Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz announced Thursday that her office will end the sergeant-at-arms program, which has provided chauffeur and security service to county commissioners since 2009. The program ends Nov. 9.
In a letter to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Cordero-Stutz said the program costs taxpayers about $4.1 million a year. She said the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office would redirect that money and reassign the personnel to its operational needs. She tied the move to a budget shortfall that she blamed on the County Commission’s adoption of the mayor’s proposed budget, which she said does not fully fund the office for fiscal 2026-27. The sheriff’s office said it will still provide law enforcement coverage at commission meetings.
Levine Cava disputed the shortfall claim. She noted that her proposed $1.23 billion budget for the sheriff’s office was about $186 million more than the sheriff had requested. In her response, she said the county had only three weeks to arrange replacement security and asked for a detailed transition plan. She argued that security at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center extends beyond the commission chambers, since the building houses officials and employees, serves as a transit hub and is a polling location.
The dispute comes as Broward County faces its own fight with its sheriff over spending on a deputies’ wellness facility, and as Florida voters consider Amendment 3, a proposed property tax break that could reduce money for public safety.
For county residents, the change affects who guards commissioners and how security is handled at county hall, especially as the county adopted a record $1.23 billion budget for the sheriff’s office this month.
