Incident
Chief Deputy Bobby Jacobs suffered a fatal heart attack several hours after responding to assist at the scene of a barricaded subject who had threatened to kill law enforcement officers.
Another deputy had attempted to serve a warrant on the man, but he barricaded himself inside of his home. Chief Deputy Jacobs responded to the scene and the man was eventually taken into custody.
He reported to duty the following day and handled a call for service. He returned to the sheriff's office where he collapsed a short time later.
Chief Deputy Jacobs had served in law enforcement for 23 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his three daughters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-KY-EC5822E1- 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
23 years. You could have gone home.
Chief Deputy Jacobs gave the Knott County Sheriff's Office 23 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Hindman community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief Deputy Jacobs.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief Deputy Bobby Wayne Jacobs is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In KY, 44 of 983 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.5% of this state's fallen. That is 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Knott County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 9 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 11.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Bobby Wayne Jacobs's cause is highlighted.
How Bobby Wayne Jacobs Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Bobby Wayne Jacobs is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
8 officers from Knott County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.


