CULLMAN, Ala. – Cullman County District Attorney Elect Champ Crocker on Tuesday announced the formation of his transition team.
Below is Crocker’s announcement, in full:
Today I am announcing the formation of my transition team who will assist me and make recommendations in preparation for my administration. I am grateful to these men and women who are volunteering their time to serve on my transition team. This highly skilled team is made up of law enforcement, an attorney, a physician, a pastor, business owners and a children’s advocate. I look forward to working with these men and women and hearing their recommendations about public safety, victim services and transparent government. I am also grateful to District Attorney (Wilson) Blaylock for pledging a smooth transition. My top priority for when I take office on Jan. 16, 2023, is having a fully operational and effective District Attorney’s Office.
CAPTAIN EDWARD POTTER, Ph.D., has served in law enforcement since 1988 when he began his career as a detention deputy, and has since worked on patrol, as a school resource officer, police chief, detention administrator and currently, as the victim services coordinator for the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office.
EMILY NIEZER JOHNSTON attended Cumberland School of Law and finished in 2001. She worked doing insurance defense litigation in Birmingham after law school and then moved to Lee County where she was an assistant district attorney. She returned to Cullman to raise her family in 2006 and continued to practice law and teach classes at Wallace State Community College. Currently, she served as the attorney for Cullman (County) and is the president of the Cullman Bar Association.
MATT SMITH has served as senior pastor at East Side Baptist Church since 2016. He is a graduate of the University of Mobile and the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Pastor Smith has also served as a law enforcement chaplain since 2006 and is the lead chaplain at the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office. In 2019 Pastor Smith established a 501(C)(3), the First Responders Foundation of Alabama, a ministry for law enforcement, firefighters and EMS.
STACY JOHNSON is a licensed RN with the Alabama Board of Nursing. She and her husband are licensed foster parents. Her passion is advocating for victims of child abuse and for stronger penalties against individuals who commit crimes against the innocent.
BRADLEY WILLIAMS is currently director of Cullman County Economic Development. He also served six years as a deputy sheriff and communications director at the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office.
DR. JAMES THOMAS has practiced medicine in the Cullman area for over 25 years. He currently serves as vice chairman of the Cullman County Industrial Development Authority, which he has served on for many years.
GERALD “JEREMY” WOOTTEN, III is a Cullman native. He is the president and CFO of HomTex, Inc. Jeremy has been married for 12 years to his lovely wife Sadie. They have two sons, G. Edward “Teddy” Wootten, IV (6) and S. Jackson “Jack” Wootten (5). They are members of the First Baptist Church of Cullman. Jeremy is active in the Cullman community and supports a variety of charitable causes.
