A former Captain with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office was terminated Tuesday after an investigation revealed he had been entering another Sheriff candidate’s locked office.
Dale Dillow, who was the former commander of the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, was terminated from employment with Jackson County Tuesday after an independent investigation into alleged policy violations, according to current Sheriff Janis Mangum.
Those allegations included violations of unbecoming and immoral conduct.
Mangum was made aware of the allegations against Dillow on Oct. 16, when Deputy Kevin McCook, the Training Director at the Sheriff’s Office, said someone had been entering his locked office without permission.
McCook had previously placed a camera in his office after noticing several items on his desk were moved around when he was not there. On Oct. 10, McCook caught Dillow on camera entering his office and looking through items in his desk drawers and photographing paperwork.
Once the issue was brought to the attention of Sheriff Mangum, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office was contacted to conduct an independent investigation.
Both Dillow and McCook have announced candidacies for Sheriff Mangum's position in Jackson County, when she retires Dec. 2024. Dillow denied that his actions were politically motivated and claimed that he was “looking through the calendar because he believed McCook was away from the office, while on duty,” Mangum said Thursday.
Dillow maintains no supervisory authority over McCook, and further investigation indicated McCook had in fact been present at work, performing his assigned duties.
Before being terminated, Dillow, a 23-year employee of the agency, was demoted to the rank of Deputy and was placed on administrative leave, pending the results of the independent investigation.
“It’s difficult for me to make sense of why someone would risk their entire career with this petty and ridiculous conduct,” Mangum said. “It tarnishes our profession when even one of our men and women act in such an unprofessional manner. I hold my team to a high standard and there are obvious policy violations that could not go unanswered.”
The investigation revealed there was no criminal activity, but Dillow was reportedly guilty of multiple policy violations that warranted his dismissal.
The dismissal does not impact Dillow’s eligibility to run for Jackson County Sheriff.
