Adcox, Clark bring first responder and law enforcement experience to race for Franklin County Coroner

Franklin County Coroner Charles Adcox and his opponent Jeff Clark both offer similar experience and ideology about how to effectively serve the citizens of Franklin County.

The similarity comes as no surprise. Adcox hired Clark to serve as his chief deputy coroner when Adcox was first elected in 2018.

The two served together until Clark notified Adcox he had decided to run for Franklin County Coroner in the May 19, 2026, Republican Primary. 

So Adcox contacted the Alabama Coroner’s Association for guidance on how to handle the dicey situation of an employee running against the incumbent coroner.

Adcox said he was advised to remove Clark from his position due to a conflict of interest.

Both men handled the situation professionally and each one still respects the other.

“I didn’t want to remove him because he was a very beneficial person to me, but that’s what I was advised to do and it had to be done,” Adcox said. 

Clark, who said he was ‘put on the back burner’ rather than fired, understood the decision.

“Charlie talked with me and I understood since I was running against him that it was nothing personal. He was just putting me on the back burner until the election was over with,” Clark said.

With no Democratic Party qualifier, the 2026-2030 term of Franklin County Coroner will be served by the winner of next Tuesday’s Republican Primary.

In a job that exclusively deals with death, you might think the mental strain would eventually get to you but Adcox stays motivated by reinforcing the idea of serving the community and helping families in their time of need.

“That’s why I do this—for the community and for the families who need that person to talk them through the last steps of a loved one’s death,” Adcox said. “At the end of the day, we all need somebody, whether a stranger, family member or friend, to get us through that last little bit.”

For Clark, working in law enforcement and/or as a first responder is nothing new. He’s been involved in one or the other since he went to work for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office right after his 1991 high school graduation.

It wasn’t an easy decision for Clark to run. It’s something he’s considered dating back to when he worked for former Coroner Elzie Malone’s ambulance service.

“I just feel, more than ever before, this is where I need to be. I have the compassion to assist families in situations where loved ones are left behind,” Clark said. “No matter the cause of death, there are family members left and they’re the ones having to deal with the pain. I want to console them while helping them get through what they have to do with as few problems as possible.”

Clark has experienced more than enough personal tragedy and death, so he understands what families are going through.

He lost his first wife at an early age and Clark’s dealt with suicide in his own family.

“The family left behind is the one doing all the hurting. It can really help to understand their loved one isn’t hurting anymore—they’ve just been promoted,” Clark said.

“But it’s still a loved one that is lost. I’ve sat down with families in my career who i didn’t even know, but I sat there and cried with them. It’s about helping them get through a difficult time,” he added. 

Adcox serves as the assistant director of the Tennessee Valley Juvenile Detention Facility in Tuscumbia.He works part time for RPS, the ambulance service serving Winston County, so his professional experience also consists of law enforcement/first responder duties.

Adcox serves as District Five Director for the Alabama Coroner’s Association, where he oversees 12 counties.

Building a network of contacts with other coroners has been a priority for Adcox since his first day on the job.

“I’ve been able to build this office to where I can call different counties and say ‘hey, this is what I’ve got. What do you recommend or do you have this kind of resource available?’,” Adcox said.

Neither Adcox nor Clark are affiliated with any nursing home, something that’s been an issue for coroner’s offices in other areas.

“As coroners, we don’t recommend anybody. We give families a list of who we have in the area around us. We used to use a rotation, but that stopped when we got the cooler for Franklin County. Now we do a form, say here’s who is in the county, please sign for me when you decide and we’ll notify the funeral home,” Adcox said.

With the support of Franklin County’s legislative delegation and the Franklin County Commission, Adcox worked to increase the Franklin County Coroner’s salary from a paltry $300/year to $10,000/year, beginning next term. The expense allowance for the coroner’s office will also be eliminated.

The coroner now has an approved budget with a line item for costs of body bags, pens, paper, gloves, shoe covers, etc., necessary for daily operations of the office.

Since he began serving as coroner eight years ago, Adcox’ office has worked a total of 700 calls. Adcox answered 505 of those, with his deputy coroners handling 195 of them.

Adcox and his wife Debra make their home in the Belgreen community.

Clark’s campaign signs include the phrase ‘Family Matters.’

That’s not just a clever slogan—it’s something he and his wife Charlotte know a great deal about in their East Franklin home.

Between the two, including previous marriages where each lost a spouse, and their five adopted children, Jeff and Charlotte have 13 kids. They range in age from four to 43 (Charlotte’s first husband was older than she was and he had a son 13 years younger than Charlotte).

The four-year-old is one of five siblings the couple adopted after serving as foster parents for the kids.

When the children were placed with the Clarks, the baby was just seven weeks old.

The idea of separating those children wasn’t something Clark and his wife were going to do.

“Family matters. These five kids did nothing wrong. There was nothing they could do when their parents didn’t step up and do what they were supposed to,” Clark said. “It was bad enough for them to lose their mother and daddy, but we just could not see them being split apart and losing contact with each other.”

With such a large family, holidays require some ingenuity. They often do Christmas or Thanksgiving ‘in shifts,’ sometimes taking a week to visit with everyone.

Clark still works on a part-time, as needed basis for the sheriff’s office. He volunteers with Phil Campbell Rescue Squad and is part of the East Franklin Volunteer Fire Department. And Clark drives a bus route for Tharptown School and does maintenance work for apartment complexes.

His life is busy, but as coroner, Clark would have the ability to step away from those commitments when duty calls.

“There’s lots of flexibility in the places I work and volunteer. The only more rigid thing is the bus route, but it goes quickly, so at the drop of a hat I can be ready to go,” Clark said.