William Noel Morris (born September 29, 1932), known as Bill Morris, is a

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Shelby County, Tennessee Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's List of counties in Tennessee, 95 counties, both in terms of p ...

, including the city of

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. He also was a

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.
(Accessed October 27, 2009) He was the president of the Tennessee County Services Association, an organization of county officials. Morris served as the sheriff of Shelby County from 1964 to 1970. During his tenure as sheriff, Morris was in charge of the custody of assassination, assassin

James Earl Ray James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive convicted for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After this Ray was on the run and was capt ...

. Ray admitted while in custody to the 1968 murder of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

leader

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

However, Ray later claimed he was coerced into pleading guilty. Morris was Mayor of Shelby County from 1978 to 1994. Morris was instrumental, along with park superintendent Tom Hill, in introducing a herd of

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

Shelby Farms Shelby Farms is a public park located in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, just east of the city of Memphis. It is one of the largest urban parks in the US and the world, at a size of and covers more than five times the area of Central P ...

.Tom Charlie
Oh, give me a home ... where new buffalo roam at Shelby Farms to improve bloodline
Commercial Appeal, February 1, 2009 (Accessed October 27, 2009) In 1994, Morris campaigned for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Tennessee, placing second in the race to

Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in 20 ...

Tennessee State Route 385 State Route 385 (SR 385) is the designation for two separate segments of state highway in the Memphis Metropolitan Area in Shelby County in West Tennessee, which with Interstate 269 (I-269) forms a semicircle around and through the Me ...

in Shelby County, which was originally known as Nonconnah Parkway, was renamed as Bill Morris Parkway.

References

Living people Heads of county government in Tennessee Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee Tennessee sheriffs 1930s births {{Tennessee-politician-stub