UNION, WV (WOAY) – The Monroe County Commission has appointed an interim sheriff to replace Sheriff Jeffrey Jones, who resigned yesterday amid ongoing public scrutiny.
The commission appointed Michael Miller, former Greenbrier head of security and retired West Virginia State Trooper, to take over the office.
Miller will serve for the next nine months until the sheriff elected this November takes over in January.
Notably, Miller is not running in the primary election, and the commission said that is no accident.
“To be fair in the Primary Election, we had to appoint someone not in the current Sheriff race. It is our duty, as a Commission, to not interfere or give anyone an unfair advantage in the upcoming election,” the commission said in a statement.
Former Sheriff Jones resigned yesterday amid public scrutiny of his obstruction of a child porn investigation into a deputy last year.
Both Jones and the deputy, Evan Paul Blankenship, were arrested by the state police last year. Jones was charged with failure to report the alleged crime as a mandated reporter, obstruction, and deception of a civil commission. Blankenship faces child pornography charges.
