BY JOHN BRICE
FOR THE LAFAYETTE SUN
CHAMBERS COUNTY — Chambers County voters will elect a new coroner on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. Coroner Jeff Jones did not seek reelection, so a newcomer will lead the office.
Republican Levi Richardson and Democrat Maurice Ward will appear on the ballot. Both spoke with The LaFayette Sun about their qualifications and plans for the office.
Richardson has served as a deputy coroner since late 2021, working alongside Jones. He said he has completed many of the training courses the Alabama Coroners Association now requires, including continuing education, which is a recent change.
“I have continued just to grow and learn as one of the deputy coroners to make sure that I can adequately serve the people of Chambers County as their coroner,” Richardson said.
Richardson led a five-candidate Republican primary field in May, then defeated runner-up Glenn Johnson in a runoff.
“All of them were good candidates,” he said. “Definitely the experience on my side helped me lead that … They made me work for it for sure.”
Since the runoff, Richardson has campaigned while working a full-time job, raising his family and keeping up with his duties as deputy coroner. He said he has responded to most of the office’s calls during that time.
If elected, Richardson said his first priority will be securing a dedicated office. Without one, the coroner’s office is ineligible for technology that would let staff run IDs and pull information from driver’s licenses.
“We are limited right now because we don’t have a brick-and-mortar dedicated office space,” he said. “That is one of the first things that I am going to be pushing for.”
Ward has worked in the funeral business his entire life. His parents founded Ward’s Funeral Home in Opelika in 1953, and his brother, Jerome Ward, opened a location in Valley in the 1960s. Ward also sells insurance and works as a bail bondsman.
He graduated in 2008 from Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service in Decatur, Georgia, with an applied science degree in funeral service. He holds both a funeral director’s license and an embalmer’s license.
Ward said his experience embalming and examining bodies has prepared him for the job.
“All of it is dealing with death basically. That is all I have been around pretty much and have known all my life,” he said. “Dealing with people in general, that is my main thing. I like people. I enjoy people.”
Ward said a coroner must show compassion for grieving families.
“It shouldn’t just be someone comes to your house and pronounces your family member deceased,” he said. “I think there needs to be a little bit more to it than that.”
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 3.
