Henry County's police chief plans to call it quits at the end of the month.

Russell Abernathy, a lifelong resident of Henry County, has held the top post since Feb. 2005.

In 1997, Abernathy retired from the Georgia State Patrol following 30 years of service. He was later employed as a consultant for the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia.

Abernathy, 64, said he plans to spend more time with his family in Tennessee.

The county manager is expected to name an interim chief, spokeswoman Julie Hoover-Ernst said.

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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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