RE: And Colonel Kirkman, if I'm not mistaken, after he left
Palatka, during Governor Sholtz's administration, was either
the director or captain of the road department patrol. They
were primarily weight inspectors. The road department created
that patrol division pursuant to an opinion from Cary D.
Landis, Attorney General, as I recall. Anyway, in 1939, during
Governor Cone's administration, I was here in Tallahassee as
resident attorney for the State Road Department, Colonel
Kirkman was here also and I continued to be a registered voter
in Putnam County since as a state employee I had that
privilege. Actually I continued to be a registered voter in
Putnam County until I became a Supreme Court Judge. As a
Putnam County voter I was well acquainted with Mr. Fearnside,
my state representative. Colonel Kirkman and Mr. Arthur B.
Hale, the chairman of the State Road Board, wanted to create
the Department of Public Safety, with a division designated the
Florida Highway Patrol, and a Division of Driver Licenses. In
those years as resident attorney for SRD, I handled the
legislative programs for the Road Department. Knowing Mr.
Fearnside real well, I went over and talked to him about
introducing a bill to create the Department of Public Safety
and he agreed to do it. He was a member of the House of
Representatives Committee on Motor Vehicles and Carriers. I
prepared him the bill and he introduced it and after we made
several changes in it, the bill finally came out as a committee
bill of the Motor Vehicles and Carriers Committee and passed
through the Senate and House and then went down to Governor
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