Chance D. Corbett serves as the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director for the Columbus Consolidated Government. Director Corbett has been in public safety since 1987 when he began his career as a volunteer firefighter with the Ladonia Volunteer Fire Department in Russell County, Alabama. Chance became a Paramedic and worked for Phenix Ambulance and Stat Ambulance during which time he began his law enforcement career with the Russell County Sheriff’s Office where he was promoted to Patrol Sergeant and team leader of the Special Tactics and Response team (S.T.A.R.).
In June 2001, Chance was appointed as the Director of the Russell County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security where he reorganized and rebranded that department. Chance served in that position until 2007 when, after conducting an emergency exercise for their campus, Chance was recruited and hired to start the first emergency management program at Auburn University. While at Auburn, Chance was also asked to serve as the Interim Executive Director for Campus Safety & Security which lasted for 29 months. During that time, Chance completely reorganized the department to be more effective and led a $4.8 million building renovation for the police and campus safety departments which included the addition of a state-of-the-art emergency operations center.
In 2020, Chance retired from Auburn University at age 48 to accept his current position with the Columbus Consolidated Government. Chance is a current law enforcement officer and Paramedic in both Georgia and Alabama. Chance holds the designation of Professional Certified Emergency Manager in Georgia, Master’s level Emergency Manager in Alabama, and for the past 16 years has held the designation of Certified Emergency Manager with the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Chance received his Master of Education Degree from Troy University and has been instructing first responder and emergency management college courses since 2003.