Estep named Nassau County Emergency Management Director

Billy Esteps
Photo of Billy Estep while serving as interim emergency management director in Jax.

Submitted by Bill Leeper, Sheriff

Sheriff Bill Leeper announced today that Billy Estep has been chosen to be the new Director of Emergency Management for Nassau County. He replaces former Emergency Management Director Danny Hinson, who left in November 2013 to work for the state of Florida, and Interim Director Traci Masau, who will remain at the EOC as Emergency Management Planner.

The Nassau County Board of County Commissioners voted on February 24, 2014, to place the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Emergency Management under the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office will be charged with running the day-to-day operations of the EOC and overseeing the county’s Emergency Management Program, which is responsible for Disaster Preparedness.

Director Estep is an emergency response professional with more than 36 years of work experience. He formerly served as the Interim Emergency Management Director at the City of Jacksonville’s Emergency Preparedness Division responsible for implementing all emergency management planning, mitigation, response coordination, and post disaster recovery efforts for Duval County and the urban service districts. During this time he also coordinated and administered several multi-million dollar federal grant programs. Before that he was Deputy Director of Emergency Management at Jacksonville Fire/Rescue Department and Captain of Homeland Security.

“Director Estep has a ton of experience in the emergency management field and will be a valuable asset to our organization and to Nassau County,” said Sheriff Bill Leeper. He will be able to immediately begin preparations for the upcoming storm season, which starts on June 1st.”

March 17, 2014 3:30 p.m.