State trooper, former marshal running for Anderson County sheriff

An Anderson County man who is a state highway patrolman and former federal deputy U.S. marshal has announced he is running for sheriff.

Anthony Lay is seeking the Republican nomination for Anderson County sheriff in May 2014.

Lay is an officer with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, a press release said. He has served as Scott County sheriff, and when he was 33, was appointed as a federal U.S. marshal in Atlanta.

Lay returned to Anderson County to help his parents after his father suffered a health event, the release said.

“I am announcing my candidacy out of my love for public service and the people who live here,” Lay said in the press release. “Anderson County is a wonderful place to live and work, and the people of Anderson County deserve a safe community and leadership they can trust.”

Lay said he has worked for a large drug and violent crime task force that included four large counties in middle Tennessee, and he has the experience needed to clean up two of the county’s largest crime problems: drugs and theft.

“I intend to not only oversee the department, but I intend to work right along with my officers,” Lay said. “Too many times we see politicians only at election time, but I want to be an elected public servant that is seen on a daily basis—and is accessible to the public.”

He said the budget of the Anderson County Sheriff’s department has grown in a a decade from a little more than $5 million per year to more than $11 million annually.

“Taxpayers have been generous with the Sheriff’s Department, and more money is not the answer,” Lay said. “The answers lie in new technologies and modernization, in new and creative management, and increased networking to discover solutions used by other departments across the state and nation. And my accessibility to the public will be an asset to increasing the cooperative crime control and prevention efforts we build with citizens in the community and in our neighborhood watch programs.”

He said new technologies could make the department more responsive and more efficient while saving taxpayers valuable resources. He also said he could operate the Anderson County Detention Facility, the subject of much discussion, particularly as it expands, with the money already allocated.

“I have opened a jail before under even tighter budget conditions and I can do it again,” Lay said.

The press release said Lay and his wife Jenny live off of Laurel Road in Clinton. They are raising two children, Dylan and Joshua, and Dylan has entered the U.S. Marine Corps.

“I intend to put my training, my experience, my strong communication skills, and my hard work ethic into action to bring solutions to the problems we face,” Lay said. “The sheriff of Anderson County is also a high-visibility job, and I intend to work to highlight where we do well as a community. When companies and families choose where to live, having a hard-working, pro-active, and highly visible and communicative sheriff and department can be the difference maker.”