ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick is requesting a $10 million increase in the sheriff’s office’s budget to meet growing population demands and get more deputies on the streets.
According to jaxusa.org, St. Johns County is the fourth fastest-growing county in the United States.
The county offers a healthy public school system and a competitive business climate.
Hardwick said Florida as a whole is growing exponentially.
“The entire state of Florida, per the sheriffs, are growing and we’re all dealing with growth, who doesn’t want to be in the state of Florida,” Hardwick said.
According to data released by the sheriff’s office, the population of St. Johns County grew from roughly 296,000 residents in 2022 to around 315,000 in 2023.
The sheriff presented his $128 million budget request at Tuesday’s St. Johns County Commissioners meeting.
Hardwick said the budget will help the county meet its needs and provide adequate resources for visitors and residents.
“I believe, it is a little bit of holistically looking at it as deputy sheriffs in uniform in a car, but also to services in our jail that are making people into better people than what they came in as, which has lowered recidivism in St. Johns County over three years by 10%. So it’s a total package,” Hardwick said.
Hardwick is requesting $10 million more than last year’s budget. He said the increase would go toward needs like compensation, benefits and equipment upgrades.
“If I were to go page by page, it breaks down everything from taxes to people to Social Security, what they pay,” Hardwick said. “We’re going right into the meat and potatoes. And this is what we’re asking for, it’s 21 new positions. And this is where the money’s going, it’s going to compensation and benefits and to take care of our people. However, we do have to provide equipment and equipment is expensive.”
Hardwick said it could cost around $206,000 to get a deputy to patrol the streets with a base pay of $55,000, a $68,000 car plus the equipment, a retirement package, firearms and training.
The budget shows over $24,500,000 would support operating expenses and more than $98 million would cover personnel services.
Hardwick said the 21 positions he wants to add will mostly be deputy positions if approved.
“Our budget has increased significantly since I became the sheriff just over three and a half years ago,” Hardwick said. “If they were to break down the budget, it’s replacing dilapidated and antiquated equipment. It’s investing into real-time intelligence and technology-based policing. It’s investing in our people that protect people when they’re laying their head to bed at nighttime.”
The previous year, the sheriff’s office asked for 23 more deputy positions, and it was approved. Hardwick said the department also saw “significant increases” in pay in 2023.
“So, it’s putting the right people in the right seats, but also compensating them properly, too. When I took over as sheriff the pay was in the $30,000s. And now they’re in the $50,000s,” Hardwick said.
St. Johns County had more than 414,000 thousand calls for service in 2023, that’s up from 290,000 in 2021, which is a 42% increase in two years.
As the county rapidly grows, the sheriff wants the entire department to get a pay raise.
“In that budget presentation, it does give increases to our deputy sheriffs’ and I’m a big fan of…if a deputy sheriff gets a pay increase, the entire agency should get a pay increase…so I had to go back make sure everybody is getting something,” Hardwick said. “It’s not a significant pay increase...but I want to make sure that the bottom-level employees are getting something
SJSO has nearly 1,000 employees. Hardwick said he is taking care of everyone from the maintenance staff to operators at the jail.
“This is a sheriff’s office that takes care of everybody in the agency,” he said.
The county’s recommended budget will be submitted in July and once approved, take effect in October.