THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, January 26, 1995             TAG: 9501260365
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT                      LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

WINDSOR COUNCILMAN ENTERS RACE FOR SHERIFF A SMITHFIELD POLICE OFFICER IS ALSO PLANNING TO RUN.

Competition increased Monday for Charles W. Phelps, Isle of Wight County sheriff since 1987.

Shelton Spivey, a Windsor town councilman and a counselor in the Community Diversion Incentive Probation Program in Hampton, announced his candidacy for sheriff at a county Democratic Party meeting.

Spivey, 45, will run as a Democrat in the Nov. 7 election.

Earlier, William T. ``Billy'' Chrisman, a Smithfield police officer, announced his intention to run, and Phelps said Monday he plans to seek re-election to another four-year term. The post pays $53,000 a year.

Both Chrisman and Phelps plan to run as independents.

Chrisman, 38, has been on the Smithfield police force since 1989.

Phelps, 51, ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 1983, and was elected in 1987. A native of Newport News, he spent 16 years on the Smithfield Police Department.

Spivey, an Isle of Wight native, is an 18-year veteran of the Suffolk Sheriff's Department. He began working in Hampton three years ago and was elected last year to the Windsor Town Council.

Spivey has a master's degree in urban studies, counseling and education from Old Dominion University and a master's degree from Golden State University in public administration/government. He is an adjunct professor at Paul D. Camp and Tidewater community colleges.

Phelps, who has completed some college work, said he will run on experience and performance.

Chrisman, a Portsmouth native, was a general electrical contractor before joining the Smithfield Police Department. He is a 1974 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School and has attended Paul D. Camp Community College.

He is a general field-training instructor and a firearms instructor on the Smithfield force.

Up for election in the fall are four constitutional officers - sheriff, commissioner of revenue, treasurer and clerk of courts - and Board of Supervisors representatives for Smithfield, Newport and Windsor districts, and three senators and three delegates representing Isle of Wight in the General Assembly.

KEYWORDS: ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY SHERIFFS RACE by CNB