NATCHEZ — Eighteen Adams County officials took their oaths of office Tuesday for the four-year terms that will start Jan. 4.

Among them were five new county officials, of which four have never held elected office — Sheriff Travis Patten, Chancery Clerk Brandi Lewis and constables Willie B. Jones and Adam Kirk.

The ceremony was originally scheduled to be hosted in the Adams County Chancery Courtroom, but was moved to the Natchez Convention Center in anticipation of high attendance as the county swore in its first black sheriff since Reconstruction, Chancery Judge George Ward said.

“It has been over 140 years since an African American has been elected sheriff in Adams County,” Ward said, and though the county has had black sheriffs in the past, Patten’s election is “no less noteworthy.”

When Robert Wood and William McCary were elected during Reconstruction, 75 percent of the voting population in the county was black, Ward said.

“Now that split is roughly 50-50, so Sheriff Patten won his election with overwhelming support from black and white voters,” he said, contending that Patten’s election shows that — even with its history of racial strife — Adams County is making progress.

When Chancery Judge Vincent Davis administered Patten’s oath, Patten was surrounded by his family, pastors, and — he said — “all of Adams County,” a comment met with cheers from the crowd.

When Lewis took her oath of office, Ward — who was her boss when she was staff attorney — administered the oath with a comment that his loss was the county’s gain.

“It is a sad day for me, because I am losing my great staff attorney, but we are gaining a great clerk,” he said.

In the closing comments, Davis reminded the elected officials that — if they are in it for the right reasons — public service won’t always be easy.

“Whether you won by a landslide or you barely won your election, I suspect everybody you meet from now on will tell you they voted for you,” Davis said. “You represent all the citizens, and you owe them your respect. Collectively, you are county government.”

Others who took oaths of office included:

– Supervisors Calvin Butler, David Carter, Ricky Gray, Angela Hutchins and Mike Lazarus.

– Circuit Clerk Eddie Walker

– District Attorney Ronnie Harper

– Tax Collector Peter Burns

– Tax Assessor Reynolds Atkins

– Coroner James Lee

– County Prosecutor Barrett Martin

– Justice Court Judges Patricia Dunmore and Charlie Vess.