Adopted Miami-Dade County budget does not fully fund the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, $42 million short; Sheriff explains vacant positions, inherited labor obligations, and projected impact on public safety.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said Miami-Dade County’s adopted 2026–27 budget leaves the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office $42.037 million short of what is required to meet existing obligations and hire essential deputies and civilian employees.
The Mayor pushed through that budget knowing it does not fully fund the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and knowing that Florida law allows the Sheriff to appeal to the Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Administration Commission. The Mayor now suggests that closing the gap would require raising taxes or cutting Miami-Dade County programs. It would not. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office can be fully funded without a tax increase and without cutting the Miami-Dade County programs residents rely on.
Vacant Positions Reflect Lack of Space Needed to Hire and Train Employees
During budget hearings, Miami-Dade County pointed to vacant positions and unspent salary funds in discussing the Sheriff’s budget. What Miami-Dade County did not say is that many of those vacant positions were not filled as planned because Miami-Dade County did not provide the space needed to hire, train and place additional employees. Without that space, the positions remained vacant and money set aside for their salaries went unspent. Citing the vacancies without explaining the space shortage gives the public an inaccurate picture of why positions went unfilled and the funds went unspent.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office currently has 172 vacant civilian positions. Filling them throughout the year would cost $7.2 million, which the adopted budget does not provide. These employees include people who answer 911 calls, dispatch deputies, maintain technology, and support investigations.
Most of the Sheriff’s requested increase pays for obligations she inherited. Labor agreements reached before Sheriff Cordero-Stutz took office, along with Miami-Dade County-approved pension and health insurance costs, account for $62.5 million of the $108.7 million request. The Miami-Dade County created those obligations, and the Sheriff must pay them. They are not new programs or hiring she chose to add.
Miami-Dade County officials have described the request as a 12 percent increase. But more than half of that increase pays obligations put in place before the Sheriff took office. Once those obligations are set aside, the increase requested for the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office’s other needs is 4.96 percent.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office has asked Miami-Dade County to review additional funding options, including a $20 million commitment from the Tax Collector for deputy payroll and overtime. That funding awaits approval from the Florida Department of Revenue and has not yet been allocated to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Funding Shortfall Could Affect Deputy Hiring and Academy Classes
After accounting for its existing obligations, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office projects that, without the needed funding, it will:
· Cancel 6.5 academy classes;
· Lose 325 planned deputy hires;
· Lose 289 civilian positions; and
· End the year with approximately 180 fewer deputies on Miami-Dade’s streets.
That projected reduction in deputies is separate from the 172 civilian positions vacant today.
It’s important to note, that the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office reports that, compared with 2024, homicides are down 26 percent, robberies 16 percent, aggravated assaults 12 percent, and burglaries 7 percent. The Sheriff said maintaining that progress requires deputies in the field and the civilian employees who support them.
Sheriff Will Appeal to Administration Commission
With Miami-Dade County’s adopted budget leaving the funding gap unresolved, Sheriff Cordero-Stutz will appeal to the Administration Commission. As part of that appeal, the Sheriff will also show where Miami-Dade County can find the savings needed to pay the obligations it created before she took office and provide the resources the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office needs to protect and serve the public — without raising taxes and without cutting needed Miami-Dade County programs.
“My responsibility is to protect the people of Miami-Dade County and to be honest about the resources required to do that safely and effectively,” said Sheriff Cordero-Stutz. “Miami-Dade County does not have to choose between public safety and higher taxes or fewer services. Miami-Dade County can fully fund law enforcement without either, and through the appeal, I will show exactly where the savings are.”
About the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office provides countywide law enforcement services to approximately 2.8 million residents across more than 2,000 square miles. Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz took office in January 2025 as Miami-Dade County’s first elected sheriff in close to 60 years.
