An appeals court Wednesday rejected a decision by the Baker County sheriff to release a man who had served only four days of a 60-day jail sentence. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld a circuit judge’s ruling that ordered Sheriff Scotty Rhoden to return Donald Shrowder to jail to serve the 60-day sentence.
Wednesday’s decision said Shrowder received the sentence after being convicted of battery, but Rhoden released him after four days with instructions for electronic monitoring at home and at work. The decision said Rhoden released Shrowder “without court authorization and in the absence of an administrative order within the Eighth Judicial Circuit that would have allowed the release.”
Prosecutors challenged the release, and a circuit judge agreed with them, spurring an appeal by Rhoden. In Wednesday’s decision, appeals-court Judges Joseph Lewis, Adam Tanenbaum and Robert Long said the sheriff, “as a constitutional officer within the executive branch of government, had a ministerial duty to implement the sentence imposed by the court.”
–News Service of Florida
JimBob says
The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association of Florida, of which Flagler’s Rick Staley is a member, describes its ideology on its website:
“The law enforcement powers held by the sheriff supersede those of any agent, officer, elected official or employee from any level of government when in the jurisdiction of the county,” the website states. “The vertical separation of powers in the Constitution makes it clear that the power of the sheriff even supersedes the powers of the president.”
Judges—we don’t need no stinkin’ judges!
The dude says
Evidently we do.
Especially since we’re under 24/7 surveillance by our King Staley and subject to his every whim lest we end up in his little “red roof inn” where real criminals literally find a revolving door awaiting them.
The law must also be abided by our constitutional officers. When the rubes start declaring that their particular sheriff’s power “supersedes the President”… we have a problem.
Chris s says
I’m that guy that released in baker county by the sheriff. All this just goes to show that the state is all against you . I am a working man. I got released and I did exactly what I was supposed to do. For it to blow up like this and the state hound me like that is crazy. I have a house ,kid , bills like everyone else and work my but off and me in jail I would of lost it all my son homeless. And he let me do that because that I was charged of was me hitting a guy that was trying to hit a woman that was over sixty. But I should of called the cops. And the state wanted to win so bad. She had the so called victim and his family practice what she told them to say. How I know this the victims son we still talk and he told of me. But I’m the bad guy protecting a older woman from dude messed up on something jobless calling
911 in a cemetery. System is messed upand they want me to re do sixty day’s so I can’t work and waste tax payers money. And lose my house vehicle that I work for.