Anthony Lay

This encyclopedia article is about a living person.

Anthony Lay is a lawman originally from Scott County, who served as Scott County Sheriff from 2006 to 2010.

See Also: Sheriffs of Scott County
Preceded By: Jim Carson • Succeeded By: Mike Cross

Personal Life

Lay is the son of T.L. and Kathy Lay. He is married to Mercedes Edwards.

Career in Law Enforcement

Lay began his career in law enforcement after graduating from Scott High School in 1995, taking a job as dispatcher at Oneida Police Department. He also worked as an intern at Winfield Police Department, and worked as a deputy at the Scott County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Jim Carson.

Lay later joined the Tennessee Highway Patrol as a state trooper, a position he held for six years.

Sheriff of Scott County

Lay was elected Scott County Sheriff in 2006, at the age of 29. He defeated Jim Carson in a four-way race, winning by a relative landslide. Lay received 4,163 votes while Carson received 2,182 votes and retired highway patrolman Eddie R. Pierce received 1,623 votes. Ancil D. Chambers received 285 votes.

Lay was at the time the youngest sheriff in the State of Tennessee, and one of the youngest sheriffs in Scott County’s history.

Lay’s tenure as sheriff was perhaps best noted for his decision to go head-to-head with Scott County Commission for a pay raise. He was ultimately successful. It was during Lay’s tenure that the Sheriff’s Department moved to the new Scott County Justice Center, in 2008, which replaced the old jail and administrative offices. Lay was the first sheriff in Scott County’s history to issue service weapons to all law enforcement officers in his department. He brought Bobby Ellis, with whom he had worked at Winfield Police Department, on board as his chief deputy.

Lay resigned in April 2010 to accept a job with the U.S. Marshal Service. He was up for re-election that year, and was being challenged by Carson and Oneida Chief of Police Mike Cross, among others.

When he resigned, Lay endorsed Ellis as his successor in the August 2010 election. However, it was too late for Ellis to qualify to have his name on the ballot, forcing him to mount a write-in candidacy. He received 1,478 write-in votes, but lost the race to Cross, who received 1,975 votes. Carson received 1,643 votes. Also running were Brad Lay, Doc Hall and Brian Keeton. While Lay was officially on the ballot, he did not campaign and received 69 votes.

Later Years

After resigning from the U.S. Marshal Service, Lay returned to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. He ran for sheriff in Anderson County in 2014, representing the Republican Party. He was challenging incumbent Paul White, a Democrat. It was a close race, with White winning re-election by a vote count of 7,386 to 6,918.

The race was marked by Lay’s suspension by the Highway Patrol, which he said was political targeting. Lay later resigned from the Highway Patrol.

Lay ran for sheriff in Scott County again in 2018, challenging Ronnie Phillips. However, he was not able to qualify to have his name on the ballot because the Tennessee P.O.S.T. Commission determined he had not established a residency in Scott County in sufficient time. He was living in Clinton, Tenn. Lay instead ran as a write-in candidate. Phillips received 5,397 votes to Lay’s 1,587.

Lay later took a job with the police department in Jellico, Tenn. and was promoted to captain of that department. However, he resigned in protest — along with two of his fellow officers — in March 2023, after he and department chief Gary Perkins were placed on 90-day probation by the town’s Police/Fire/Dispatch Committee.