Renner, on His Last Day, and Staly on His 2,497th, Break Ground on Florida Guard’s Training Facility in Bunnell

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly, who all but birthed the concept, and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, joined with state and local officials this afternoon to break ground on the future $10 million Florida State Guard multi agency, regional training facility on county acreage off Justice Lane in Bunnell, near the county jail complex.

The facility will serve the State Guard, which Gov. Ron DeSantis revived four years ago, but also all local police and fire agencies, and some regional law enforcement agencies as well in a more advanced training complex than they’ve known to date.




Renner was putting in his last day on the job. Staly was putting in his 2,497th day, with at least 1,520 days to go, if her doesn’t run for a fourth term.

Staly noted that until now local law enforcement has been using the Flagler County Gun Club for its training, or at the airport for vehicular training. “While this has been a great partnership, it has limited capabilities and availability for training,” the sheriff said, underscoring the benefit of a more advanced facility to lower liability. ” Knowing that we needed a dedicated training complex for the needs of Flagler County, and if Flagler County had limited resources and a lot of capital needs throughout the county, I knew we had to think outside the box to make this vision a reality,” he said, recalling how he initiated the idea of the public safety training complex in a conversation with Renner four years ago–just as the State Guard was re-emerging.

Renner suggested wedding the two ideas. “Frankly, I thought that was a brilliant concept and a cost effective concept, as both needs will be accomplished using the same state dollar to satisfy everyone’s training needs,” Staly said. He traveled with the state leadership to visit other training facilities as Flagler’s was being designed. The partnership that resulted is “what you see today.”

Sen. Tom A. Wright, whose district includes swaths of Volusia and Brevard counties, was in attendance, as were three county commissioners, including Commission Chair Andy Dance, and more members of the Bunnell City Commission (three) than there were at the commemorative naming last Friday of East Drain Street for the late Commissioner and community activist Daisy Henry (just two). Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, nearing the end of his farewell tour, was also present.




“If government exists for any reason, and the reason it was initially formed is to protect lives and property,” Renner said, “and at times of emergency, that is when we need government most to deliver. And I know that everybody here in Flagler County that knows our great Sheriff, Rick Staly, and the men and women in green that are here and those that are on patrol right now, know that they’re always here for us and they have always met that call. But we also have a State Guard now, and I will say, since I’ve only got 24 hours left before I’m termed out, I can be a little blunt, right? All I can do is fire me. But a lot of people kind of rolled their eyes a little bit when this idea of a State Guard came up. And I think the doubters have been proven wrong, and the advocates like the governor and others have been proven right.”

(Reports of the Florida National Guard’s mobilization before and assistance after Hurricane Milton struck last month were ubiquitous, particularly since 5,000 such Guard members had mobilized, out of some 12,000. Reports about the State Guard’s 1,500 troops were just a bit less easy to spot.)

“The state guard has become something very special, but we envision it to be as represented by the men and women behind me–and including some four legged friends back there–that are just exceptional in what they do,” Renner said before stressing the importance of the training facility. “That training will happen right here in the City of Bunnell in Flagler County, and I’m very proud to be here to celebrate with you.” He noted the $10 million appropriation it took to make the facility happen, thanking his counterpart, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, as well as local officials.




Thieme, the Guard’s executive director, described his agency as only one of the many beneficiaries of the training facilities, among them the local Sheriff’s Office and fire and police services. “This campus represents the only organic location for the Florida State Guard to train our highly credentialed Special Operations soldiers you see behind me in support of public safety and search and rescue operations,” Thieme said. “This campus will allow them to hone and sharpen their skills, or specialized skills, integrating and interoperating with Flagler County and potentially other similar organizations throughout the state. Key training features here will include live fire ranges, a reconfigurable building, allowing or providing the ability to simulate various high risk, high stress scenarios, fostering teamwork and decision making under pressure.” There’ll also be a tactical traininga nd de-escalation house.

The facility will also have administrative and classroom space.

To Dance, the facility is a “great example of this joint partnership,” he said, thanking those involved, “especially Sheriff Staly, who’s kind of the brain child of this and brought this forward. We’re lucky enough to be able to have the property here that was available to house this establishment, and to be able to have these facilities here in Flagler County.” He spoke of it in terms of economic benefit in addition to its inherent purpose, before yielding to Staly, who saw the occasion as “a new chapter for training first responders” and the Guard.




The Florida Department of Management Services will build the training complex. Contracts for site and architectural design and construction have been awarded. Construction is expected to be completed by early 2027.

“And by training together with the Florida State Guard, it allows us to practice together, to learn from each other before deployment, like during a hurricane or a man made disaster, like a building collapse or social unrest,” Staly said in what was perhaps an unintentionally ominous note on the eve of an unsettled, and unsettling, election.