Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Hughes suffered a fatal heart attack while chasing a suspect. Deputy Hughes had served with the agency for 8 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two sons.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-SC-81BBE1A8- 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.
Deputy Sheriff Hughes gave the Pickens County Sheriff's Office 8 years.
Thank you for your service to the Pickens community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Hughes.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Joel Dean Hughes 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 SC, 20 of 438 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.6% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Pickens County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Joel Dean Hughes's cause is highlighted.
How Joel Dean Hughes Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Joel Dean Hughes is highlighted in Oct.
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Pickens County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
