JJ Reach On His Plans for Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office

Jacob “JJ” Reach is a retired Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Captain who is currently running for Jefferson County Sheriff in the Nov. 3 election.

Reach spent 30 years serving the County, with leadership roles in patrol, corrections, sex offender enforcement and school resource operations. He now works as an investigator with the Calera Police Department. His campaign priorities include filling deputy vacancies, improving public safety and creating units focused on human trafficking and crimes against children.

ALPolitics.com recently spoke with Reach about the race, his experience and qualifications, and his vision for the Sheriff’s office.

We began by asking him why he decided to run for Sheriff of Jefferson County.

“I'm not a politician. I've never run for office,” Reach began. “I had some gentlemen approach me and asked me if I'd consider running, and at that point, I felt honored, humbled, and felt like it was a calling to do so.”

We then asked him about his qualifications to hold the office of Sheriff.

Reach began by saying, “I've retired as a Captain with over 30 years of experience. I served in every capacity at the Sheriff's office. I was over the school resource division as a Lieutenant when we oversaw the transition to put a deputy into every school. We went from 14 deputies to 62 deputies and provided one for every school in Jefferson County.

“From there, I also served as a Captain over the Birmingham Corrections Division. Also served as Captain over the Birmingham Patrol Division. The majority of my career was in investigations, including about 15 years in child exploitation, and also running the Jefferson County Sex Offender Unit.”

ALPolitics.com asked Reach what he felt were the main deficiencies he saw in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department at present, and what were the strengths?

Reach answered, saying, “Currently, you have 150 deputy vacancies for the second consecutive year in a row. That's not a number that I've made up. That's a number that they provided to the Jefferson County Commission for the second year in a row.

“As far as the strengths go, you have good deputies that have been there for 15, 20-plus years, and there's nowhere else for them to go. The lack of leadership is a great concern, but the people that are there are a strength. And, my goal is to be the leader to be able to provide them with the opportunity to go out and put boots on the ground and do their job without fear of retribution.”

We then asked what, assuming he is elected on Nov. 3, would be the first things he would do after taking office?

“The first thing I want to do is address the number of vacancies that they have. We have a strategic plan in place to go out and recruit, hire, and obtain retention through that process,” Reach said.

“We also have a plan in place to create a human trafficking division, which I am passionate about. I believe that we should be able to pursue offenders that prey upon our children who can't protect themselves. That's one of the things that I absolutely am passionate about.

“Those are one of the first two priorities that we will make happen. And then again, just being able to ensure the deputies that they have proper leadership to where they can go out and do their job.”

ALPolitics.com then asked if he considers himself a Constitutional Sheriff, and what being a Constitutional Sheriff means to him.

“I do believe myself to be a Constitutional Sheriff,” Reach said, “and by that, I mean one of the priorities is the constitutional authority to oversee the jail.”

“Right now, there is a grave concern within the facility. You've had five inmate deaths within the last six weeks. You've had nine deaths in 2025. You've got a lack of personnel that are inside of the facility, meaning the number of vacancies.

“I believe that there should be a humane process for those that are incarcerated, and by that I mean that everybody that is arrested is innocent until proven guilty. The local Sheriff's office is a holding facility; it's not a rehabilitation facility.

“Those that are there deserve to be in a place that provides adequate healthcare, adequate cleanliness, and adequate food for those individuals that are there. It should not be a place of profit off those that are incarcerated, or their loved ones.

“And by that, I mean they provide less food, and then they provide a jail commissary, which the current Sheriff profits off of, and that is a grave concern,” Reach explained.

We then asked Reach to explain why he believes the County Sheriff’s office is important, especially considering the high quality of many of the municipal police departments in Jefferson County.

Reach began by saying, “One thing that I emphasize is that if you live in a jurisdiction and you have a great police department, understand that those police departments, whenever they obtain a felony warrant, or if they make an arrest on a felony, and those individuals fail to come to court — all felony warrants and all failure to appear warrants go through the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office to serve.

“Currently, there are over 14,000 outstanding felony warrants in Jefferson County, and due to the vacancies, there is no one serving those warrants. If you cut those numbers in half, just think of the amount of crime that would be reduced within the first three, six months. And I think that we can accomplish that.

“But, that is something that's imperative to those that have a good police department to understand — that all felony warrants go through Jefferson County, and right now, due to the vacancies, there is no one serving those warrants.”

ALPolitics.com then asked him to briefly tell the voters of Jefferson County why they should vote for JJ Reach on November 3rd.

“Look, I believe that we are in a position to do better. I strive to provide a safe community, a safer place to work, a safer place to raise your family, and a safer place to be able to come home and not have to worry about whether a stray bullet is coming through your front door.

“We have a partnership that we will implement with the federal government as well to go after those that have guns through the ATF and charge those individuals federally instead of state, so that we get a quicker conviction,” Reach concluded.

Jacob “JJ” Reach will face incumbent Sheriff Mark Pettway on the ballot in the November 3 general election.

For more information on Reach and his campaign, visit https://www.electreachforsheriff.com.