A former Candler County Sheriff’s Office K-9 handler was indicted this week by a Bulloch County Grand Jury on multiple counts of criminal activity regarding animal deprivation and theft but none of those counts are linked to any of his duties as an officer in Candler County.

 As soon as those allegations surfaced against James Michael Duncan in January, Candler County Sheriff John Miles immediately put Duncan on administrative leave.

At the beginning of 2026 Duncan was arrested in Bulloch County where he lived and operated a dog training facility. He was charged with eight counts of animal cruelty at the time. In March, he was arrested again by Bulloch County on felony theft charges relating to the dog training operation.

Bulloch County Grand Jurors returned true Bills of Indictment against Duncan this week on three counts of Theft by Conversion and Eight Counts of Cruelty to Animals. Grand Jurors found evidence to support that  Duncan failed to provide adequate food, water, and sanitary conditions for the dogs he was hired to train with one dog believed to have died from the depravity while in Duncan’s care.

As for the three Theft by Conversion charges, three dog owners who entrusted Duncan and paid him for his services say that Duncan used money they had paid him for training their canines for his personal use. Those three figures amount to $9,000 for training of dogs that was never provided.

As a reminder, an indictment is not proof of guilt but another step in the judicial process.