Chief Deputy Jeff Neal will become Bowie County's sheriff on Jan. 1.
After final voting totals were posted about more than eight hours after the polls closed, Neal garnered 7,349 votes to George Huggins' 5,233 votes, according to complete but unofficial results.
Neal, 49, has been Bowie County Chief Deputy for six years. Prior to being chief deputy, he served as captain of the Criminal Investigation Division and before that served in the Texarkana, Texas Police Department for 13 years.
He said prior to the election he has spent his entire adult career in law enforcement and it would be an honor to serve the citizens of Bowie County as Sheriff.
He ran on a platform of returning the staffing level of the Sheriff's Office to the level it once was by adding a deputy to each patrol shift and one investigator to focus solely on narcotics.
Neal and his wife Tiffani have two children.
Huggins, 54, is an investigator with the New Boston Police Department. He holds a dual commission and also serves as an elected Constable of Precinct 2.
He started his law enforcement career in September 1992, when he was hired by the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department, where he served for seven years. During his time, Huggins was awarded two lifesaving awards, selected as Officer of the Year in 1995 and served as a training officer for five years.
In October 1999, he went to work for the Bowie County Sheriff's Department, under then-Sheriff Mary Choate. He served 19 years with the Sheriff's Department - three years as an investigator, and 15 years as a patrol lieutenant. In October 2018, he went to work as an investigator with the New Boston Police Department, where he is currently employed.
Huggins ran on a platform of increasing visibility and productivity to the sheriff's department by adding more deputies to the patrol division and aggressively seeking grants that would help in upgrading technology, equipment and personnel.
Huggins believes the three biggest issues facing the sheriff's office are shortage of personnel, jail operations and the growing drug problem. He believes it is important to work with commissioners and find some type of common ground.
He has said he is not opposed to the county running the jail, nor is he opposed to contracting it out. He said regardless of who is running the jail, the sheriff is still responsible and should oversee the operation to insure jail standards are maintained and policies are being followed.
Huggins lives in Malta with his wife Delane and two daughters. He also has two adult sons.