I was born in Brunswick, Georgia, and moved to Tallahassee at the age of two. I attended Leon County public schools, Tallahassee Community College, and Florida Community College in Jacksonville.

My entire career, which began in 1974, has been in law enforcement. I have been a State of Florida Certified Law Enforcement Officer for 35 years, 30 of those years working as a trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol and five as a major with the Florida Highway Patrol Reserves, until I retired in December of 2006 at the rank of major.

Currently I am employed by Atkins Global as a Traffic Incident Management Consultant, where I coordinate traffic incident management training between law enforcement, fire departments, EMS, towing companies, and other organizations within the private sector.

When I'm not working, I enjoy spending time with my wonderful wife, Cheryl, and my daughter, Hillary. I have a wonderful extended family, my mother, Virginia Barnes, moved from Tallahassee to Wakulla six years ago. I have twin sisters. June Vause married Eugene Vause and has lived in Wakulla County more than 38 years. She's been with Wakulla Bank, now Centennial Bank for approximately 33 years and her husband Eugene has deep roots here, and has worked for Mike's Marine in Panacea for 35 years. My other sister, Jan Condon, lives in Tallahassee with her husband Dan. My brother, Ed Creel, and his wife, Dot, have lived in Wakulla for approximately 10 years. Ed is also a retired state trooper.

Since my retirement from the FHP, I have been active in the following organizations:

• NAMI Wakulla, Inc., an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, where I am a founding member and past president,
• Crawfordville Lions Club, member and past president,
• Member of the Florida Association of State Troopers,
• Major in the Florida Highway Patrol Reserves,
• Member of Friends of Wakullla Springs,
• Member of the Crawford Masonic Lodge #294

I am Methodist and attend the Crawfordville United Methodist Church. My hobbies are playing golf, hunting birds, and offshore saltwater fishing.

During the campaign, I look foward to talking to the residents of Wakulla County and answering any questions you may have or being available to hear your concerns. As sheriff, one of my priorities will be to continue talking with Wakulla County residents about concerns they may have.