FORMER LEGISLATOR, DJJ CHIEF BANKHEAD DIES

Longtime state legislator and Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice Bill Bankhead lost his bout with cancer and died last evening at his home in Point Verde, his wife at his side.

Bankhead was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1978, serving five terms before being elected to the state Senate ten years later. In 1999 he took over DJJ, but stepped down taking medical leave after he was diagnosed with transitional cell cancer and had a kidney removed.

He is survived by his wife, Diana, two children, and his mother.