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Harold Ray Presley
Harold Ray Presley (October 5, 1948 – July 6, 2001) was an American sheriff known for his war on narcotics. He was the elected sheriff of Lee County, Mississippi, from 1993 to 2001. In 1995, he won the Buford Pusser Officer of the Year Award for his tough stance against illegal drugs. According to the Buford Pusser Home and Museum in Adamsville, Tennessee, Presley's department had confiscated more than $1 million in drugs including marijuana.
A cousin of Elvis Presley, he was a popular sheriff. He started a D.A.R.E. program in his department to work with schools and educate children about resisting drug use; he also started GED and work programs for inmates. During Presley's tenure as sheriff, the county built a new juvenile detention center and a jail with capacity for 202 inmates.
On July 6, 2001, Presley died in a shootout with an alleged kidnapper near Tupelo after pushing his deputy to safety. In January 2008, a 7,766-pound monument which had been dedicated in his memory mysteriously vanished after having stood near the Lee County Jail for five-and-a-half years. On July 6, 2022, 21 years after his death, the intersection of Interstate 22 and Auburn Road, Exit 90, in Lee County was dedicated as the Sheriff Harold Ray Presley Memorial Interchange.
Harold Ray was Elvis Presley's first cousin once removed. His father was Noah Presley, a brother of Elvis's grandfather. Noah was a city marshal and mayor of East Tupelo, where Harold Ray grew up. In his youth, Harold Ray had a reputation for getting drunk and getting into fights.
Presley served in the United States Army and fought in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1970. According to his nephew, Presley completed a GED after finding religion and recovering from alcoholism in the late 1970s. Harold Ray only saw Elvis three times before his famous cousin died in 1977. He attended the police academy in his late thirties.
Presley returned from Vietnam to East Tupelo, where he went to work at the grocery store owned by his lifelong friend, Buddy Palmer. He eventually became a manager at Palmer's Big Star, but after 24 years at the grocery, he decided he wanted a change.
When Sheriff Jack Shirley offered him a job, Presley went to the police academy and joined the sheriff's department as a deputy in 1987. At the time, he joked that he had never ridden in the front seat of a patrol car before, alluding to his past as a rowdy youth. By 1993, Presley was the chief narcotics investigator for the Lee County sheriff's department.
In November 1993, Presley was elected sheriff of Lee County in a special election held to fill the remaining two years of Jack Shirley's term, after Shirley died of cancer the previous year. Presley emerged as the frontrunner in a field of 14 candidates, and went on to win a runoff election against Chief Deputy Robert Armstrong, with 5,834 votes or 56 percent of the overall total, according to unofficial returns. Although he played down his connection to Elvis during his campaign, "Presley For Sheriff" political signs became a coveted souvenir among tourists.
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Harold Ray Presley
Harold Ray Presley (October 5, 1948 – July 6, 2001) was an American sheriff known for his war on narcotics. He was the elected sheriff of Lee County, Mississippi, from 1993 to 2001. In 1995, he won the Buford Pusser Officer of the Year Award for his tough stance against illegal drugs. According to the Buford Pusser Home and Museum in Adamsville, Tennessee, Presley's department had confiscated more than $1 million in drugs including marijuana.
A cousin of Elvis Presley, he was a popular sheriff. He started a D.A.R.E. program in his department to work with schools and educate children about resisting drug use; he also started GED and work programs for inmates. During Presley's tenure as sheriff, the county built a new juvenile detention center and a jail with capacity for 202 inmates.
On July 6, 2001, Presley died in a shootout with an alleged kidnapper near Tupelo after pushing his deputy to safety. In January 2008, a 7,766-pound monument which had been dedicated in his memory mysteriously vanished after having stood near the Lee County Jail for five-and-a-half years. On July 6, 2022, 21 years after his death, the intersection of Interstate 22 and Auburn Road, Exit 90, in Lee County was dedicated as the Sheriff Harold Ray Presley Memorial Interchange.
Harold Ray was Elvis Presley's first cousin once removed. His father was Noah Presley, a brother of Elvis's grandfather. Noah was a city marshal and mayor of East Tupelo, where Harold Ray grew up. In his youth, Harold Ray had a reputation for getting drunk and getting into fights.
Presley served in the United States Army and fought in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1970. According to his nephew, Presley completed a GED after finding religion and recovering from alcoholism in the late 1970s. Harold Ray only saw Elvis three times before his famous cousin died in 1977. He attended the police academy in his late thirties.
Presley returned from Vietnam to East Tupelo, where he went to work at the grocery store owned by his lifelong friend, Buddy Palmer. He eventually became a manager at Palmer's Big Star, but after 24 years at the grocery, he decided he wanted a change.
When Sheriff Jack Shirley offered him a job, Presley went to the police academy and joined the sheriff's department as a deputy in 1987. At the time, he joked that he had never ridden in the front seat of a patrol car before, alluding to his past as a rowdy youth. By 1993, Presley was the chief narcotics investigator for the Lee County sheriff's department.
In November 1993, Presley was elected sheriff of Lee County in a special election held to fill the remaining two years of Jack Shirley's term, after Shirley died of cancer the previous year. Presley emerged as the frontrunner in a field of 14 candidates, and went on to win a runoff election against Chief Deputy Robert Armstrong, with 5,834 votes or 56 percent of the overall total, according to unofficial returns. Although he played down his connection to Elvis during his campaign, "Presley For Sheriff" political signs became a coveted souvenir among tourists.