By Shaun Szkolnik
For The Tribune
ST. CLAIR COUNTY — Billy Murray became the fiftieth sheriff of St. Clair County on Monday. Murray was sworn into office just after 10 a.m.
Photo courtesy of Billy Murray’s Facebook page
“I never wanted to be a movie star, which is good because I’m probably not good looking enough,” Murray said. “Never wanted to be a rock star, never wanted to be an astronaut. I knew from about eight years old that I wanted to be sheriff, and today I am. So, that is enough about me.”
Murray used his remarks to praise the honor and dedication of each member of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department and law enforcement in general. St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department personnel were sworn in shortly before Murray was.
“The men and women of law enforcement have the most dangerous and stressful duty that I can know of any profession,” Murray said. “I don’t know anything that stacks up against it. From our dispatch employees answering a call trying to talk a young mother into CPR for her child to the jailers who spend their days and nights among the worst of the worst of society so that we don’t have to, to the deputies, investigators and supervisors of the sheriff’s department, men and women in uniform I am so honored and proud to stand beside. This is a hard job. It requires trained and tough men and women. What you’re looking at today is exactly that.”
Murray succeeds Terry Surles as the sheriff of St. Clair County. Surles served in St. Clair County for 37 years and was sheriff for the past 20 years.
