Montague Sheriff Paul Cunningham will be feted with a retirement celebration from 2 to 5 p.m. on Dec. 30 in the county courthouse annex community room.
Cunningham came to office on Jan. 1, 2009, facing a county jail that was in turmoil and unusable thanks to the actions of the former sheriff and employees who had been embroiled in a massive scandal.
It took thousands of dollars and months to get the jail to where it met state jail standards. Since that time it has passed each year with outstanding comments from the inspectors.
The outgoing sheriff has a long career in law enforcement. Prior to becoming sheriff, he worked as an arson investigator in Lewisville. Cunningham had hoped to have one more term as sheriff before retirement, but he was defeated in the spring 2016 primaries by Sheriff-elect Marshall Thomas.
He and his wife, Debra, recently moved to the Sanger area.The sheriff says he is looking forward to relaxing and doing some of the things he has not had time to do in recent years.

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