The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) has announced the promotion of several engineers to leadership roles within the District 2 office. Headquartered in Batesville, MDOT District 2 encompasses 17 counties in northwest Mississippi, including DeSoto County.
Following the retirement of District 2 Engineer Mitch Turner, District 2 Maintenance Engineer Brian Childs, P.E., has been promoted to the position of District 2 Engineer. Ulmer “Trey” Bullock III, P.E., will now serve as District 2 Maintenance Engineer, and James Cobbs P.E., has been named as District 2 Construction Engineer.
Childs, P.E., P.L.S., started working with MDOT in 1999 in the Corinth Project Office as a Civil Engineer Apprentice while attending Mississippi State University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 2002, he started his full-time career with MDOT in the Holly Springs Project Office, serving as an Engineer-in-Training (EIT) and later, Project Engineer.
In 2011, Childs moved to the District Office in Batesville and served as Assistant District Construction Engineer from 2011 to 2012, then as Assistant District Maintenance Engineer from 2012 to 2016. Childs served as Assistant District Engineer from 2016 to 2025. He earned his Professional Engineer License in 2006 and his Professional Land Surveyors License in 2009. He resides in New Albany with his wife Cindy and children Lillie Faith and Cade.
Ulmer “Trey” Bullock IIIJames CobbBrian Childs
As District 2 Engineer, Childs will oversee construction and maintenance projects throughout the area, which covers the state’s northwestern counties, from the Tennessee state line south to Attalla County.
Bullock will replace Brian Childs as District Maintenance Engineer after almost 35 years with the agency. Bullock graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering.
Bullock joined MDOT in 1991 where he worked in the Bridge Division until 1995. From there, he transferred to the Walls field office for two years, then served as the Resident Engineer of the Batesville Project Office until 2004. That year, Bullock became the District Materials Engineer in the District 2 lab. In 2012, he became the Assistant District Maintenance Engineer, a position he’s held since then.
Bullock lives in Lafayette County with his wife Leah, four children, and has two grandchildren.
Cobbs has been chosen to serve as District 2 Construction Engineer. Cobbs graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Cobbs started working at the New Albany project office that year as an EIT and was later promoted to Project Engineer. In 2011, he moved to the Senatobia Project Office as a Resident Engineer. In 2020, he moved to the Holly Springs Project Office as a Resident Engineer.
Cobbs lives in Oxford with his wife Georgia, and children Madisyn and Landon.
