Walton County to Swear In Newly Elected Officials November 17
Walton County’s newly elected officials will be sworn into office Tuesday, November 17 at 8:30 AM, the Board of County Commissioners announced this week. The public ceremony takes place in the BCC Boardroom at 571 E Nelson Avenue in DeFuniak Springs, with light refreshments provided.
The ceremony lands two weeks after the November 3 general election, when Walton County voters decide the County Commission’s District 2 and District 4 seats along with a slate of countywide offices, according to the Secretary of State’s notice of general election. Warren Whitaker, who unseated incumbent Danny Glidewell in the August primary with 60.48% of the vote, and Jim Bagby, who claimed the District 4 race over incumbent Donna Johns, are the Republican nominees positioned to take their oaths at the DeFuniak Springs ceremony. Glidewell’s current term runs through November 22, per the county’s CivicWeb listing, giving the incoming commission a clean handoff.
The stakes reach well beyond the county seat. The five-member board governs the county services Freeport residents rely on — road projects along the US 331 corridor, public safety funding, growth management, and the budget that pays for it all. Whitaker’s District 2 covers DeFuniak Springs and northern Walton County, including portions of the US 331 corridor that connects the county seat to Freeport and I-10, while District 1 Commissioner Dan Curry — whose district office sits at 902 FL-20 East, Freeport — was not up for re-election this cycle and remains on the board. The commission’s regular meetings themselves rotate into Freeport: the October 27 session is scheduled for the Freeport BCC Board Room, per the county’s published calendar.
County rules call for the board to appoint a chair and vice chair at its annual organizational meeting in November, when new members are seated. Brad Drake currently chairs the board, with Tony Anderson serving as vice chair, and the swearing-in ceremony traditionally accompanies that November reorganization.
Freeport-area voters will also weigh in on Hammock Bay Community Development District seats 4 and 5 in the November 3 election — Hammock Bay is a Freeport community on the south side of the city — along with Tax Collector, Supervisor of Elections, County Judge Group 1, and three school board seats.
The county is inviting residents to attend and meet the officials who will represent them for the coming term. “We look forward to gathering with our community for this special occasion as we welcome a new chapter of leadership,” the announcement reads.
Originally reported by the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (Facebook). Image: Walton County Board of County Commissioners (Facebook).
