CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Jeff Crane, a retired Virginia State Trooper and a member of the town’s planning commission, will become Orange’s fifth council member, following his appointment by a judge Thursday.

“I look forward to serving all the citizens of my hometown while making Orange a safe and prosperous family oriented community,” Crane told Cville Right Now in an email.

Crane, who launched an unsuccessful bid for a council seat in November, finishing third in a four-person race for two open seats, will be sworn in Friday. He fills the seat created by Jeremiah Pent’s November resignation.

Crane is an Orange County High School graduate who went on to attend Ferrum College and graduate from the Virginia State Police Academy, Virginia Forensic Science Academy, and the Virginia School of Polygraph, according to a post on his former campaign’s Facebook page.

Crane retired in 2024, ending an over-45-year long career in law enforcement, which included time with the Virginia State Troopers, the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Department, and Fauquier County Public Schools.