Detective Virgil Tibbs returns to Sparta for his mother's funeral and joins the police force as chief of detectives. His arrival is met with resistance from police chief Bill Gillespie – who, despite his good relationship with Tibbs, resents having an officer hired without his approval. Virgil has trouble adjusting to the small, antiquated police force. Tibbs' first case is a racially charged murder case that is soon complicated when the suspect is murdered in his cell. Doug Savant and Kevin McCarthy guest star.

The investigation into the brutal murders of a young girl and the suspect in her death, leads Tibbs and Gillespie to the son of one of Sparta's wealthiest and most influential citizens. As they come closer to the truth matters become dangerous for Virgil.

The affair between a wealthy, alcoholic woman's husband and her distant cousin leads to the wife's murder. Virgil immediately suspects the adulterous pair. But he has a difficult time persuading Gillespie, who is a longtime friend of the husband, and Bubba, who has been seeing the cousin. Bubba and Virgil clash again and Virgil is frustrated when the Chief rejects his theory about the crime.

Racial tensions run high when a married white woman has an affair with a black businessman from New York. Meanwhile Virgil is not happy when the Chief enlists his aid in tracking down Bubba's cousin, a suspected moonshiner.

Virgil refuses to let go of a grudge against a wealthy former classmate from high school who cheated the latter out of a scholarship. The man has promised city leaders that he will move his business to Sparta, but not all of his business interests are legal. The nephew of an old friend of Gillespie's finds his life in danger after he steals drugs stored in the businessman's mansion.

An angry Gillespie seeks answers when an old friend is shot. And Virgil narrowly escapes death after trying to ascertain the real reason behind an old adversary's return to Sparta. Nan finds herself in danger after she finds out the truth about her new love.

In this humorous episode, Virgil and the Chief arrest a bible salesman (guest star Ted Lange) for bigamy. It soon becomes a polygamy case after an endless parade of wives (six total) come to visit their husband, who later turns up murdered in his cell. Did any of his wives kill him?

The Sparta police search for a killer and his girlfriend (Mariska Hargitay). But the case becomes personal when they take Althea and the grandson of one of the victims hostage.

A copycat recreates a shocking unsolved murder from 20 years earlier. Gillespie feels threatened after Ted Marcus suggests that Virgil should become the Chief. The situation becomes more tense after Virgil criticizes the actions of Parker and Bubba. Tibbs, Gillespie and Bubba pursue different leads in an unusual murder case and the Chief realizes that the killer has plans for him. Trivia: Sparta celebrates 150 year anniversary of its founding; neither Tibbs nor Gillespie can find out who killed the original murder victim of 20 years before—whether it was her estranged husband or her current lover, both of whom are now dead.

Series location has changed from Hammond, Louisiana to Covington, Georgia

The murder of a well-respected man turns up a shocking secret about his family.

Virgil is delighted when Matthew Pouge (Michael Warren) his former partner from Philadelphia comes to visit. But he soon learns his friend has another purpose for coming to Sparta. Althea is uncomfortable because she and Matthew were romantically involved before she met Virgil and she realizes that he is unwilling to accept the fact that she chose Virgil over him. Meanwhile the F.B.I. enlist Sparta P.D.'s aid in hiding a witness.

Sweet risks his life to prove that the Sheriff (Ed Ames) of a neighboring county is guilty of the racially motivated murder of a young man that Sweet was friends with back in elementary school. Friendship also leads to a conflict for Gillespie, who also happens to have been old friends with the sheriff.

Bubba is seduced by an alluring writer (Barbara Stock) who has more on her mind than romance. Gillespie and Virgil worry that he is in over his head. Bubba tries to protect her from her estranged husband, but matters get complicated after she shoots someone.

Virgil is forced to shoot a suspect in an armed robbery. He has trouble dealing with the consequences of his actions, after he realizes the person he shot was a teenaged girl – and no one can locate the gun he believed she was pointing at him.

Virgil's visiting niece and Bubba's nephew team up in an effort to escape the boredom of small-town life, but they get more excitement than they bargained for when they cross paths with a dangerous parolee.

Gillespie suspects that JoAnn's new cook is connected to the murder of a young prostitute. But Virgil suspects the culprit maybe a local pimp who has been intimidating the women.

A minister attempting to integrate his all-white church by inviting Virgil and Althea to services is found murdered.

In this thought provoking episode, Gillespie is surprised when a man he arrested asks to see him on the eve of his execution. He must confront his feelings about the death penalty when the prisoner asks him to witness his death.

The past comes back to haunt JoAnn in the form of an escaped convict.

A teenage mother from an impoverished family is arrested for murder after her infant is found dead, but Virgil believes there is more to the case than meets the eye. Meanwhile, Althea believes the situation could have been prevented if the school had offered sex education classes.

The police search for a burglar who preys on elderly women. And the prime suspect is the son of a city councilwoman.

The investigation of a possible assault brings back nightmarish and confusing childhood memories for Virgil.

A vivacious socialite's return to Sparta delights her ailing father and childhood friend Virgil, but her sister is less than thrilled at her homecoming. After their father is poisoned, the jealous siblings become suspects in his murder.

A bitter labor strike at a local factory leads to a murder investigation on a snowy day in Sparta. O. J. Simpson guest stars.

Bubba tries to rescue a woman (Vanessa Bell Calloway) from a rapist, but she mistakes him for her attacker. Gillespie tangles with an ambitious district attorney who plans to use the case to further his career.

Sparta grieves after a drunk driver causes a fatal crash with high school cheerleaders on their way home from a game. While the police try to find the drunk driver, Althea tries to help the victim's families deal with their loss. The accident brings back painful memories for retired officer Tom Dugan (Joe Don Baker). Meanwhile, district attorney Dutton accuses the department of being inadequate.

Note: Starting with this episode, star Carroll O'Connor will remain absent for the remainder of the season, due to undergoing heart surgery. He will return in the season finale to set up the season cliffhanger.

With the Chief in Quantico, Bubba and Virgil try to catch a serial arsonist. Matters get complicated after a man dies in one of the fires. And Councilwoman White stirs things up by appointing Tom Dugan acting chief of police in Gillespie's absence. Meanwhile, Bubba helps a young man, who is seduced by the arsonist's girlfriend, with the license tags of his car.

It seems that a serial killer has been burying his victims in a wooded area owned by a wealthy hermit that Virgil refers to as "Sparta's Howard Hughes". Suspicion immediately falls on an eccentric woman (guest star Shirley Stoler) who lives in the woods with her pigs and chases away trespassers with a shotgun. The officers ask the landowner's disturbed son for help and Bubba is surprised to find that a woman he attended high school with is working as the man's "nurse". Also Parker and Sweet compete with one another to solve the case.

Gillespie is kidnapped and Virgil believes that Tom Dugan is involved. NOTE: "Missing" continues on Anniversary.

The subject of rape hits close to home for Virgil and Althea when Althea, upon returning home from the grocery store one afternoon after school, is violently ambushed and raped in their kitchen by Sparta High School's new music teacher, Stephen Ainslee (Ken Marshall). New D.A. Gerard Darnelle doesn't think that there's enough evidence to prosecute Ainslee on, especially a positive ID since Althea never saw Ainslee's face (but recognized his voice), and Ainslee's wife Linda provides him with a false alibi saying that they were at home when Althea was raped. Virgil tries to keep his anger under control – until Ainslee tries to intimidate Althea into keeping quiet about the rape. And Gillespie tries to convince Linda to tell the truth.

A beauty pageant is marred by blackmail and the ambitious mother of one of the contestants.

An unhappy wife asks her lover to place a bomb in her abusive husband's Cadillac.

Sparta P.D. gets its first black policewoman, Officer Christine Rankin. She is shot and killed on her first day on duty, and Gillespie tracks down her killer. The late Officer Rankin is replaced at the end of the episode by Officer Luanne Corbin (Crystal R. Fox).

Someone is selling crack to teenagers and Sweet tries desperately to save a young addict (Dana Barron).

Conclusion of "Missing". After being released by his captors, the chief discovers that his abduction is part of a plot to assassinate a visiting civil rights leader.

Note The episode "Anniversary" was supposed to premiere at the beginning of the third season, but instead the episode "Rape" premiered instead. The episode is presented via a framing device of Chief Gillespie recounting the events after the fact.

After a private investigator searching for a missing child is found dead, the evidence points to a local dance teacher – a neighbor that Parker has become very fond of.

The Wormlees, an outlaw family, seek revenge against Bubba after he is forced to shoot one of them during a convenience store holdup. Gillespie wants him to stay out of sight until they are all arrested – a suggestion that does not set well with Bubba.

A young refugee claims to be the son of a Sparta cop who died in the Vietnam War. But he quickly becomes a suspect in a murder/robbery after he accepts a ride with the criminals who actually committed the crime. Gillespie looks into his story, while Virgil and the boys track down the shooter. Meanwhile, the young man's presence triggers a surprisingly bitter reaction from Parker, who views him as a painful reminder of the war.

The F.B.I. tries to talk an ex-boxer into testifying against a mobster he once worked for, but the boxer sees the situation as an opportunity for blackmail.

A longtime friend of Gillespie makes threats against a doctor he believes is responsible for his wife's death. When the doctor is killed, he becomes the prime suspect. But Gillespie doubts his guilt – even after he confesses.

Family man John Severance murders his wife Marge and her lover after he catches them in bed together, then flees to a remote cabin with his daughter, who does not know what he has done. Gillespie and his men hope to talk John into surrendering without resorting to violence and reconciling with his son.

Bubba refuses to believe that a former teammate embezzled funds from the bank where he worked and sets out to prove that his friend was framed and murdered. Harriet hopes that art therapy can help the man's traumatized and mute son, who becomes a target himself when the killer realizes he witnessed the crime.

The Sparta police investigate a suspicious death in a nursing home. Ken Curtis guest stars.

D.A. Darnelle plans on indicting a teenager for murder after her father is found in the basement and her mother turns up missing. But Gillespie and his men don't believe she is guilty.

Someone leaves a baby on Bubba's doorstep. The mother, Bubba's distant cousin, is murdered by the alleged (and engaged) father of her baby.

Traveling madam Maybelle Cheseboro (Diane Ladd) returns to Sparta with her girls ("nieces") and sets up shop out of Gillespie's jurisdiction. Her return is not without controversy, and soon one of her most vocal critics, a local fundamentalist pastor, is found dead and his wife is murdered afterwards.

First the mother, then the father of two young children are murdered. Althea takes responsibility for the children, since the mother was a cafeteria worker at Sparta High School. The killings appear to be related to a shady trucking firm.

Althea does not realize that an old girlfriend from Philadelphia is hiding a dark secret, nor does Sweet, who has fallen in love with the woman.

Racial tensions run high when white cabbie Mike Cystak is murdered and robbed in The Bottoms.

Harriet's sister Natalie is murdered on the orders of V.J. Trundel, a rich, white business magnate who has a wife - and a secret love child with Natalie named Eric.

Harriet's efforts to bring V.J. Trundel to trial are fruitless. The Chief does not believe they will ever get enough evidence to get an indictment, so he tries another method to bring Trundel to justice.

Virgil goes to Philadelphia to investigate a friend's death. And Bubba (reluctantly) fills in as Althea's Lamaze coach. Virgil is framed for murder and Gillespie travels to Philly to help him clear his name.

Gillespie sends Parker to confirm suspicions that a local truck stop is really a front for a prostitution business. When a young prostitute is found dead, Gillespie is shocked at her father's reaction. Parker is dismayed when he recognizes one of the ladies.

A mild-mannered science teacher is accused of molesting one of his students.

Gillespie and his officers are outraged when a drug courier (William Shockley) who ran down the son of Virgil's next door neighbor makes a deal with the F.B.I. to avoid prosecution.

Bubba is reunited with his high school sweetheart, but his happiness is short lived after she resorts to murder to silence an attorney who was threatening to prevent her from inheriting her late husband's estate.

The investigation into the death of an abandoned infant leads to a mentally handicapped teenager.

A lawyer has personal reasons for trying to gain early release for a man who was sent to prison after an accident that he caused while drinking and driving.

Harriet and Eugene are devastated after Eugene's father is arrested for murder, and Gillespie appers to apetheic in the prosecution of the man as well.

Sweet is heartbroken when a senior citizen who befriended him is murdered in her bookstore and her husband becomes the prime suspect.

Virgil's dream of a better relationship with his Aunt Ruda and her son is shattered when his cousin takes part in a string of burglaries that result in murder.

Gillespie receives word that a former Spartan is wanted for the murder of a socialite in Houston. But a ruthless bounty hunter, sent by the victim's jealous husband, is already in Sparta and sees the man's sister as a means to locate his quarry.

In this Christmas episode, the officers share memories with a reporter from the Sparta Herald.

A bottle of spiked moonshine leads to an accident that claims the life of a teenage girl and blinds her boyfriend.

A therapist tells Gillespie that one of her patients has confessed to a crime that another man is about to be executed for, but she refuses to divulge his identity.

A story of two brothers as they struggle to influence their younger brother: one is an honor student that Althea has great plans for, and the other is a dangerous drug dealer.

Virgil soon regrets telling an old friend that his new business partners are being investigated by the police, in spite of their alibi being airtight.

Parker protects a blind woman who heard her neighbor's murder and the body is unable to be located.

Althea's coworker, English teacher Marcella Allen, is the latest victim of a serial rapist who preys on young, single blonde women living alone. One of Marcella's students, Boyd Gardner (Bryan Dattilo), who is planning to enter the seminary and is privately tutored by Marcella, is the sole witness to her attack, but his attorney father Elliott warns him not to tell the police what he saw for fear that his chances of being accepted into the seminary will be damaged if he comes forward.

Bubba travels to Los Angeles to arrest an arsonist. When the man is murdered to keep him from talking, Bubba teams up with a pretty insurance investigator to solve the crime. Concludes on " Unfinished Business".

Harriet tries to keep Eugene from giving up when his father faces the death penalty. And the police search for three suspects in connection to a robbery/murder.

Althea thinks Virgil needs a new line of work after seeing the aftermath of a shooting at a roadhouse, resulting in the murders of two suspects after a botched drug deal goes sour. Virgil finds himself in danger when the police initiate a setup to catch the killer.

Gillespie's old flame returns to Sparta to settle some business matters and see Bill. When she is murdered he travels to Gulfport and meets his daughter Lana for the first time.

After Bubba's cousin adopts a baby her husband is blackmailed by the child's real parents – they want him to help them steal the payroll where he works.

A flirtatious schoolteacher is stalked by a madman.

A game of high-stakes poker ends in murder.

Virgil's estranged Aunt Ruda is the only witness to a struggle between Bubba and a young robbery suspect that ends in the young man's death. But her prejudice against the police – and Virgil – clouds her memory of the incident.

Conclusion of "Just a Country Boy". Bubba returns to Los Angeles to testify at a murder trial and is reunited with Pat Day as they try to protect Mike from killers sent to prevent him from testifying.

A man murders his business partner and frames the man's illegitimate daughter for the crime in an attempt to gain the man's business and his wife.

The lyrics to a blues song recall a murder that happened 50 years earlier. The victim: Sweet's grandfather. And the only people left with the answers are the bluesman who wrote the song and a retired sheriff.

A deputy provides protection for a cotton grower who is running a pot growing operation. But the deputy makes a big mistake when he wounds Bubba's girlfriend.

The father of a man DA Darnell prosecuted kidnaps the Darnell's daughter.

Lonnie makes a heartbreaking discovery about a woman he dated in high school.

A drug-dealing slumlord is murdered by his accomplices.

A doctor plots to eliminate both his wife and his mistress.

Parkers investigation into a purse-snatching reveals an abused woman.

Racists target a ceremony honoring a civil rights pioneer.

Althea fears for one of her students after her mother's boyfriend is linked to a drug dealing operation that has resulted in the deaths of several truckers.

A restaurateur and her mechanic boyfriend plot to eliminate her husband, but their scheme backfires. Gillespie takes heat over a string of mailbox bashings. And Virgil soon regrets ignoring Parker's theory regarding where the vandals would strike next.

V.J. Trundel's widow takes Harriet to court to gain custody of Eric. But Harriet is determined that her nephew will not be raised in the home of the man who had her sister Natalie murdered.

Gillespie learns that the son of an old friend is a compulsive gambler. The young man wants his father to pay off his losses. But when two gangsters show up from New Orleans to collect, his jealous sibling sees the perfect opportunity to get rid of his troubled brother.

An ex-convict attempts to retrieve his loot from his wife and her new husband in this tongue-in-cheek episode.

A political prisoner who entered the country illegally, seeks sanctuary in a monastery. Gillespie and Tibbs find themselves at odds with Sheriff McComb when they try to help the man.

Follow up to "Sanctuary". Gillespie, Tibbs and Father DiMarco must stand trial for harboring a fugitive and obstructing justice. Althea fears Virgil's career could suffer if he is found guilty. Meanwhile the other officers monitor the situation with Lawyer Epp and his mafia associates.

Big city crack dealers invade Sparta. Eugene witnesses the drive-by shooting of a friend and his offer to help the police identify the shooters leaves Harriet frightened and angry at Bill.

The police wage war against the big city drug dealers who have moved into Sparta. Eugene identifies the men who murdered his friend. And Bubba is teamed with and intrigued by a lady police lieutenant from Jackson.

Luann's ne'er-do-well brother (Meshach Taylor) returns home after being paroled.

Althea places herself in harm's way trying to help one of her students, a disturbed and violent young man, after he is implicated in a murder case. Concludes on Discovery.

Conclusion of "A Frenzied Affair". Althea has trouble dealing with the violent death of a student. Young Megan Fowler quickly finds herself yet another dangerous boyfriend and they are soon wanted by the police.

Lana Farren comes to Sparta to claim her inheritance, but is stalked by a mobster who dated her mother. Meanwhile, Harriet encourages Bill to talk to his daughter, but Lana doesn't seem to be interested. Officer Randy Goode helps keep the bad guys at bay by playing them a little tune on the guitar.

A secretary takes drastic measures to protect herself from sexual harassment.

Virgil fears for his Aunt Ruda's safety after several killings occur in the hospital where she is being treated.

Singer Eddie Larran (Robert Goulet) returns to Sparta for a concert, but not everyone is a fan. An angry man (Gary Crosby) insists that Eddie owes him money. And their dispute soon ends in violence.

A city councilwoman becomes dangerously obsessed with Bubba.

One of Virgil's classmates from law school (Jason Beghe) is arrested following the death of his former girlfriend, but the man insists that her death was the result of her relationship with her psychiatrist.

A judge schemes to get rid of his wife after she tries to blackmail him into giving her a divorce and a generous settlement by revealing a secret from his past.

Sweet is the target of false accusations by two corrupt and racist car salesmen.

Parker's stepfather Roy (Pat Hingle) threatens his former employer after an altercation. When the boss is murdered, Roy is arrested. Concludes in Season 7' Poor Relations.

A woman asks Harriet to help her get an eviction order rescinded. The chief gives Parker a new radar gun - and soon comes to regret it. Sheriff McComb requests that Gillespie and Bubba help investigate a murder. Meanwhile Lonnie and Luann search for the boy who reported the murder.

A white supremacist politician plans to have his wife's lover murdered and blame it on black radicals.

A swindlers homecoming upsets his wife and the families of his victims - especially Etta.

A wealthy man plans to grant a promise made to a black sharecropper many years ago by giving land to the man's descendant. But his greedy son disapproves.

Corrupt developers set their sights on Lana's farm. When she refuses to sell they enlist the services of an arsonist to force her out. Concludes on Lake Winahatchie.

Conclusion of "Even Nice People". Bill discovers the motivation behind a crime syndicates attempt to muscle in on Sparta and the reason they are determined to get Lana's land.

Eugene hopes a well known minister can save his father from death row. But someone runs the reverend off the road on his way into town and the Sparta police try to protect him and track down his assailant. Meanwhile, Harriet struggles with what her part in her ex-husband's appeal should be and is even more unsettled when Eugene demands that she break up with Bill.

Chief Gillespie is fired by the city council and Sparta's new police chief Hampton Forbes arrives in town. Bill's last case with Sparta P.D. is a murder investigation in which a young boy has been implicated.

Hampton Forbes assumes the office of Chief of Police and Bill becomes the Sheriff of Newton County. Former Spartan Wade Hatton (Stacy Keach) returns to Sparta hoping to make sense of his life and rekindle his relationship with Sarah Hallisey. Bubba and Covey take the new chief on a tour of Sparta and Bill takes Wade to visit some distant cousins. Meanwhile two young criminals involve a mentally handicapped young man in a terrible crime.

Wade and Sarah try to keep young Henry (Wayne Brady) from being punished for a crime he did not commit and Forbes and his officers search for the two men who are really responsible.

The daughter of an old friend of Bubba's asks him to arrest the man who knowingly infected her with AIDS.

A night of revelry at a local pond turns deadly.

Lana's ex- boyfriend comes to see her and brings a load of stolen rifles with him.

Luann moonlights as a singer at a nightclub and finds romance with the club's owner. Her happiness is short-lived when she realizes that the bartender is dealing drugs.

Attorney Virgil Tibbs returns to Sparta and is soon assigned his first case as a defense attorney.

Bubba travels to Atlanta to help his nephew after the boy overdoses on drugs. He soon teams up with a street wise cop to take down the drug ring. Based on Hugh O'Connor's real-life struggle with drug addiction.

A neglected baby stirs maternal feelings in Luann.

Tragic story of an alcoholic teen who accidentally kills a little girl while she is drinking and driving.

Gillespie and Forbes investigate the attempted shooting of an interracial high school couple. Meanwhile, Harriet holds a fundraiser to raise money for pregnant teens at her art studio.

Virgil defends Parker after he is falsely accused of police brutality by a drug dealer. The prosecution's main witness: the man's girlfriend (Victoria Jackson), who was once engaged to Parker.

Former traveling madam Maybelle Cheseboro (Elizabeth Ashley) returns to Sparta and sets up her own phone sex business, which is a great success - until one of her girls decides to moonlight as a prostitute and dies while with a client.

Forbes is delighted when his fiancée Angela comes to see him, but is disappointed when he realizes that they have very different plans for the future.

Follow up to "Sweet, Sweet Blues". Lonnie must protect his Aunt Cordelia when her cherished friendship with Ches Collins angers one of his cousins.

Virgil accepts a position at a prominent law firm. But as a former police officer he feels conflicting emotions when he realizes that one of their clients is guilty of murder.

A rabbi (Jerry Stiller) returns to Sparta after many years. Racists vandalize his synagogue and soon after their Torah is stolen. Forbes investigates but the rabbi refuses to trust Bill because of his inaction while investigating a hate crime many years ago.

Eugene tries to protect a friend who was an unwilling accomplice to a robbery and in doing so endangers his probation – and his life.

Harriet tries to stop an arrogant developer from destroying an important archeological site.

Follow up to "A Step Removed". Comedic episode in which Parker's ne'er-do-well stepfather (Pat Hingle) returns to Sparta with a new wife, a stolen painting and two inept art thieves who are determined to steal the painting back.

Bill and Harriet's wedding plans are interrupted by a sniper who mistakes Bill for Sheriff McComb.

Part 1 of a two-part series finale. Bill and Harriet travel to New Orleans for their honeymoon. Forbes learns that a cult which has rented an old school building may be involved in child abuse and other illegal activities. While inspecting the premises Bubba and Dee rescue a frightened young girl. Bubba finds a foster home for the girl but the girl's mother tries to regain custody in court - with Sarah Hallisey as their attorney.

Part 2 of a two-part series finale. Bill and Harriet return home. The cult kidnaps the girl from her foster home. And Forbes and his men arrest a man who has been supplying drugs used to keep the cult members under control. Soon a standoff develops and the officers realize that they have no intention of surrendering. Sarah is taken hostage. As they attempt to rescue the women and children Lonnie and Parker find themselves defusing a bomb and Bubba risks his life to rescue a small child from the building.

The daughter of a close friend of Forbes is murdered and the officers must prove that the deranged grandson (Josh Lucas) of a retired judge (George C. Scott) is guilty.

A famous Italian actress returns to Sparta to take care of some unfinished business and rescue her younger sister from a life of drugs and poverty.

Acting Sheriff Gillespie must decide whether he should run for sheriff or retire from law enforcement. It soon becomes apparent that the other candidate is corrupt and dangerous.

Ex-cop John Ryan's happiness with his new bride is threatened by an old flame who sees an opportunity for blackmail.