Meet Sheriff Rick Staly

CONTACT

Phone: 386-586-4891 

Email: Sheriff@flaglersheriff.com

Sheriff Rick Staly is serving his third 4-year term as Flagler County Sheriff. He was first elected to the office of Sheriff in 2016 and was sworn in as the 18th Sheriff of Flagler County on January 3, 2017. Following his first term, he was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2020. Following his second term, he was re-elected unopposed in 2024, joining Sheriff Zip Edmonson in 1968 as the only incumbent Sheriff in agency history to be re-elected unopposed. As Sheriff, he leads a workforce of more than 400 employees and volunteers with a budget of over $48 million dollars.

Sheriff Staly holds a master’s degree in Justice Administration from the University of Louisville and a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Rollins College. Sheriff Staly is a graduate of the 177th Session of the FBI National Academy, the 79th Session of the FBI LEEDS Program, and the Southern Police Institute’s 79th Administrative Officer’s Course. He is also a graduate of the 112th Session of the National Sheriff’s Institute, and Session 2 of NSI’s Jail Administration, making him the first Sheriff in Flagler County to graduate from the NSI.

Sheriff Staly is past president of the Florida Deputy Sheriffs Association. During his tenure as president, he led FDSA during its fastest membership growth period, making FDSA the largest Deputy Sheriffs Association in the United States. He has served as board chair of the Florida Sheriffs Association and is currently an officer. Sheriff Staly is past board chair of the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches. He previously served as board chair of the Florida Commission on Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation where he served a 6-year appointment. In 2023, Sheriff Staly was appointed by the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture to the Florida Private Investigation, Recovery and Security Advisory Council as the law enforcement representative member. Sheriff Staly serves as chairman of the Flagler County Public Safety Coordinating Council.

Sheriff Staly has been awarded lifetime memberships in the National Sheriffs' Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Southern Police Institute Alumni Association, Florida Sheriffs Association, FBI National Academy Associates, and the Florida Police Chiefs Association. He is also a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Sheriff Staly is an active member in the local community. He is on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Volusia/Flagler Counties. He is Past President of the Rotary Club of Flagler County and of Crimestoppers of Northeast Florida. He is also a member of the Volusia-Flagler Police Chiefs Association, the B.P.O.E. Elks of Palm Coast, Bunnell Lodge No. 200 F&AM, and the Flagler County Gun and Archery Club.

Sheriff Staly and his wife, Debbie, are members of Flagler Beach United Methodist Church and live in Bunnell. Sheriff Staly has two grown daughters, Lauren and Diana, and three grandchildren, Aiden, Lexi, and Adalynn.

Law Enforcement Career

During Sheriff Staly’s more than 45-year career of public safety service, he has received numerous awards, commendations, and medals. While serving the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, he received the Medal of Valor, Purple Heart Medal, and Florida Governor’s Medal of Heroism after being shot three times while saving the life of a deputy sheriff. In 2015, he was awarded the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award from President Obama. In 2019, Sheriff Staly was selected as one of five finalists for the NRA’s Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award.

Sheriff Staly began his law enforcement career in 1975 as a police officer in the City of Oviedo, Florida and later in the City of Altamonte Springs, Florida. In 1977, Sheriff Staly joined the Orange County Sheriff’s Office as a Deputy Sheriff. Through the next 23 years, he was promoted through the ranks — ultimately serving as Undersheriff, or second-in-command, of the 4^th largest law enforcement agency in Florida and the 13^th largest Sheriff’s Office in the nation. As Orange County Undersheriff, he commanded 2,000 employees and managed a $120m budget. Sheriff Staly retired from the public sector in 2001, but remained a sworn reserve Deputy Sheriff with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.

After a brief retirement, Sheriff Staly worked in the private security industry as a Senior Vice President for an international developer where he was responsible for security operations in five states and the Bahamas. He moved to Flagler County in 2005 and started his own security business based in Palm Coast, Florida in 2008. After growing the company to 128 employees with an annual revenue of $3.5 million dollars, he and his wife sold the company to a national security firm and he looked to return to public service.

In 2013, he joined the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office where he served as Undersheriff for two years. Sheriff Staly was asked by the community to run for Sheriff in 2015. In 2016, he was elected as the 18th Sheriff of Flagler County, overwhelmingly re-elected in 2020, and re-elected unopposed in 2024.