Miami-Dade's sheriff is ending the $4.1 million-a-year bodyguard detail for the mayor and commissioners

The sheriff pulls the county leaders' drivers

Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz told the county mayor and commissioners on Oct. 22 that she will end their deputy drivers and bodyguards on Nov. 9. Her move came a day after she joined Gov. Ron DeSantis at a roundtable praising Amendment 3, a ballot plan to cut property taxes statewide, the Herald reports. She says the detail costs taxpayers about $4.1 million a year, money she will use to help cover a budget she says falls short.

Why it matters: Like law enforcement across Florida, her office relies on property taxes for most of its money, the Herald reports. Her office says the county budget leaves it $42 million short. She is appealing to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, who rule on a sheriff's appeal of a county budget. If she wins, the county must find that money elsewhere in its budget, the Herald reports. In September, Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III said the county would then make cuts and blame the sheriff. "Let them raise the bus fares. Let them close the parks," he said, public radio station WLRN reported.

Levine Cava and Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez wrote back the same day that the short notice "presents a significant security challenge." The mayor, who still runs the county jails, plans to move jail officers into the job, the Herald reports. Commissioner Raquel Regalado called that "a horrible idea" because the jails are overcrowded.

The story so far: In January 2025, Miami-Dade's police moved from the mayor's control to an elected sheriff under a state constitutional amendment, the Herald and Miami New Times report. The jails stayed with the mayor. In September 2026, the commission backed the mayor in rejecting about $42 million more that the sheriff wanted.

What's next: The detail ends Nov. 9, the sheriff's letter says. The mayor and chairman asked for a detailed transition plan before then. No hearing date for the sheriff's appeal had been set in what we read.

Who's who

Rosie Cordero-Stutz is Miami-Dade's sheriff, the first elected since the 1950s, the Herald reports. Daniella Levine Cava is the county mayor, and she still oversees the county jails. Anthony Rodriguez chairs the County Commission. The Herald describes the mayor as a Democrat and the sheriff and Rodriguez as Republicans. Raquel Regalado and Oliver Gilbert III are county commissioners. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet hear a sheriff's appeal of a county budget.

What the detail is

The sergeant-at-arms program has given county commissioners chauffeur service and security since 2009, Miami New Times reports. The mayor and commissioners are assigned plain-clothed deputies who drive them day and night in black SUVs, the Herald reports. That can include turning on police lights to get through traffic.

The sheriff's letter says the program "costs taxpayers approximately $4.1 million annually." She will redirect its money and reassign its deputies. She says that will "help meet the budget shortfall created by the Board's adoption of the Mayor's proposed budget, which does not fully fund the MDSO for Fiscal Year 2026-27." Her office will still provide police coverage at commission meetings, the letter says. NBC 6, Univision 23 and New Times also reported the letter and its $4.1 million cost.

The budget fight behind it

Commissioners passed a $14.3 billion county budget early on Sept. 18, WLRN reported. At 1 a.m. they approved Rodriguez's motion to give the sheriff's office $11.5 million more. The commission backed the mayor in rejecting about $42 million more that the sheriff wanted, on top of the $1.2 billion the mayor recommended, the Herald reports.

On Sept. 25, the sheriff's office said the adopted budget leaves it $42.037 million short. It said labor deals reached before the sheriff took office, plus county-approved pension and health costs, make up $62.5 million of its $108.7 million request. Without the money, it said, it would cancel 6.5 academy classes and end the year with about 180 fewer deputies. "Miami-Dade County does not have to choose between public safety and higher taxes or fewer services," the sheriff said in the release.

The mayor's letter tells a different story. "The County adopted a $1.23 billion budget for the Sheriff's Office for FY 2026-27, the largest in its history, exceeding your certified request by more than $186 million," it says. It says the county still lacks key budget information it asked the sheriff's office for, including through public records requests.

Under state law, a sheriff may appeal a county's budget to the governor's office within 30 days after getting written notice of it. The county then has five days to reply. The governor's office holds a hearing and reports to the Administration Commission, which then acts. The Herald describes it as an appeal to the governor and Cabinet.

If the state overrules the commission, Gilbert said in September, "we will tell everybody that these are the cuts that were made by the sheriff." Like law enforcement across Florida, the sheriff's office relies on property taxes for most of its money, the Herald reports.

The sheriff's announcement came a day after she joined DeSantis at a roundtable in Miami-Dade praising Amendment 3, the Herald reports. That ballot measure would cut property taxes statewide. At the roundtable she said, "An expense should never go unquestioned simply because that is what government has always paid for," NBC 6 reported.

The mayor's jail plan

Levine Cava plans to reassign county correctional officers as drivers and bodyguards for elected officials, the Herald reports. The plan would use fewer than three dozen officers. At a Corrections Department event on Oct. 26, she asked an administrator how many correctional officers are trained as sergeants-at-arms, and the answer was 33. "Don't you worry. We're not going to miss a beat," she told officers, the Herald reports.

A statement from the mayor's office said, "We are working with departments under the Mayor's authority to ensure there is no gap in protection for elected officials." Her Oct. 22 letter named only "the appropriate County departments," not Corrections. It is not clear how much policing authority the officers would bring, the Herald reports. Correctional officers usually lack the broad arrest powers of a deputy.

Regalado said she had not been briefed. "Using correctional officers to drive elected officials is a horrible idea," she said. "They should be in the jails. Our jails are overcrowded."

The jails hold about 5,000 people a day, up from an average of 4,500 three years ago, the Herald reports. The Corrections Department has about 3,000 workers and a current budget of about $606 million, the Herald says. The county budgeted $45.9 million for jail overtime in the year that just ended and projected $54.2 million. By our arithmetic, that is about $8 million over.

Is it a saving?

Political Cortadito columnist Elaine de Valle wrote that the $4.1 million is not really a saving "because those officers aren't being fired, just reassigned." She wrote that she asked the sheriff's office about the sheriff's own transportation and security and had no answer by the time her Oct. 23 column ran.

Their side

The sheriff says the cut is part of a review of programs her office inherited from the old police department, and that her budget does not fully fund the office. The mayor and chairman say the short notice is a security problem. They asked that protection of public servants be considered "free from the politics of a budget disagreement." The mayor's office says there will be no gap in protection. We found no sheriff's office response to the jail plan.

Sources we read

The sheriff's Oct. 22 letter and the mayor and chairman's Oct. 22 reply, both posted by Miami New Times. The sheriff's office release, Sept. 25. Miami-Dade County FY 2026-27 proposed budget, Sheriff's Office and Corrections pages. Florida Statutes section 30.49. Miami Herald, Oct. 22 and Oct. 26, via Yahoo. NBC 6, Oct. 22. Univision 23. Miami New Times, Oct. 27. WLRN, Sept. 18. Political Cortadito, Oct. 23.