Husband of child services director fled DUI crash with kids in truck, GSP says
The husband of the director who oversees the state’s child protective services had a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit when he left the scene of a North Georgia crash with two kids in his pickup truck, authorities said.
Jason Broce, 43, is charged with DUI-child endangerment and a slew of other offenses stemming from what officials said was an Oct. 16 hit-and-run near the couple’s Bartow County home.
Broce’s wife, Candice, is the director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, a position she’s held since 2021. In that role, she leads the agency tasked with ensuring the safety of Georgia’s children. She also serves as commissioner of the state’s Department of Human Services.
The arrest raises questions about how DFCS might handle an investigation involving a family member of its director.
In a statement, a department spokesperson said while the agency cannot confirm or deny the existence of any child abuse or neglect case, there are protocols in place to avoid conflicts of interest if a report is received about an agency employee.
“Under these protocols, the employee shall be recused from reviewing the case, which shall instead be referred to an impartial, independent reviewer,” the department said.
A state trooper stopped Jason Broce’s Ford F-150 just before 5:30 p.m. that Thursday after a caller reported the driver leaving the scene of a crash, according to a Georgia State Patrol incident report.
The two-vehicle wreck occurred about 20 minutes earlier along Ga. 3 near Felton Road, authorities said. The caller said the driver, who appeared intoxicated, left the scene before police arrived, according to the report. It’s unclear if anyone was injured.
The trooper who spotted Broce’s damaged truck said the vehicle was “weaving heavily” and crossing both lines before pulling over into a gas station parking lot, according to the report. As the trooper exited his cruiser, the pickup “began reversing and nearly backed into my patrol car,” he wrote.
He noted in the report that Broce’s breath smelled strongly of alcohol and that the driver had bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech. There were two children in the back seat, the trooper wrote, a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old.
Broce, however, told police he was not involved in a wreck that day and said the damage to the front end of his pickup had been there for more than a year, the GSP report stated.
Despite Broce insisting he had nothing to drink, the trooper said he was unsteady on his feet and nearly fell over. A preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol level of 0.333, which is four times the legal limit, according to the incident report.
Broce was taken to the hospital for a blood test before being booked into the Bartow jail. The results of that test were not included in the incident report. His wife was called to come pick up the children and her husband’s vehicle, according to the report.
Broce faces six misdemeanors stemming from his arrest, including driving under the influence, two counts of DUI-endangering a child, hit-and-run, following too closely and failure to maintain lane, jail logs show. He was released the following morning on $3,800 bond.
Jason Broce, who heads a Georgia lobbying firm, did not return requests for comment. His wife also declined to comment about her husband’s recent arrest.
A spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp, who appointed Candice Broce, declined to comment as well. The State Patrol did not immediately respond to questions about whether it is required to report the child endangerment charges to DFCS.
Defense attorney Suri Chadha Jimenez, who is not involved in the case, said the state’s child protective agency typically only launches an investigation if the matter is formally reported.
“There’s nothing that I know of that says they must call DFCS,” he said of the arresting officer. “They can if they want to, but there’s no requirement.”
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