Shelby County Sheriff-elect Anthony Buckner hosted the first of what he said will be many transition team meetings on Aug. 24 at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
The transition team meeting saw nearly 40 officials and community members partake in assigning priorities for Buckner's administration. Among the top of those priorities, he said, was setting up his command staff.
"One critical thing that we have to accomplish over the next couple of weeks is to start assembling, or building, a leadership team that's gonna lead this agency beside me for the next four years," Buckner told media before the meeting began. "So, it's literally taking pen to paper, looking at the talent, looking where we need to do some national searches
in order to get the best talent here to lead the sheriff's office and the employees. That's critical."
Buckner said he also wants to find a way to address the ongoing issues at the Shelby County Jail at 201 Poplar. Those conversations, he said, are both about how to solve the infrastructure and maintenance crises as well as advancing rehabilitation programs to help inmates while their cases are pending.
The transition team is being chaired by outgoing Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., former Memphis City Councilwoman Patrice Robinson, Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission President Bill Gibbons, and One City Church Lead Pastor Chris Conlee. Other notable members of the team include mental health experts, reentry advocates, community leaders and criminal justice reform advocates.
Attorneys, former city and county elected officials, and out-of-town sheriffs were also listed as members of the transition team.
Buckner will be sworn in as the next sheriff on Sept. 1, a week from the day of his first transition team meeting. Despite having a short runway to assuming office, he said he plans to keep the transition team around for his entire term to advise his administration on the best way forward.
He also said he plans to release a 100-day plan in the coming days with goals for his administration. The plan, Buckner said, will act both as a road map and a public report card to allow the public to hold him and his office accountable.
"You're going to continue to see me in the community, getting feedback," he said. "Feedback is always helpful as a sheriff. And the only way you get that feedback, at least one of the most successful ways to get that feedback, is having boots on the ground in the community to hear from everyday citizens."
Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by phone or email: (901)208-3922 and Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, and followed on X @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County Sheriff-elect Buckner talks transition, first steps
