The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office has temporarily taken over all law enforcement calls and issues within the city of Hanceville.

According to a post on the sheriff’s office Facebook page, sheriff Matt Gentry met with Hanceville Mayor Jimmy Sawyer on Thursday, Feb. 20, one day following the announcement that four Hanceville City Police officers and Chief Jason Marlin had been arrested on corruption charges.

“This measure is being taken until a permanent solution can be established. Mayor Sawyer and Sheriff Gentry would like to assure the citizens of Hanceville that their safety and security is an upmost priority,” read the post.

During the press conference on Wednesday, Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker and Gentry announced that members of the Hanceville Police Department are facing a multitude of charges. A grand jury returned indictments that include tampering with physical evidence and conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime. The grand jury’s report also recommended that the department be “immediately abolished.”

“Based upon the investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, we find that the Hanceville Police Department is a particular and ongoing threat to public safety,” according to the report.

Gentry said on Wednesday that he had engaged in preliminary discussions with Sawyer and Cullman County Commission Chairman Jeff Clemons to negotiate having the CCSO take over patrols within the city of Hanceville and to relocate those incarcerated in the Hanceville jail to the Cullman County Detention Center.

The city of Hanceville released a formal statement on Thursday which stated all remaining employees of the HPD were to be placed on administrative leave and that CCSO deputies would lend their services to the citizens of Hanceville until a permanent solution was decided upon.

Speaking with The Times on Thursday, Clemons said that, to his current knowledge, the finer details of the arrangement between the CCSO and the city of Hanceville were still being ironed out. However, based on his conversations with Gentry, he believed it would involve CCSO increasing its number of patrol deputies. The city of Hanceville would then provide reimbursement for those deputies’ salaries, similar to the CCSO’s arrangement with several Cullman County municipalities who have opted into having a dedicated township deputy.

Marlin was charged with two counts of ethics violations (failure to file or cooperate) and tampering with physical evidence. Others arrested include: Jason Scott Wilbanks – Two counts of computer tampering, tampering with physical evidence, conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime and use of official office for personal gain. William Andrew Shelnutt: Tampering with physical evidence. Cody Allen Kelso – Two counts of computer tampering, tampering with physical evidence, conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime and use of official office for personal gain. Eric Michael Kelso – Four counts of the sale/distribution of dangerous drugs, two counts of conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime. Eric Michael Kelso’s spouse, Donna Reed Kelso is also facing charges for the sale/distribution of dangerous drugs and two counts of conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime.

Other findings and recommendations by the grand jury include: — Officers indicted should be suspended from law enforcement by the Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission. — Another law enforcement agency (local or state) be tasked with protecting the citizens of Hanceville. — There is a rampant culture of corruption in the Hanceville Police Department, which has recently operated as more of a criminal enterprise than a law enforcement agency. — The Hanceville Police Department has abused public trust by its failure of oversight, lack of leadership and negligent training and hiring. — The Hanceville Police Department has failed to account for, preserve and maintain evidence, and in doing so has failed crime victims and the public at large. This evidence is unusable. — This Grand Jury toured the Hanceville Jail on February 12, 2025. We have zero confidence in the Hanceville Police Department’s ability to maintain a jail or to meet basic health and safety needs of jail personnel or inmates. — That the death of former Hanceville dispatcher Chris Willingham is the direct result of Hanceville Police Department’s negligence, lack of procedure, general incompetence, and disregard for human life. Wednesday morning, Cullman County Coroner Jeremy Kilpatrick released the cause of death for a Willingham who was found dead in his office at the Hanceville Police Department Aug. 23, 2024. His body was sent for an autopsy at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences Huntsville Lab. The autopsy determined that Willingham died from “combined toxic effects of fentanyl, gabapentin, diazepam, amphetamine, carisoprodol and methocarbamol.’

Patrick Camp may be reached by email at patrick.camp@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 238.