Sheriff John H. Rutherford
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
501 E. Bay St.
Jacksonville, Florida  32202
(904) 630-2120

John Rutherford became Sheriff on July 1, 2003, after receiving a sweeping mandate from Duval County voters on April 15, 2003. He was re-elected in March of 2007.

Sheriff Rutherford was born on Sept. 2, 1952, and has lived in Jacksonville since he was six years old.  The Sheriff is married to his high school sweetheart, Patricia, and they have two grown children, Michael (and his wife Francesca) and Lee (and her husband Delmar). The Rutherfords have three grandchildren.

Sheriff Rutherford is a graduate of Florida State University and a 32-year veteran with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.  Prior to his election, John Rutherford served for eight years under Sheriff Nat Glover as the first ever Director of Corrections.  This appointment was significant and unique because it placed a career police officer in charge of the Department of Corrections.  As expected, John's "vision" and ability to manage change has led to several innovations within local Corrections.

During his law enforcement career, the Sheriff has served as a uniformed patrolman, sergeant and lieutenant.  As a lieutenant, he worked in the Patrol and Detective Divisions and was assigned Director of the Region Five Criminal Justice Training Center, in charge of all regional police and corrections training in Northeast Florida.  Having proven to be an innovator of change during these various commands, Sheriff Jim McMillan placed him in charge of a study to determine the efficacy of revolvers for officer self defense.  John produced a study on revolvers and semi-automatic pistols.  The study was later distributed across the country and is responsible for many agencies transitioning their officers to the Glock semi-automatic pistol.  At a time when many officers were "out-gunned" by the criminal drug dealers, this study was a high profile officer safety success.

John was promoted to the rank of captain and briefly returned to a patrol zone before being appointed to the rank of chief by Sheriff McMillan.  Again, because of his ability to innovate and manage change, he was appointed to serve as Chief of Services, Chief of Traffic/Special Operations and Chief of Patrol, where he commanded over 700 plus uniformed officers.

The Sheriff has developed a ten-point plan to assure excellence in the department.  He maintains the philosophy that Jacksonville deserves the right officers with the right training and the right equipment, properly deployed and skillfully managed.  They must be men and women of character and judgment.