Sheriff

Susan Benton was elected sheriff of Highlands County, Florida, in November 2004, winning by a 60-per-cent margin against an opponent who had been in the office's command structure. She took office on 4 January 2005, becoming the first woman elected sheriff in the history of the State of Florida. She was re-elected in 2008 and 2012 and retired at the end of her third term in January 2017.

Background

Benton joined the Florida Highway Patrol in 1976 and rose through state law-enforcement ranks before joining the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, where she served as a major in command of operations prior to her election. Highlands County is a mid-sized inland Florida county with a population of approximately 100,000.

The Florida state-first distinction is meaningful because of the office's selection mechanism. Florida has 67 county sheriffs, all elected, and the office has existed in the state since 1838. The 167-year gap from the office's creation to Benton's election is among the dataset's longer institutional first-woman intervals.

Several Florida women had previously held a sheriff's office through widow succession — including Minnie Cooksey in Jefferson County, appointed in 1949 after her husband died in office — but Benton's was the first time a Florida county electorate selected a woman for the role in a competitive election against male opponents. The Florida Sheriffs Association notes her election as the state's first elected first-woman event.

Tenure

Benton's three terms were uncontested in 2008 and 2012, an unusual incumbent record. She was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame in 2013–2014, partly on the strength of the first-woman distinction and partly on the operational record of the Highlands County office during her tenure.

Sources

• Susan Benton — Wikipedia
• Florida Women's Hall of Fame — Sheriff Susan Benton
• Florida Commission on the Status of Women — Sheriff Susan Benton
• Federal News Network — First woman elected sheriff in Florida discusses crime-fighting