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Troup County has a new chief marshal.

On Thursday, the Troup County Board of Commissioners announced that Major Keith Flory of the Troup County Sheriff’s Office has been named Troup County Chief Marshal.

Flory is currently serving with TCSO but said he plans to make the move on Monday to get the ball rolling. He officially starts the new position on Aug. 7, 2024.

Flory began his career in law enforcement as a jailer with TCSO in 1994 before working his way up the ranks from deputy and investigator, all the way up to major, the third-ranking officer at the sheriff’s office behind only Sheriff James Woodruff and Chief Deputy Jon Whitney.

Flory has served as TCSO Major of Operations since May 2018. Flory said he is excited about the change.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, 20-something-plus years. It’s all been criminal-type law enforcement. Now I get to do more of the civil actions side of it like code enforcement and animal control,” Flory said. So it’s a new experience for me.”

Flory said his main goal, when serving magistrate court, is to make sure people are properly served when it comes to evictions, levies and other lawsuits so that they can get where they need to be in front of a judge.

The other parts of the job are making sure residents follow county codes, not doing things like illegal dumping, and protecting animals.

“We make sure that people’s animals are being treated correctly and people’s animals are not destroying other people’s property,” Flory said. 

Flory said his time with TCSO prepared him for the position.

“That part of my career, I’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot. It put me in places where I had to problem solve and research, network, find resources to make sure that things are done properly,” Flory said. 

Outgoing Chief Marshal Jorge Olmo Novoa is leaving the position to take a training position with state law enforcement.