‘Totally exceptional’: Longtime Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle celebrates retirement

VIRGINIA BEACH — The first time Hon. Thomas Patrick met Ken Stolle in 1976, he was in the middle of a fight.

Stolle, who was working for the Virginia Beach Police Department at the time, called for backup after a large fight had broken out on Atlantic Avenue. When Patrick arrived, Stolle was attempting to arrest someone while several dozen “unruly drunk people” were fighting around him, Patrick said.

“I counseled him, and I thought when I was finished, ‘This guy is not going to make it,'” Patrick said. “After a while, I really warmed up to him because it turned out, he was an exceptional police officer. I mean, totally exceptional. He was the one of the officers that would not back down, and he was totally and completely honest. It’s like that old song. (He) won’t back down, and he was totally fearless. That shows what type of police officer he was.”

More than 100 community members gathered Sunday at the Sandler Center for Performing Arts in Virginia Beach to celebrate the tenure of now-former Sheriff Ken Stolle. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, several former Virginia governors, state legislators and Virginia Beach city officials were in attendance.

Stolle is retiring after more than 13 years in the position.

Local leaders spoke about Stolle’s tenure, both in law enforcement and in politics. Stolle, 69, a former police officer and state senator, was first elected sheriff in 2009 and operated the largest city jail in Virginia. He took office in January 2010, and campaigned for his fourth term in 2021, which would’ve expired in January 2026. When Stolle announced his retirement, he said he decided to step down early in order to focus on his family and to “make room for the next generation of leadership.”

“In life, we only have a few moments where we meet people who truly make us better, just because we know them,” Youngkin said. “Ken Stolle is one of those people.”

Stolle, a graduate of Cox High School, earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 1975 and worked as a Virginia Beach police officer from 1976 to 1987. He studied the law while working as a police officer, was admitted to the Virginia State Bar in 1983 and became a full-time lawyer in 1987. In 1991, he was elected to the state senate and continued to serve until elected sheriff. He also worked eight years as a United States Naval Reserve intelligence officer. In 2006, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological disease that can impair motor skills.

In 2017, Stolle created the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office’s first LGBTQ Liaison position. Other accomplishments while in office include creating a mental health program for inmates with mental illness and a reentry program that gives resources to inmates who were transitioning back into society.

“I can’t tell you how much I love being sheriff,” Stolle told staff of the sheriff’s office. “It’s been an honor to work beside you all.”

On Friday, former chief deputy and City Council member Rocky Holcomb was sworn in as the city’s seventh sheriff. Holcomb, a Marine Corps veteran, joined the office in 1991 as a recruit. He rose through the ranks and was named chief deputy in 2018. He is the first sheriff since Virginia Beach became a city in 1963 to come from within the department, according to the city. A special election to fill his District 1 City Council seat will be held Jan. 9.

Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com