DeKalb County Sheriff Jeff Mann's leadership is being challenged by four opponents in next week's primary election who say the department has suffered from low morale and ineffectiveness.

Mann, who has been in charge of the sheriff’s office for two years, said he has recorded high arrest rates while offering quality inmate rehabilitation programs.

But his challengers argue that Mann hasn’t done enough to improve public safety, save taxpayer money and seek employee pay raises.

Mann faces retired homicide detective Geraldine Champion, retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent Ted Golden, former Deputy Sheriff Kyle Jones and investigator Michael Williams in the May 24 Democratic primary election.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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