DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, becoming the sixth sheriff-elect to test positive for the virus while attending a statewide law enforcement training event.
Maddox said she is not experiencing any symptoms as a result of the coronavirus and is quarantining at home, according to a news release. She began her quarantine earlier this week after being informed she could have been exposed to the virus at a weekslong mandatory training course for newly elected sheriffs. The course was offered by the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association in Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain. A total of 36 sheriffs-elect from around the state attended the event.
The others there who were diagnosed with the virus were Fulton County’s Pat Labat, Cobb County’s Craig Owens, Gwinnett County’s Keybo Taylor, Henry County’s Reginald Scandrett and an unidentified sheriff from outside of metro Atlanta. One of Taylor’s staffers also tested positive, bringing the number of positive cases to seven.
J. Terry Norris, the executive director of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, declined to provide a full list of attendees at the course, which is required for sheriffs who defeated an incumbent or won an open seat. All attended the three-week training course organized by the association, which began in mid-November and was held on weekdays.
The course was postponed Wednesday after Labat and Owens became the fifth and sixth positive cases to stem from the event. None of the metro-area sheriffs-elect have been hospitalized.
The Georgia Sheriffs’ Association board is working to determine if further precautions will be necessary for the training to finish as planned in January.
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