Holmes County sheriff Tim Zimmerly to retire in July 2026

Holmes County’s sheriff’s office is heading into a leadership handoff that will reach from county roads to the jail and the Holmes County Courthouse. Sheriff Tim Zimmerly will retire effective July 31, ending 33 years in the office and starting a succession process that will determine who controls one of the county’s most visible public-safety agencies next.

The timing changes the political calendar as well as the administrative one. Zimmerly’s current term was set to run until January 2029, but his retirement before the midpoint of the term shortens that timeline to January 2027 and opens the door for voters to choose the next sheriff on the November 2026 general election ballot. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 305.02, a sheriff vacancy that occurs more than 40 days before a general election is filled by election for the unexpired term.

That makes the weeks after Zimmerly leaves especially important for Holmes County Republican Party central committee members, who will have a role in the vacancy process because sheriff is a partisan office in Ohio. If the office is filled by appointment, Ohio Revised Code Section 3.02 says the appointee serves until a successor is elected and qualified. For now, that leaves a short-term question alongside the longer one of who will lead the office into 2027.

The stakes are practical. The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office says it employs approximately 56 people and is responsible for law enforcement, court security, service of papers, jail operations, extradition and transportation of prisoners. Those duties touch everyday county government, from courthouse security to prisoner movement and the deputies who answer calls across Holmes County.

The office also carries a long institutional history. It says the sheriff’s office was first established in 1824 and moved into its current building in October 1994. That continuity is now meeting one of the county’s biggest leadership changes in years, with deputies, jail staff and courthouse operations all depending on how quickly the transition is handled.

For residents, the key date is November 2026, when the county can elect a sheriff for the unexpired term. Zimmerly’s departure sets up not just a change in name at the top of the office, but a countywide test of how Holmes County manages public-safety leadership between an appointment, a campaign and the start of a new term.