Quick Facts
LeoBiography
Raymond J. "Buddy" Parker, Jr (born 29 July 1937) is an American politician from Jeffersonville, Indiana who served as police chief of Jeffersonville, sheriff of Clark County, mayor of Jeffersonville, county treasurer, county councilman, and county commissioner.
Career
Raymond Parker served as the Chief of Police when Richard Vissing was mayor and hired the first woman in the department.
His service as the Sheriff in the late 1970s to the early 1980s boasted standardizing their uniforms and the start of the take-home police vehicles program. He was a one-term mayor of Jeffersonville from 1992 to 1995. During his term as mayor, he worked to extend sewer lines, revitalize the riverfront economy, and campaign for a casino riverboat. Voters rejected the casino idea in a referendum.
Parker didn't seek re-election as mayor and went into County Government. While working as a County Commissioner he worked on the expansion of the Clark County Jail, but left office before its completion in 2005. While on the County Commissioners Board, he served as its Chairman. Parker claimed retirement from political offices after losing the election in 2004 for the County Commissioner office.