Deborah Jean Hobbs
Agency patch
Reserve Deputy

Deborah Jean Hobbs

Accident
End of Watch January 16, 2003
Age 39
Tour of Duty 2 yrs
The Vigil Panel 150 ›
Gender Female

Incident

Reserve Deputy Hobbs succumbed to injuries received two weeks earlier when she and her partner were involved in an on-duty automobile accident on U.S. Highway 93.

The officer's Jeep Cherokee patrol car went out of control after hitting a patch of black ice. The car spun into the oncoming lanes and was broadsided by a pickup truck. Reserve Deputy Hobbs was transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where she succumbed to her injuries 12 days later without regaining consciousness.

Reserve Deputy Hobbs had been with the Lake County Sheriff's Office for over two years.

Survivors

She is survived by her parents and husband who is also a reserve deputy and detention officer for the same agency.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-MT-DC080BF0
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 2, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Reserve Deputy Hobbs gave the Lake County Sheriff's Office 2 years.
Thank you for your service to the Polson community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Reserve Deputy Hobbs.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location Polson, MT
Platform Identity lcso.lake.mt.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 16, 2003
Tour of Duty 2 yrs
Age 39
Gender Female

Incident Details

Cause Accident
Cause Detail Automobile crash

Reserve Deputy Deborah Jean Hobbs is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In MT, 34 of 142 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 23.9% of this state's fallen. That is 7.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

Lake County Sheriff's Office
1
of 1 officers
100% Accident
MT — Statewide
34
of 142 officers
23.9% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Deborah Jean Hobbs's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Deborah Jean Hobbs Compares

Age at End of Watch
39
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
2
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Deborah Jean Hobbs is highlighted in Jan.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897