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"Be sure you're right...
Then back down from no man." -Sheriff Jess Sweeten (1932-1954)
A law enforcement legend, Jess Sweeten was elected to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office in 1932, the youngest sheriff Texas has seen to that point. Sweeten served in this role for 22 years, developing a reputation as a dogged investigator and a fearless gunfighter. As sheriff, Sweeten solved two mass murder cases and over 2,000 felonies, regularly risking his own life in the line of duty. Jess Sweeten was involved in over 150 fist fights, three car wrecks, and eleven shootouts throughout his career, including a lethal encounter with Gerald Johnson, the “Dallas Kid”, a hardened killer with dozens of hijacking charges in the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone. Sweeten went on to serve as mayor of Athens, Texas leaving behind one of the finest records of achievement in the history of law enforcement.
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