnson insists that, for all that these younger contenders may have to offer, there’s a lot more that he can do for the county if given the opportunity to continue the work he has started.
The incumbent sheriff contends that his professional experience and interpersonal connections will allow him to further develop the interagency alliances that his office has forged at the state, local, and federal levels. Johnson also believes that he can leverage his working relationship with the Alamance-Burlington school system to create a safer learning environment for area students. Meanwhile, he has ambitions for new programs in Alamance County’s jail to foster positive lifestyle changes among the county’s inmates, and he has begun to lay the groundwork for a new technological initiative that would place surveillance cameras with sophisticated license plate readers at strategic locations to intercept fugitives.
Moreover, Johnson insists that no other contender for sheriff can match his lifelong devotion to Alamance County, where he and his wife Pat are eminently recognizable members of the community.
“I was born and raised here in Alamance County,” he adds. “I have grandkids that are growing up here. I love Alamance County, and I love the people.”
