Clay Sheriff Michelle Cook lists her priorities for 2nd term

Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook says she has three main priorities to tackle as she prepares for her second term: growth, community relationships and crime fighting.

Much of what she will prioritize is due to the county's booming size, she told Jacksonville Today.

Cook beat former Sheriff Darryl Daniels with almost 80% of the vote in Tuesday's election.

She said the voter response humbles and gratifies her as she prepares to focus on issues of growth in a county of more than 230,000 residents.

"Need to focus on facilities. I have people and stuff in 30 different buildings right now, and that is just not an efficient way to run an agency," Cook said. "Relationships is the second priority –continuing to be transparent and accountable to the public, and with that, we are moving into the body-worn camera program within the next year, and we just wrapped up our testing and evaluation."

Bodycams could reach the streets within the next year, Cook said.

The department also needs to hire more deputies to handle growth, after the Sheriff's Office took over the Clay County School District's police department. The school district had handled school security since 2019 with full-time school resource officers.

Cook said she also will continue to focus on crime as it hits a 10-year low in Clay County.

Cook first defeated Daniels in August 2021, after the governor had removed him from office after his arrest in a sex scandal. Cook had been appointed to finish Daniel's term at the governor's request.

Cook is a Green Cove Springs native who retired from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office as director of patrol and enforcement to become Atlantic Beach police chief in 2017. She is the first female sheriff of Clay County.