Mark Pettway

Mark L. Pettway (born 1964 in Birmingham) is the newly-elected Sheriff of Jefferson County, succeeding Mike Hale in 2018.

Pettway, the son of Ed and Camilla Satisfield Pettway, grew up in Birmingham's College Hills neighborhood and worked as a paper carrier for the Birmingham News. He attended both Birmingham and Jefferson County Schools, graduating from Ensley High School. He attended Jefferson State Community College and completed a business degree at Faulkner University.

Pettway earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Faulkner University and joined the Birmingham Police Department in 1991. He worked in the Birmingham City Jail as a correctional specialist and transferred to the Fairfield Police Department as a patrol officer in 1993. He then moved to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in 1999. Since being promoted to detective sergeant in 2008 he worked on an IRS task force and taught cyber crime and identification theft classes for the department's training academy. Pettway is an active member of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Pettway advanced to a runoff with Wilson Hale Jr in the 2018 Democratic primary and defeated incumbent Mike Hale by a 51.5/48.5 margin in the general election.

He and his wife, Vanessa have two daughters, Markia and Gabrielle.

Preceded by: Mike Hale	Jefferson County Sheriff 2018–	Succeeded by: current

References

Robinson, Carol (November 7, 2018) "Jefferson County’s first black sheriff vows to be Nick Saban of law enforcement." The Birmingham News