CHATHAM SHERIFF SAYS HE WON'T RUN FOR ELECTION

PITTSBORO -- Chatham County Sheriff Ike Gray is not running for office next
year.

"I will not be on the ballot in 2002," Gray told a Chapel Hill Herald
reporter Thursday.

Gray said he had no further comment other than he planned to issue a future
statement.

The department has received much criticism about last year's thefts of
nearly 5,000 pounds of marijuana that the department had confiscated in its
largest drug bust.

Gray was appointed sheriff last December after former Sheriff Don Whitt
retired because of health reasons. Whitt had been at the department's helm
when the two marijuana thefts occurred -- one from a truck on the
department grounds, where the marijuana was being stored, and the other
from the Chatham County landfill, where the remaining marijuana was buried.

"It's a shame that he had to end his career on circumstances that really
weren't his doing," said Chatham County Commissioner Rick Givens, who
announced his candidacy for sheriff earlier this week.

N.C. Highway patrolman Randy Knight, who announced his candidacy for
sheriff last spring, wasn't surprised by Gray's announcement. He said he
expected it considering the department's negative publicity of late.

"I think that sheriff's department is in major turmoil," Knight said.

Also in the race are Pittsboro Police Department patrol sergeant Richard H.
Webster and Siler City Police Detective Jimmy Bowden.

"I think [the race] is going to be wide open," Knight said. "There's some
good guys out there."

The filing period opens Jan. 7.

Knight and Givens both said Gray is better qualified for law enforcement
than administration.

They said if elected sheriff that Gray would still be welcome in some capacity.

Neither Webster nor Bowden could be reached for comment Thursday.