William N. "Bill" Morris is a Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 who served as mayor

County executive

A county executive is the head of the executive branch of government in a county. This position is common in the United States.The executive may be an elected or an appointed position...

 of Shelby County

Shelby County, Tennessee

Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...

, which includes Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

. He also served as Sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

 of Shelby County

Shelby County, Tennessee

Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area, with a population of 927,644 at the 2010 census...

. 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 assassin

Assassination

To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

 James Earl Ray

James Earl Ray

James Earl Ray was an American criminal convicted of the assassination of civil rights and anti-war activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr....

. Ray admitted while in custody to the 1968 murder of civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  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

Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

 to Shelby Farms

Shelby Farms

Shelby Farms, located in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. At a size of , it covers more than five times the area of Central Park in New York City with ....

.

In 1994, Morris campaigned for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Tennessee, placing second in the race to Phil Bredesen

Phil Bredesen

Philip Norman "Phil" Bredesen Jr. was the 48th Governor of Tennessee, serving from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected Governor in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006. He previously served as the fourth mayor of Nashville and Davidson County from 1991 to...

.

Tennessee State Route 385 in Shelby County, which was originally known as Nonconnah Parkway, was renamed as Bill Morris Parkway.