Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The section of U.S. 19 in Jefferson County between Capps and the Georgia State Line is about to be formally recognized as the Sheriff David C. Hobbs Memorial Highway and official State of Florida road signs erected to that effect.
The road was actually renamed after the late Hobbs in July of last year, but this week’s brief ceremony is planned to honor the beloved Sheriff and celebrate the renaming.
The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, at the site of the Jefferson County’s Sheriff’s Office (JCSO), and will include several speakers and the unveiling of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) signs that are to be installed at the specified section of the highway.
Cricket Edwards, who is with the JCSO and tasked with organizing the event, said late last week that the details of the ceremony were still being worked out. Invitations had been extended to the heads of various state agencies, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Attorney General.
Sheriffs from across the state had also been invited.
“Pretty much the heads of every law-enforcement related agency has been invited,” Edwards said.
Senator Bill Montford, one of the sponsors of the legislation that renamed the highway, is expected to be one of speakers, along with members of the Hobbs family.
“It will be short and sweet,” Edwards said of the ceremony.
Edwards stated the event will be held outside in the field between the JCSO/jail and the Emergency Management Center at 171 Industrial Park. Which large space, will allow for social distancing, in keeping with the CDC guidelines to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Facemasks will also be available for those who wanted to use them as an extra precaution.
In the formal invitation to the event, Sheriff Mac McNeill wrote of the planned ceremony, “We are both humbled and proud with this designation being bestowed upon our late sheriff, as his legacy will be officially recognized and his name will forever be ingrained within his beloved Jefferson County.”
The ceremony comes more than a year after the Florida Legislature approved House Bill 385 and Senate Bill 942 renaming the highway in March 2019 and the FDOT officially designated the highway as such in July of the same year.
Hobbs, who served as Jefferson County Sheriff for 12 years, died of cancer-related complications in November 2017 at age 58 while in his fourth term in office.
A Jefferson County native, Hobbs served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps, eight years as a deputy for the JCSO and 11 as a trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol before running for sheriff.
He was elected to the office in 2004 and reelected in 2008, 2012 and 2016.
The idea of renaming the highway in honor of Hobbs first came up in 2018 when County Coordinator Parrish Barwick proposed it at a Jefferson County Commission meeting.
The proposal found favor with McNeill, who succeeded Hobbs, and also with Property Appraiser Angela Gray and others, who encouraged Barwick to pursue the designation and offered their assistance in the effort.
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