Veteran State Trooper Charlie Creel Enters Sheriff's Race for Wakulla County

Charlie Creel, 55, a 30-year, decorated veteran of the Florida Highway Patrol, is announcing his candidacy for the office of Wakulla County Sheriff with a pledge to make Wakulla County safe.

“I make this pledge to you and I make it to my family: I believe we all share a stake in Wakulla County’s future, and as your sheriff, I can help make that future a safe one,” Creel said.

As sheriff, Creel said his first priorities will be to put more deputies on patrol and crack down on the illegal narcotics flowing in and out of Wakulla County.

“Burglaries and drugs go hand in hand, and with the increasing number of burglaries reported every week, I’d say we have a pretty serious drug problem,” he said. “I intend to put a stop to that.”

Creel also pledges to:

be a full-time sheriff,
make the sheriff’s budget open and transparent,
create a program for sheriff’s personnel to be mentors for at-risk children, and
lead with honesty and integrity.

Creel believes his lengthy and diverse training and experience in law enforcement will help him revitalize the sheriff’s office to best protect Wakulla County’s residents.

Creel has had more than 1,500 hours of law enforcement training. He has worked as a criminal investigator, motorcycle patrol officer, and security officer for Gov. Lawton Chiles. In 1988 he was the co-lead investigator on a joint FBI/FHP investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of a group of people who had defrauded the insurance industry of more than $1 million. In 1994 he coordinated law enforcement between the Governor’s Office and the U. S. Secret Service during a summit meeting attended by presidents of all 35 countries in the Western Hemisphere.

During his eight years assigned to Wakulla County, he was awarded two FHP Directors Awards for saving lives, was named Trooper of the Month, and was nominated for Trooper of the Year.

Currently, Creel is employed by Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan as a management consultant to the Florida Department of Transportation.

Although Creel has been a longtime registered Democrat, he is running as a No Party Affiliation candidate this year.

“I believe party politics has no place in the sheriff’s race,” he said. “I am ready to put my experience to work for all the people – every single person – in Wakulla County as your next sheriff.”

For more information, please contact Charlie at (850) 926-1184, send e-mail to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , visit www.charliecreel.com, or write to PO Box 1677, Crawfordville, FL 32326-1677.

This article originally published on April 4, 2008.

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