With primary win secured, Hightower looks to next term

Published 6:00 am Sunday, May 24, 2026

Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower

Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower earned a decisive victory in Tuesday’s Republican primary election, winning against a former deputy who is appealing his termination from the agency.

Hightower picked up 8,405 votes compared to 698 votes for Mark Heyungs, and has no opposition in the November general election, meaning that Hightower has effectively won a third term in office.

During the primary campaign, Hightower promoted his accomplishments in office to this point, most notably the move of office operations from the Warren County Courthouse to repurposed former retail space on Sugar Maple Square.

Hightower said the new space offers more opportunities for deputies to train and more convenient access for the public.

“We’ve been out working and made so many changes over the past seven years that I think directly affect this community, and throughout the entire process we’ve received a lot of positivity and support from people,” Hightower said.

The new facility offers training opportunities for other law enforcement agencies and first responders, and will enable victims’ advocates to work more closely with deputies, Hightower said.

Looking ahead, Hightower said that a new K9 has received certification and will begin patrol operations next week, and the sheriff anticipates expanding the department’s crisis response unit and roll out a motorcycle unit for patrols.

“We will continue to reevaluate as we go and see other needs as we develop and organize this office to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our community,” Hightower said.

This was the first election in which Hightower received opposition as an incumbent.

Heyungs worked as a patrol deputy and then later a detective and a sergeant from 2021 until his termination earlier this year, which came about after the agency identified a number of infractions committed by Heyungs that violated office policy.

Heyungs disputed that his actions that provided the basis for his firing, many of which stemmed from his responses to investigations, amounted to departmental violations, and he is appealing his termination to Warren Circuit Court, where the legal action is pending.

In court filings and online posts, Heyungs said that office misconduct he witnessed was not adequately addressed, that management retaliated against him for reporting it and he ran for office because he felt that was the only way for him to address what he said were gaps in leadership responsiveness and accountability.

Hightower, though, said he expected the primary election to go as it did because voters tuned out Heyungs’ message.

“I think Warren County recognizes the fact that they just don’t like smear campaigns, they want to hear people talk about what they’re going to do in the future and what their plans are, they don’t want to hear just about what the other person isn’t doing,” Hightower said. “I think this was a clear example that negative campaigning does not work and our community expects more from people running for office.”