DRUG INVESTIGATOR ENTERS SHERIFF'S OFFICE RACE

Kyle Callaghan, a Mobile County sheriff's narcotics investigator
assigned to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, announced
Wednesday that he is running for sheriff as a Republican.

Callaghan kicked off his campaign Wednesday night at the Knights of
Columbus hall on Pleasant Valley Road.

His entry brings to seven the number of Republicans seeking the
sheriff's office. Jack Tillman, a Republican, has held the post since
1995 and is seeking re-election.

The other Republican candidates are: Gerald Deas, a retired sheriff's
deputy who recently returned from serving as an international police
officer; John Graham, the owner of a gym in west Mobile and a former
Mobile police lieutenant; Tommy Menton, a Mobile police lieutenant;
Murdock Thomas, a former deputy and now a church pastor; and Clint
Ulmer, a Saraland businessman who owns a temporary staffing company.

Two Democrats have said they are running for sheriff: James Mayo, a
former chief deputy in Tillman's administration; and Harry W. Bachus
Jr., a commercial safety investigator and state constable.

Both primaries will be held June 4, with runoffs, if necessary,
slated for June 25. The general election is Nov. 5. The office of
sheriff currently pays about $90,000 a year.

Callaghan, 39, said he would focus on driving drug dealers from the
county, partly by creating a 24-hour team of drug investigators that
would work on short-term and long-term cases.

"Kyle Callaghan is going to be the worst nightmare of drug lords in
Mobile County," he said. "Drugs are the root of all problems in the
criminal justice system."

He said he was the lead investigator in the Wee Care Daycare Learning
Center drug case. Au thorities charged 23 people whom they accused of
bringing more than two tons of marijuana from Texas to Mobile and
laundering the profits through the day care center on Broad Street.

Tillman has cited that case as one of his department's accomplishments.

Callaghan said he would re-institute and add drug education to the
Junior Deputy program, which sought to curb crime by "deputizing"
children. He said he would search nationwide for a warden for the
Mobile County Metro Jail and increase training for corrections
officers.

Callaghan has been with the Sheriff's Department for 14 years. He is
married and has two daughters.