Voters in Berrien County will elect a new sheriff in 2024 as Sheriff Paul Bailey says he will not run for another term. Bailey says he is intending to retire at the end of this year and has served as sheriff since 2000. He became a police officer in 1979. Undersheriff Chuck Heit says he has filed paperwork with the Berrien County Clerk’s Office to run for sheriff in 2024, but has not made an official announcement. Heit has been Bailey’s undersheriff for 21 years and will seek the interim sheriff appointment when Bailey announces his retirement date. That decision will be made by a committee of the Berrien County prosecutor, county clerk, and probate court chief judge.
