A reminder: Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly has been and will continue to be the official correctional officer in Flagler County. The County Commission reasserted that formally this evening in a unanimous vote. The inmate facility, however, will continue to be called the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Facility, and Staly is not getting a raise.
“I will not be taking my wife out for a big fancy dinner because I got a big pay raise tonight. Doesn’t happen,” Staly told the commission, addressing a question Palm Coast City Council candidate Darlene Shelley raised about the designation possibly creating a conflict, or whether it is compensated.
The sheriff could take his wife out this evening if he chose, or if she insisted: he is paid $230,000 a year, a salary set by state law, as are all the salaries of constitutional officers, not by the County Commission, though the salary is paid out of local funds. The sheriff is the highest-paid constitutional officer–whether he runs the jail or not–with other constitutional officers paid $161,000 to $189,000.
“The sheriff has been the chief correctional officer probably since 1917,” Staly explained, “and this is just complying with a state law that says you must designate either yourself or me, and apparently it’s me. But it’s really just a clean up ordinance.” The jail is under the supervision of Court and Detention Division Chief Daniel Engert, who has earned his own plaudits in the role since he took it over in 2020.
Assistant County Attorney Sean Moylan had prepared the ordinance. “This proposed ordinance was drafted in coordination with the Sheriff’s general counsel and formalizes the existing roles and responsibilities of the County Commission and Sheriff regarding the operation of the county jail,” his memo to the commission reads. “Under this framework, the County remains responsible for the physical jail facility, while the Sheriff oversees correctional operations, including hiring and training correctional officers, establishing jail policies and directives, and enforcing federal and state laws as well as Department of Corrections rules.”
The sheriff running the jail isn’t the universal approach in Florida. As Commissioner Greg Hansen noted to the sheriff, a few counties–Volusia County is one of them–run it, under the supervision of the County Commission.
Ten counties do, Staly said. “I haven’t seen any willpower by this board or prior boards to take over the jail,” he said, “but I will tell you that the current jail is an award-winning jail.” Last October, the jail received The Detention Facility Innovation Award for the second or third year running. In 2024, the facility was nationally accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.
“They do a phenomenal job in turning inmates’ lives around to become productive citizens–for those that want to, not all of them want to,” Staly said.
The ordinance formalizes a process the county and the sheriff have been following for years, including the requirements that the sheriff submit a budget that includes jail costs but not jail capital costs, which remain the county’s responsibility. In a remarkable display of restraint, or possibly an oversight, the words “Green Roof Inn,” the sheriff’s moniker for the jail, were never uttered.
JimboXYZ says
Sounds like the duty/responsibility has always come with the job title ? End of the day, his is just an announcement for business as usual. Anyone that ever accepted a job, voted in or appointed shouldn’t expect a standing ovation. Sheriff pays quite well. As Obama once said abut the CEO’s of the bailout. Where else are those folks going to go, what else would they do after the economy collapsed ? Law Enforcement has become quite a lucrative career choice and those that thrived for success, any other direction & are they nearly compensated as well ?
Rosemary Baiga says
Congratulations and Thank you Sheriff Staly for your the one positive official in this county. God bless and many more years ahead. Thank you and the deputies for risking your lives for us everyday.