NATCHEZ &045;&045; Ronny Brown ousted incumbent Tommy Ferrell in Tuesday night’s general election for Adams County sheriff.

Come January, for the first time in 40 years, the last name of the sheriff will not be Ferrell, as Tommy Ferrell will finish his 16 years at the helm directly after his father held the position for the previous 24.

&uot;The voters have spoken, so it’s time for me to let someone else drive for a while,&uot; Ferrell said. &uot;It’s been a fantastic ride we’ve had.

&uot;I’ve had a long and productive public service life in Adams County.&uot;

Brown said he was &uot;thrilled&uot; and will &uot;do right and treat people right,&uot; adding he will now just take it one day at a time.

As of Tuesday night’s unofficial returns, Brown took almost 59 percent of the vote to Ferrell’s near 41 percent mark. Brown had 7,311 votes to Ferrell’s 5,067.

Ferrell said there are no &uot;ill feelings&uot; and Brown said Ferrell’s agency was run with professionalism, praising it but ready to move it forward.

Brown said he would &uot;take what he’s got and build it and make it better.&uot;

One part of Ferrell’s current agency that many are worried might be changed drastically is personnel.

Ferrell encouraged his employees and deputies, who gathered around him after the final box was read, to &uot;keep their head up,&uot; told them he loved them and they responded with the same.

&uot;Unfortunately, this will impact them harder than it will impact me,&uot; Ferrell said.

Brown said he is sincere about keeping good employees already in the department.

&uot;If they are good, professional people, they’re going to have a job,&uot; Brown said.

Brown said his top priority for his administration is to work with other law enforcement, especially on the drug problem. But, he also wants the sheriff’s office to cooperate with other agencies like the mayor and board of aldermen.

&uot;We’re gonna do right, be honest and do the job that has to be done,&uot; Brown said.

For Brown, the campaigning was much longer, going through the Democratic primary and a run-off before the general election.

Brown credited the many, many people that helped him with his race to the win.

&uot;I’m not a professional politician, so I surrounded myself with a lot of people, a good group of people, volunteers, that want a change,&uot; Brown said. And added that being a &uot;good listener&uot; got him many votes as well.

Ferrell, who changed to the Republican Party for this race, said he ran the election the same way his family has for 11 elections, just going out and asking for the vote.

&uot;If you can’t win on background, merit or experience, I don’t need to be sheriff anymore,&uot; Ferrell said.

Now, Ferrell said he will be retired starting in January and will not run for sheriff again.

&uot;This little get together is not a non-victory party. This is a retirement party,&uot; Ferrell told the crowd gathered at his party Tuesday night.

&uot;I’m moving on to bigger and better things,&uot; Ferrell said. &uot;I’m sure I’ll find something intriguing, complex, in conjunction with what I’ve been doing.&uot;