County Votes 5-0 to Rename Operations Center Sheriff Rick Staly Law Enforcement Center

The Flagler County Commission on Monday approved renaming the two-year-old Sheriff’s Operations Center off Commerce Parkway after Sheriff Rick Staly.

The complex, officially at 61 Sheriff E.W. Johnston Drive, will be known as the Sheriff Rick Staly Law Enforcement Center. 

Chief Mark Strobriudge initiated the proposal in recognition of Staly marking 50 years in law enforcement–a celebration is schedule for Nov. 4–and Commissioner Leann Pennington fronted the renaming at the commission two weeks ago. Commissioners voted 5-0. There was opposition from the family of a local sheriff’s deputy who was killed in 1927 by another man who thought he was being robbed, and who was later lynched for his action.

“Congratulations, Sheriff Staly, and I know Chief worked hard getting things ready for that,” Commission Chair Andy Dance said. 

“We provided enough justification for Sheriff Staly’s career since 1975,” Growth Management Director Adam Mengel said. 

The resolution summarizes Staly’s career, his role in helping to halve the county’s crime rate since becoming sheriff in 2016, his initiatives monitoring juveniles on probation, implementing innovative rehabilitation programs at the jail such as the Successful Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Treatment known as Smart, the domestic-violence prevention initiative, the multiple accreditations of the Sheriff’s Office’s various divisions, including the jail, the securing of over $1.5 million in state and federal grants, the agency’s many awards and Staly’s own service and leadership on state boards. 

There was opposition to the renaming from the Durrance family in Bunnell, represented by Jessican Durrance Westbrook, who addressed the commission on Monday. 

Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy George W. “Son” Durrance was killed on Aug. 25, 1927. Sheriff Perry Hall, after whom the county jail is named, had been murdered days earlier during a raid on a bootlegger. Durrance, acting on his own to verify a tip, thought he had tracked down the suspect in Greenland, now a suburb of South Jacksonville, but ended up in a shootout with a Black night watchman guarding a post office. The watchman thought he was being robbed, and shot in self-defense–what would have been a Stand Your Ground case, had that law been around then. Durrance died. 

The watchman was arrested, charged with murder, and lynched weeks later by a white mob implicitly allowed to attack him at the county jail. 

“We respectfully oppose the proposed naming of Flagler County Sheriff’s operations center after Rick Staly,” Westbrook said. “While Sheriff Staly has made significant contributions to law enforcement and community safety, including a 54 percent crime reduction during his tenure and modernizing the Sheriff’s Office, we believe these accomplishments do not outweigh the profound historical sacrifice and legacy of deputy George Son Durrance.” Westbrook said naming the Operations Center after Durrance “would create a powerful unified tribute to the foundational sacrifices made in protecting our community. This naming would more deeply honor the community’s historic values of courage, loyalty and service.” Westbrook said the naming for Durrance would align with the community’s heritage. 

A Painters Hill Navy veteran and retired firefighter also opposed the renaming, saying it doesn’t “meet the expectations for an honor of that magnitude.” He said that sort of honor should be reserved for individuals who die in the line of duty. (Staly was shot in the line of duty early in his career.) 

Three others who addressed the commission, however, including David Williams, the recently retired sheriff’s chief, were supportive of the reaming, and calling Staly “one of the greatest sheriffs to serve our county.” He cited several landmarks now bearing the names of prominent figures of the county’s past–the Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center, also known as the Flagler Auditorium, Herschel King County Park, Sal Campanella Stadium at Flagler Palm Coast High School, and so on. 

“When Sheriff Staly took office in 2016, the Sheriff’s Office faced serious challenges, financial strain, internal controversy and a lack of direction,” Williams said. “In the eight years since, he has transformed the agency into one of the most respected law enforcement organizations in Florida through strong leadership and solid partnerships with our local governments. Sheriff Staly has improved every area of the agency.” 

Even though Dance voted for the measure, he said his interpretation of the ordinance is that renaming landmarks for individuals is intended for those “not currently serving.” But it’s not clearly stated, he said, suggesting that the policy should be rewritten more clearly and accordingly. “I don’t see any reason not to support my fellow commissioners on this for many of the reasons that have been stated in the proclamation,” Dance said. 

“For the Durrance family that’s here,” Dance said after the vote, “this is not to say that Son is not worthy and that we can find a place with honor to recognize him in the county. There’s a process within the naming rights policy to bring that forward. So I would ask the family to look in the county and find that appropriate place and fill that out and submit it to the county. That’s what happened here.”