Sheriff Singleton began hi law enforcement career as a reserve deputy with the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office in 1972. He was later hired as a corrections officer with the office and in February 1973 was sworn in as a Deputy Sheriff.
In 1978 he ran unsuccessfully for the office of sheriff at the age of twenty-six making him the youngest candidate to seek the office in the history of the county. After the election he continued his career with the Florence, Alabama Police Department where he quickly rose through the ranks being appointed Chief of Police in 1996. He retired as Chief in 2012 after serving more than thirty-two years with the department.
He ran for sheriff again in 2014, winning both the primary and the general election by an overwhelming margin. He ran for a second term unopposed, the first candidate for the Office of Sheriff to ever do so. He retired after his second term in January 2023 after a career that span five decades.
Sheriff Singleton received a master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Alabama in 1982. He also graduated from the 138th session of the FBI National Academy, the Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar (LEEDS), and the National Sheriff's Institute (NSI).
He and his wife, Peggy, were married in 1976 and they have two daughters, Scarlett Singleton Nokes who is an attorney, and Stephane Singleton Bolton who teaches first grade.
Book Description (350 Word Limit)
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On April 29th, 2022, at 9:41 a.m., Vicky White, the Assistant Administrator and sixteen-year veteran of the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Lauderdale County Alabama, walked Casey White (no relation) a convicted felon serving 75 years with the Alabama Department of Corrections and awaiting trial on a capital murder charge in the death of Connie Ridgeway, out the detention center door. A model employee with an unblemished record, the escape caught her supervisors, co-workers, and even her own family totally off guard.
On the run for eleven days, the escape caught the attention of the national media and, ultimately, by media outlets around the world. With a six-hour lead and nothing to go on, the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office and the United States Marshals Service Gulf States Regional Fugitive Task Force sprang into action. The couple were captured on May 9th in Evansville, Indiana. Vicky White died the next day, the result of a self-inflicted gunshot would to the head that happened when they were stopped by law enforcement.
This is the story of the escape as shared by Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton, the man responsible for seeing that Casey White was recaptured, and that Vicky White was returned to Alabama to face the consequences of her actions. At the first press conference with the national media, Sheriff Singleton told reporters "it's all on the table, the good, the bad, and the ugly". He honored that commitment by being accessible and transparent with the media, who he credits with playing a major role in apprehending the pair due to the massive coverage they gave the case between April 29th and May 9th.
