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Citrus County Sheriff David Vincent hadn’t even taken office when he made an unpleasant discovery.
Vincent, fresh off an August 2024 landslide victory over incumbent Mike Prendergast, learned a little-known state law prevented him from making some of the staff changes he sought.
The law handcuffed him from demoting officers, reducing rank or cutting salary.
Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this month signed HB 4013, which renders employees with the Sheriff’s Office subject only to general law protections for deputy sheriffs.
After losing the Primary, but before he left office, Prendergast announced a slew of promotions that Vincent could not undo.
– Mike Wright, Florida Politics