Jay Koon is reelected by large margin as Lexington County sheriff

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon won a decisive victory in Tuesday’s election.

With all precincts reporting, Koon, the incumbent, had 26,296 votes (71% of the vote).

Koon has been in Lexington law enforcement since 1994 when he worked at the Lexington Police Department. In 2015, he won a special election after former Sheriff James Metts was ousted because of federal charges. In 2016, Koon was elected to a four-year term.

The most important issue in the election, Koon said, is school safety and keeping up with the growth of Lexington County by making sure areas don’t lose police service just because the population is increasing.

His opponent was David Arnold, a Columbia native, who worked at the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department from 1999-2010. After that, he joined the Columbia Police Department to work in the Emergency Preparedness/Homeland Security division.

The most important issue in the election, according to Arnold, is recruiting and retaining deputies and developing teams to concentrate on high-crime areas.

This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 9:32 PM.