Carter Country is set in the fictional small town of Clinton Corners in Georgia (presumably near Plains, Georgia, the town from which U.S. President Jimmy Carter hailed, thus the title) and features French as police chief Roy Mobey and Holliday as city-bred, college-educated Sergeant Curtis Baker.

Richard Paul as Mayor Teddy Burnside, Harvey Vernon as racist officer Jasper DeWitt, and Barbara Cason as town employee Cloris Phebus round out the cast.

DeWitt is shown to be a member of the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan and he often makes disparaging comments against minorities, but is still a loyal and honest law enforcement officer.

Additional comic support is provided by Texas-born actor Guich Koock, who plays the part of goofy deputy Harley Puckett.

The plot centers around the stereotypical racism of the Deep South, and has often been characterized as being an irreverent, comedic version of the movie In the Heat of the Night, especially with the aspect of an educated, African American man coming to a small, southern town to work as a police officer.