Plott set to leave office

Next month, Franklin County Sheriff Larry Plott will be retiring from the position that he has held for 28 consecutive years – longer than anyone else in Franklin County’s history.

Plott decided early this year not to seek an eighth term and he will step down in January to make way for sheriff-elect Shannon Oliver.

Even though Plott has served as sheriff for 28 years, he has been involved in public service in some way for almost 40 years.

During this time he has worked for the county, the state and the justice department and has served as a policeman, sheriff, custom’s agent, park ranger and U.S. deputy marshal.

Plott began his career of service in Phil Campbell in the early 1970s when he, along with several other people, went through emergency medical technician school and helped establish the first ambulance service in Phil Campbell.

He also helped establish a volunteer fire department in East Franklin.

“Both of those projects were started from the ground up,” Plott said. “We converted a van into an ambulance and we ran that fire department out of an old chicken house. It doesn’t seem like much now, but those were services those two areas needed.”

A short time later, Plott served as a reserve policeman in Phil Campbell before being given the opportunity to work at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department as a reserve deputy sheriff and eventually a deputy sheriff in the mid ‘70s.

“During the time I was working as a deputy sheriff, I had the desire for the sheriff’s department to reach a more professional level and provide a better level of service to the citizens,” Plott said, “and this applied to me as well as everyone else who worked there.”

In 1982, Plott ran for sheriff along with 13 others. He was elected by the Franklin County voters and took office in January of 1983.

“The way things were back then was as different as daylight and dark from they way things are now,” he said. “When I became sheriff there were nine employees, and that included jailers, patrolmen, dispatch and office workers. That figure has increased along with the responsibilities people have to do.

“The written laws were also completely different then and there wasn’t an established standard for training. Over the years I have seen this all evolve.”

Plott has been involved in many cases, operations and projects over the years, but there have been a few that stood out to him. Early in his career as sheriff, Plott worked to get increased pay for deputies because even though he was at the head of the department, he hadn’t forgotten what it was like to be a deputy.

“Early in my career, there were three sheriffs who were instrumental in getting a minimum pay bill for the deputy sheriff’s across the state and I was fortunate to be one of those sheriffs,” he said. “Some deputies were making $3 an hour and that was just unacceptable. We also lobbied the legislators for improvements in our equipment, such as weapons and radios, and improvements in the conditions we were working in.”

Plott has also been recognized for the instrumental role he played in bringing down the Dawson Gang, an infamous crime ring in Northwest Alabama known for bootlegging, gambling and bank robbing.

While sheriff of Franklin County, Plott was simultaneously serving as a U.S. deputy marshal and played the role of a corrupt sheriff in order to see the members of the Dawson Gang brought to justice – a role that warranted protection for his family.

“For my involvement in that case, I didn’t do any more than my job; I just did what I was supposed to do,” Plott said. “In this position you have to lead by example.”

Plott said that working with agencies in other counties and even other countries has been a rewarding experience, and during his 28 years as sheriff, he has received several letters of commendation from the FBI as well from Scotland Yard.

“I have always tried to mend the gap between local, state, federal and even international agencies,” Plott said. “It’s very important to work together towards a common goal.”

Even after all these achievements, Plott said that one project that stands out to him is a project involving the military.

He said that when the local soldiers were stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky., preparing to leave for a 15-month tour of duty in Iraq, the sheriff’s department received word that if enough money could be raised, the Russellville soldiers could come home to visit their families for before Christmas.

While Plott was organizing the fundraising efforts, he received a call from high-ranking officials at Fort Campbell who said that it wouldn’t be fair for only the Russellville soldiers to come home. Enough money would have to be raised for the 10 buses full of soldiers to visit their families.

Plott contacted sheriffs and individual citizens from five counties and together they were eventually able to raise the money to get those men and women home to their families before the holidays.

“My son was part of that unit so it was extra special to me,” he said. “But just knowing that those people would get to visit their families before fighting overseas was enough to make it all worth while.”

During his law enforcement career, Plott has received the Minuteman Award for contribution to the military, recognition from other countries, and a host of awards, both community and law enforcement-related, that would take up an entire room if hung on the walls.

Plott said that he has had good experiences and bad experiences and that each experience helped strengthen his faith.

“All of these things that I have accomplished during my time here I couldn’t have done without my faith,” he said, “and my trials professionally as well as personally have made me a stronger person.”

Plott’s faith has been important to him throughout his career and he has served as a deacon of Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church, through which he has done mission work near the Andes Mountains and in the Dominican Republic and other islands.

After Plott retires, his status will be supernumerary and he will still be a reserve sheriff for the state of Alabama. He said he still plans to work, but he will be making sure he spends plenty of time on the farm, fishing and with his wife, Pam; his son, Hugh; his daughter, Tonya Nix; his granddaughters, Hillary, Courtney, Karley, Chloe and Kyley; and his mother, Mildred.

While Plott has seen more than his share of crime and tragedy over the years, he still values Franklin County and the time he has served the people here.

“We’re a small county, but our people are just as brave, just as responsible, and just as dedicated to our county and to our country,” he said. “After I retire, I will miss the people I work with and the people throughout the county who have become like family to me.

“With heartfelt appreciation, I want to thank the people of this county for allowing me to serve them for this many years.”