ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan has announced plans to retire when his current term ends next year.

In a statement issued by the department on Friday, the 53-year-old Duncan said his was not an easy decision to make, but it came this week “after much prayer and deliberation.”

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports (http://avlne.ws/2nOU6S7) that while Duncan said health wasn’t a factor in his decision, it was after his first election that he began suffering from migraines and nerve problems on his left side. He said doctors later diagnosed the symptoms as relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, but not the more severe form of the disease.

Duncan was elected to his first term in 2006 and was re-elected twice. The current term ends in December 2018.