{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nClifton G. Worley Jr. is the incumbent sheriff of Johnson County, Tennessee, and is seeking to retain the office in the August 6, 2026 county-general election [1]. He appears on the general-election ballot as an independent candidate; the Republican nominee is Shawn \"Bit\" Brown, who won the party's May 5, 2026 primary [1][4].\n\n## Career\nWorley's service with the Johnson County Sheriff's Office dates to 1992, and he rose to chief deputy [2]. Following the death of Sheriff Eddie Tester in August 2023, Worley served as acting sheriff, and on October 23, 2023 the county commission appointed him interim sheriff in a unanimous vote [2].\n\n## Office history\nActing sheriff (2023) and then interim sheriff by appointment on October 23, 2023 [2]. Worley ran in the August 2024 general election to serve the remainder of Tester's term [2][3], and is listed as the county's sitting sheriff as of 2026 [1].\n\n## Legislative record and accomplishments\nAs sheriff, Worley has identified addressing the county's drug problem and expanding drug-education programming in local schools as priorities, along with completing a radio-communications tower project begun under his predecessor [2][3].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [County and City Officials - Johnson County Election Commission](https://jctnvote.com/county-and-city-officials) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Newly-appointed Johnson County sheriff Clifton Worley shares his plans for the office - WCYB](https://wcyb.com/news/local/newly-appointed-johnson-county-sheriff-clifton-worley-shares-his-plans-for-the-office) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[3] [Three candidates running for Johnson County sheriff - WJHL (via Yahoo)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/three-candidates-running-johnson-county-234847638.html) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[4] [Brown wins Johnson County sheriff Republican primary - WJHL](https://www.wjhl.com/news/your-local-election-hq/brown-wins-johnson-county-sheriff-republican-primary/) - accessed 2026-07-23","campaigns":[{"contest":"sheriff","county":"Johnson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"TN","title":"Sheriff"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"CLIFTON","fullname":"CLIFTON G. WORLEY JR.","lastname":"JR.","middlename":"G. WORLEY","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"sheriff","contest_title":"Sheriff","county":"Johnson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"sheriff","office_title":null,"party":"I","pgr":"general","state":"TN"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"sheriff","contest_title":"Sheriff","county":"Johnson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"sheriff","office_title":null,"party":"I","pgr":"general","state":"TN"},"party":"I","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"summary":"Incumbent Johnson County sheriff, with the department since 1992 and appointed to lead it in 2023; running as an independent in 2026 against GOP nominee Shawn Brown.","terms":[],"token":"mNPrK4534U"}