Law of the Land

This election season, the top criminal justice positions of every county in Virginia are on the ballot – sheriffs and commonwealth's attorneys. These positions have immense influence over the landscape of a county's legal system. Where are resources focused? What crimes and investigations are prioritized? How are cases tried? What sentences are sought? WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reviewed several of those races in our broadcast region, and spoke with incumbents and challengers for this five-part series.

Law of the Land finale: new sheriff elected in Culpeper

WMRA | By Randi B. Hagi

Published November 8, 2023 at 4:34 PM EST

Culpeper County Sheriff-elect Tim Chilton campaigned on the slogans of community unity, policing not politics, and trust and transparency.

The results of most of our local elections are in – and there's a new sheriff in town in Culpeper County. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.

Tim Chilton is poised to assume leadership of the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office after a resounding victory Tuesday night. He raked in 55% of the vote. Fellow challenger Joe Watson took 24%, and incumbent Scott Jenkins – currently facing federal bribery charges – took 20%.

Chilton is currently the deputy chief of the Culpeper Police Department, a smaller law enforcement agency that operates in the town of Culpeper.

TIM CHILTON: Everybody was sending their congratulations and praises and stuff like that, and it was, it's actually kind of surreal.

Chilton said other law enforcement veterans have been reaching out and visiting him at the Culpeper Police Department – where he's the deputy chief for a few more months – to lend him their advice. He's eager to bring a culture of active leadership to the sheriff's office.

CHILTON: My first big project is hunting down some grants for the body cameras. … That's going to be right out the gate.

As for the results of the other races we've covered recently – Marsha Garst and Jim Hingeley, running unopposed for their respective prosecutor's offices, each bagged 98% of the vote. Tim Carter, officially running unopposed, skated into his sixth term as Shenandoah County sheriff with 90%, while write-in candidates took 10%. Republican Elizabeth Cooper ousted Independent Amanda Wiseley for Shenandoah County Commonwealth's Attorney with a 67% win. In the clash of the cousins for Page County Sheriff, incumbent Chad Cubbage appears to have held onto his seat with a narrow 351-vote margin – which does not include any provisional ballots that were cast on Tuesday.