Elfer replaces Coleman

Warren County supervisors have hired sheriff’s department Sgt. John Elfer as the new emergency management director. The Vicksburg Post reports Elfer replaces EMA director Gwen Coleman, who retired June 30.

Elfer has a degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has been an officer with the Hattiesburg Police Department, and has been a deputy with the sheriff’s department since 1998. He was the National Guard liaison officer with the Harrison County Emergency Management Agency during Hurricane Katrina, where he helped coordinate the Guard’s support of search and rescue teams, and for emergency shelter and food and water distribution after the storm.

Coleman retired last month after 32 years, the last five as director. She started as a planner in 1979. She became director in November 2006.