Former Clay County Sheriff Joe Shook Passes Away After Decades in Law Enforcement

Staff Report

HAYESVILLE, N.C — Former Clay County Sheriff Joe Duckett Shook, a longtime North Carolina law enforcement officer who later returned to the ballot as recently as this year’s Republican primary, has died.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the news on Tuesday, Sept. 29 and issued a statement of condolence.

“We here at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office are saddened to learn of the passing of former Clay County Sheriff Joe Shook,” the office said. “We here at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office stand ready to help his family and friends in every way possible through these difficult times.”

Shook served the people of North Carolina for 30 years with the N.C. State Highway Patrol. After retiring from the patrol, he was elected Clay County sheriff in November 2006 and held the office through 2010.

In a candidate biography released earlier this year, Shook described himself as one of four sons of Donald and Virginia Shook, born in Waynesville in Haywood County. He was raised on his family’s dairy farm in Leicester in Buncombe County. After working for a trucking company in Franklin, he met Highway Patrol Sgt. H.T. Ferguson, who encouraged him to enter Highway Patrol Basic School in Chapel Hill at age 25.

After graduating, Shook was assigned to Clay County, where he spent 23 years of his Highway Patrol career. He later retired after three decades with the state. Four years after leaving the patrol, he won election as Clay County sheriff.

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He sought a return to the sheriff’s office this year, appearing on the March 3 Republican primary ballot against incumbent Sheriff Mark Buchanan. Buchanan, a former N.C. State Bureau of Investigation supervisor who later served as a reserve Clay County deputy, won the nomination and is the Republican nominee in the November general election.

Funeral arrangements and additional family details had not been publicly announced at the time of this report. The Sheriff’s Office said it stands ready to assist Shook’s family and friends.

Shook’s career spanned state highways and a rural mountain county, from patrol duty through an elected term as sheriff and a late-life campaign to reclaim the office. Local officials remembered him as a familiar figure in Clay County law enforcement for much of his adult life.