MOULTRIE, Ga. — On Monday Colquitt County Sheriff Al Whittington will hang up his badge during a ceremony that also will see him hand the baton to incoming Sheriff Rod Howell.

Mixed metaphors aside, Whittington — who served as sheriff for 16 years after taking office in January 2001 — will be honored during the 6 p.m. reception at the Colquitt County Ag Building located near the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office building on Veterans Parkway North.

During the ceremony a judge will swear in Howell, who won the sheriff’s job with 76 percent of the vote in the November election.

Howell, who until the election was chief jailer with the office, is the son of Billy Howell, who served as sheriff during the 1990s and is now warden at Colquitt County Correctional Institution.

Whittington may be out of one job, but he will take part-time work beginning in January when he becomes the new District 4 Colquitt County Commission member.

Whittington won the Republican primary in the spring and had no Democratic opponent in the general election. Republican Chris Hunnicutt received about 85 percent of the vote on Nov. 8 and will represent District 2.

The Monday evening event is open to the public.