Gwinnett officials approved Tuesday the contract for the county’s next police chief.

Tom Doran will take over next month for retiring Gwinnett County Police Department Chief Butch Ayers. Doran began his career with GCPD in 1993, is an 18-year veteran of the SWAT team and currently serves as an assistant chief over the department's operations bureau.

Doran’s new contract includes a base salary of $182,000. He is making around $145,000 in his current position.

Soon-to-be Gwinnett police Chief Tom Doran. (Courtesy: Gwinnett County)
icon to expand image

Ayers has been with the department for 35 years and took over as chief in 2014. He will step down Nov. 15.

“You have big shoes to fill,” Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash told Doran on Tuesday. “But I know that you’re going to do a great job.”

Doran will be the fifth consecutive Gwinnett chief to rise through the ranks after starting with the department as an officer.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Amber Hicks’ father, Mark Boggs (center), hugs Hicks’ cousin Kirstyn Bauer upon hearing the life sentence for Matthew Lanz on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. Lanz was convicted a day earlier in the 2021 killings of Hicks and her husband, Justin, in their Acworth home. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Featured

Tracy Woodard from InTown Cares (left) and Lauren Hopper from Mercy Care organization work with residents at the Copperton Street encampment in August 2024. 
(Miguel Martinez / AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez