HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI – A stretch of highway may soon be renamed in honor of a sheriff’s deputy who was killed in the line of duty a year ago.

A bill to rename a portion of M-34 between Pioneer and South Pittsford roads in Hillsdale County to the Deputy Sheriff William Butler, Jr. Memorial Highway passed the State Senate Wednesday, Aug. 20. It has been sent to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk for signing.

Butler, 51, died on June 27, 2024. A man shot him while he assisted a detective sergeant during a traffic stop near Osseo, eight miles southeast of Hillsdale.

The shooter, who fled immediately after shooting Butler, was found later that day and killed in a brief shootout with police.

“Last year, as I sat at deputy Butler’s funeral service, I was struck by how beauty and sorr

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