Funeral Services Wednesday For Longtime Paulding Sheriff Harris

DALLAS, GA - A graveside service for former longtime sheriff Bruce Harris will be Wednesday.

Harris, 72, died Sunday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital, according to the Paulding Sheriff’s Office. He is the longest-serving sheriff in the department’s history - 15 years.

Harris graduated from West Georgia College in 1969 with a degree in education and returned home to Paulding to teach, the Sheriff’s Office said. He returned for a degree in criminal justice when it was offered at the college.

In 1975, Harris joined the Georgia State Patrol, where he served as a trooper until he was elected sheriff in 1992, the Sheriff’s Office said. He took office on Jan. 1, 1993, and held the position until he retired in 2008. He was the 47th Sheriff in the county’s 188 year history.

“Sheriff Harris was an innovator in the field of law enforcement and helped bring the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office into the 21st century with a number of technological and procedural advances,” the department posted on Facebook.

“Sheriff Harris was a true Paulding Countian and loved every aspect of it. He will be sorely missed by so many.”

Under his leadership, several units were created in the Paulding Sheriff’s Office, including the SWAT team, the K-9 unit, the Crimes Against Children unit and the Office of Professional Standards.

Harris also served on boards for the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association and the Georgia Board of Public Safety.

“He would show up on a scene regardless of whether it was on a holiday or even in the middle of the night,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “He was a sheriff for the people and was an excellent leader.”

Among the most high-profile cases his department investigated was the July 2006 murder of Jennifer Ewing on the Silver Comet Trail.

Ewing was a 54-year-old Sandy Springs cyclist and mother of three. Days later, Harris announced that Michael William Ledford had been charged. Ledford was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

"We will never forget the path he paved for those of us at the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office," the sheriff's office Facebook page reads. "He made Paulding County a better place because he was the Sheriff."

A graveside service is planned for Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Dallas Memory Gardens, 444 Confederate Avenue, Dallas, Georgia.

Parking will be very limited at the cemetery. The family is asking everyone to please carpool to the cemetery and use off-site parking if possible. Cemetery parking will be limited to the family, close friends, law enforcement, the elderly, and handicapped individuals.

Dallas Mayor Boyd Austin arranged for a shuttle to transport people from the First Baptist Church to the cemetery which should help ease congestion.

Shuttle Parking Pick-Up/Drop-Off
First Baptist Church of Dallas
401 Main Street
Dallas, Georgia 30132

Off-Site Parking

-Henry Winn Building off of Confederate Avenue

-Regions Bank Building off of Confederate