New Washington County sheriff sworn in

WASHINGTON COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - New Washington County Sheriff Arlo Norman was appointed and sworn in on Monday.

Norman began his journey with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in 2003, starting out as a deputy and working his way up to Chief Deputy in 2014.

He replaces former Sheriff Johnny Barnes, who retired on Jan 1. of this year.

“It feels really good,” Norman told WITN. “When I began my career, I just wanted to be here and be part of the team. In the beginning I never thought of myself as being the sheriff, I admired the sheriffs, but I was just happy to be here. When I became the chief deputy, only then did I ever realize that I could be the sheriff one day and that’s what I strived for, trained for.”

He says his plans as sheriff are to protect and serve while bringing the county together.

“Most of all unity,” he said. “Different people have different backgrounds, they have different thought processes, thought patterns and what they think life is. But everyone’s important, so I just want to bring everybody together to make Washington County better.”

Former Sheriff Stanley James even sent Norman his well-wishes on the new role.

“I know he’s going to do a good job because Arlo, as far as I know he’s done a good job so far, and I think he will continue,” he said. “As I told him, that I will be there for him, anything he wants to talk about, any advice I could give him, I’d be glad to give it, because he deserves it.”

According to Sheriff Norman, the chief deputy seat is now vacant.

He says there is no set timeline for when it will get filled.

Norman has filed to run for sheriff this year and will face Anthony Downing in the Democratic primary.