The longtime sheriff of Mohave County in northwestern Arizona has announced he's retiring.
Tom Sheahan says he'll leave the post he has held for nearly 18 years on Aug. 1. Sheahan first was elected to the office in 1996.
He says he and his wife will be moving to Phoenix to address some family health and medical issues that recently arose.
Sheahan began his career in law enforcement in 1971 with the DuPage County Sheriff's Office in Illinois. He moved to Arizona in 1981 to work for the Mohave County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter says Sheahan will recommend to county supervisors that Chief Deputy Jim McCabe fill his term, which expires in 2016.