John Rutherford (sheriff)

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John Henry Rutherford (born September 2, 1952) has been with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for over 30 years and has been the sheriff of Jacksonville, Florida since his election in 2003.

1 Education
2 Experience at JSO
3 Politics
4 Elections
5 Personal
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Education

Rutherford was born in 1952 and has lived in Jacksonville since 1958. He earned an associate's degree in police administration from Florida Junior College, then received a bachelor's degree in criminology at Florida State University. Later, he attended the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

[edit] Experience at JSO

Officer Rutherford started out as a patrolman in 1974 and rose to the rank of Captain. He has commanded a number of divisions, including Arson, Burglary, the Police Academy and Patrol on the Southside. He also served as Chief of Services, Traffic and Special Operations, and Chief of Patrol.^[1] In 1995, Rutherford was appointed as Director of Corrections under then-Sheriff Nat Glover and held that title for 8 years.

[edit] Politics

In February, 2003, a campaign violation complaint was filed by City Council candidate Paul Linville alleging violations of the Federal Hatch Act of 1939, which prohibits employees working for federally funded agencies from running for office in partisan elections. Rutherford consulted a lawyer, and was told there was no conflict, but planned to retire anyway, with 28 years of service.^[2]

[edit] Elections

Rutherford campaigned for Duval County sheriff, running against fellow Republicans David Anderson and Lem Sharp. In the election on April 15, 2003, Rutherford won 135,038 votes, 78 percent of the total. He took office on July 1, 2003.

As the sheriff's first term came to a close, several problems were obvious, but the solutions to them was not. The local murder rate was climbing every year, just as the number of other crimes were declining. The sheriff acknowledged the need to bring more officers to the streets and to reduce the proliferation of illegal guns and identified programs to address those issues; however, results were unimpressive. An incident in December, 2003 illustrated the dire need for better department auditing. Plastic bags filled with about $525,000 in cash and $25,000 in checks and money orders were found in two file cabinets controlled by Detective Brian Murphy who, in his job as forfeiture unit detective, was responsible for negotiating settlements over seized property and depositing the money.^[3]

Rutherford was re-elected in 2007. Despite criticism that he has been slow to make needed changes in the department, he is viewed as moving in the right direction.^[4]

[edit] Personal

Rutherford is married to his wife, Patricia. They have two children (Alicia and Michael) and a granddaughter, (Michela). In an interview prior to his first election in 2003, he was asked what voters would be surprised to know about John Rutherford. His reply: "I'm still a surfer."