Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The retirement reception for Chambers County Sheriff Sid Lockhart will be held on Jan. 8 at the Valley Community Center. From 2 to 5 p.m. eastern time, citizens of Chambers County can drop in to celebrate the long-running career of the sheriff.

“This is a community-wide drop-in reception for Sheriff Lockhart,” said Major TJ Wood. “We’re inviting the public to come out.”

The reception will be an open event for the community to have some refreshments, chat with Lockhart and celebrate his decades of service.

Lockhart has been serving the county as sheriff for the past 28 years and served in law enforcement for 12 years before that. Lockhart has been a board member for the EAMC-Lanier hospital, the Boys and Girls Ranch, Valley Haven and the Tri-County Child Advocacy organization.

“It’s just something we feel he deserves after all the dedication that he has provided to the department and the citizens of Chambers County and surrounding counties,” Wood said.

This year Lockhart began preparations to retire. In November, Republican Jeff Nelson was voted to be the new sheriff of Chambers County.

The deputies and the incoming sheriff organized the party to honor Lockhart’s dedication and hard work and ensure that it did not go unnoticed as he stepped into retirement. Wood said that Lockhart has had a big impact on him personally.

“Sheriff Lockhart plays a very big role in who I am as a law enforcement officer,” Wood said. “He taught me in my career that we get out here, and we take care of our citizens. If we’re involved in community events and then they need us to protect them, then we’re already there.”