Grady Judd

Judd's record is measured in tenure and peer standing rather than trophies. He has run the Polk County Sheriff's Office since 2005, making him one of the longest-serving sheriffs in Florida, and he built that tenure from the bottom of the same agency, starting as a dispatcher in 1972 and holding every rank on the way up. The Florida Sheriffs Association has named him Sheriff of the Year more than once, recognition that comes from people who do the job rather than from outside observers. In 2026, a presidential appointment to a national child-protection committee pulled his profile onto a bigger stage.