Cherokee Chief Marshal Hunton Announces Retirement After 40 Years

CANTON, GA – After working for more than 40 years in law enforcement, including 25 in Cherokee County, Chief Marshall Ron Hunton announced his retirement this week.

Cherokee Deputy Marshal Jamie Gianfala has been pegged to replace Hunton on an interim basis, county officials announced on Thursday.

Hunton joined the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office in 1994 after spending the first 15 years of his career in Cobb County. Hunton was selected in 2003 to run the homicide task force, which later became the Violent Crimes Unit, by then Sheriff Roger Garrison. Within a year of his appointment, all unsolved seven homicides in the county had been solved.

After leaving the Sheriff’s Department, where he also served as the captain of the Major Crimes Unit, Hunton was selected to run the Cherokee Marshal’s Office, which handles code enforcement issues and oversees animal control, the Cherokee Animal Shelter, Cherokee 911, Cherokee Emergency Management and Probation.

Over the past six years, the Cherokee Marshal’s Office was the only office of its kind in the nation to receive national accreditation. Cherokee 911 was one of nine nationally accredited E-911 Centers in Georgia, a certification which was renewed in 2018, according to a news release.

In retirement, Hunton praised his colleagues for any success that came to the department during his tenure with the county.

“It’s because of the great people I was fortunate to surround myself with,” Hunton said in the news release.

Gianfala, the married father of two children, said in the release he is prepared to take over the position on the interim basis. He has more than 27 years of law enforcement experience and is a member of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police and also works as an adjunct professor at Reinhardt University.

“Chief Hunton dedicated much of his life to the law enforcement profession. I am honored to follow in the footsteps of such an accomplished leader,” Gianfala said in a statement issued by the county. “I appreciate the opportunity to serve as interim chief marshal, and I look forward to serving the citizens of Cherokee County and the men and women of the Cherokee Marshal’s Office.”