Walton County is accepting applications from residents who want to serve on the county’s volunteer advisory boards and committees, with the 30-day application window opening October 1 and appointments to be made at the first Board of County Commissioners meeting in December.

Sample ballots for the November 3 general election are now available at votewalton.gov, giving Walton County voters an early look at a ballot that runs from the top of the ticket — Governor and Congress — down to county commission races and three proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.

Walton County Code Compliance is inviting the public to weigh in on possible changes to the Waterways and Beach Activities Ordinance at a workshop on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at 9:00 AM — and while the meeting will be held in Santa Rosa Beach, the rules on the table reach north to the bay waters at Freeport’s edge.

The Walton County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a phone scam in which a caller posed as a real WCSO sergeant, claimed the victim had missed federal grand jury duty, and demanded $10,000 in cash to clear two bogus bench warrants.

The Freeport City Council awarded a contract worth just over $1.09 million to finish the Business 331 sidewalk extension and approved a $183,790 change order for a state-required monitoring well at the CR-3280 water well site during its regular meeting Thursday night, September 24, at City Hall. The council also adopted a rezoning on US 331 South, signed off on new CHELCO street lighting estimates, and joined a regional estuary program’s steering council.

Habitat for Humanity of Walton County, the affiliate that builds homes for families from Paxton and DeFuniak Springs down through Freeport, is calling on the community to get involved this fall through hands-on homebuilding projects and a major fundraising festival.

Fire chiefs, sheriffs and emergency services leaders across Walton County are urging caution on Amendment 3, the property tax overhaul Florida voters will decide in November, warning that the revenue that keeps firefighters, paramedics and deputies ready to respond in Freeport could be on the line.

Freeport residents will soon see traffic counting devices installed along Blueberry Road and Highway 20 as the city launches a formal traffic study of one of its most congested corridors.

The Walton County Sheriff’s Office and Walton County Fire Rescue — the two agencies that answer Freeport’s law enforcement and fire calls — are now defendants in a nine-count civil lawsuit over the 2024 shooting of a family’s dog during a house fire in Mossy Head.

The manslaughter case against former surgeon Thomas Shaknovsky returned to a Walton County courtroom Thursday morning, where attorneys agreed to a third pretrial hearing on November 19 as the slow march toward trial continues. Shaknovsky himself did not appear in court.