The sheriff's office was established in 1921 upon the creation of Sarasota County from the southern portion of Manatee County. Florida Governor Cary A. Hardee appointed Burna Dale "Heinie" Levi as the first Sheriff of Sarasota County that year. On August 22, 1921, Sarasota city marshal L.D. Hodges became the agency's first deputy.
Deputies in the patrol bureau provide round-the-clock patrol services and answers calls for service in their jurisdiction, which is unincorporated Sarasota County.
The Special Operations division assists the patrol bureau in providing specialized law enforcement services to the county. Divisions within this bureau include:
Agricultural Unit
Animal Services Unit
Aviation Unit
Emergency Response Team
Fugitive Apprehension Unit
Hazardous Devices Unit
K-9 Unit
Marine Unit
Mounted Patrol Unit
Sheriff's Underwater Recovery Force
Special Weapons and Tactics Unit
Traffic Unit
Youth Services
Investigative bureau
The Investigate Bureau employs detectives along with civilian crime analysts. Divisions within the bureau include:
Deputies may also be assigned to specialized units in addition to their regular duties. These units include:
Bomb Unit
Crisis Negotiation Team
Emergency Response Team
Mounted Patrol
Sheriff's Underwater Recovery Force
SWAT Unit
Courts
The agency is responsible for providing court security for all Courthouses and Courtrooms in Sarasota County. There are two courts in Sarasota County - a courthouse in Venice, as well as the main courthouse in downtown Sarasota. Bailiffs also provided security at the Clerk of Courts building as well as at the Sheriff's Office main headquarters at 2071 Ringling Blvd. There are several units in the Bailiffs section, to include Security, Transport and Courtroom security.
Corrections
The Agency is responsible for staffing and maintaining the Sarasota County Jail. Corrections Deputies are charged with the care, custody & control of inmates in the County facility. The current jail is located in downtown Sarasota and consists of three interconnected jails. The current inmate census is about 950 inmates.
911 Center
The Sheriff's Office operates Public Safety Communications, the county's primary 911 center. In addition to dispatching for the Sheriff's Office, it provides law enforcement dispatch to the Sarasota and Venice Police Departments and fire/medical dispatch for the Sarasota County Fire Department, Nokomis Fire Department, Venice Fire Department, North Port Fire Department, and Englewood Fire Department.
The sheriff's office has been the subject of numerous lawsuits from both civilians and employees. A civil rights lawsuit by the family of Rodney Mitchell alleges that Sheriff Knight's law enforcement policies are unconstitutional.
Employee retaliation suits
Sergeant Chris Iorio sued the sheriff's office in 2013, claiming that Sheriff Knight retaliated against him for reporting Captain Ron Locke to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after hearing reports that Locke may have molested an underage girl during the mid-1990s. No charges were filed against Locke. Captain Richard Mottola, who supervised Iorio, filed a lawsuit in 2014 alleging that Sheriff Knight retaliated against Mottola for failing to punish Iorio.
