Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff Burl Justice died from injuries received three months earlier when he was accidentally shot and killed by a child while giving a tour of the jail.
He was participating in a program where children replaced government officials for a day. He had unloaded his weapon and showed it to the children. He then reloaded it and set it down to get the jail keys. One of the children picked it up to admire it and accidentally fired it, striking Sheriff Justice in the abdomen.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-35CC17A4- 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
22 years. You could have gone home.
Sheriff Justice gave the Scioto County Sheriff's Office 22 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Portsmouth community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Justice.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff Burl E. Justice 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 OH, 318 of 991 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Scioto County Sheriff's Office, 3 of 5 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 60% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Burl E. Justice's cause is highlighted.
How Burl E. Justice Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Burl E. Justice is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
4 officers from Scioto County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
