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A Florida sheriff has filed suit against the county to which he was elected to protect.
"I never thought that in 2025 in the United States of America, in the State of Florida and especially in Indian River County, that we would see the 'Defund the Police' movement come to our hometown."
Indian River Sheriff Eric Flowers said that in an online video last week and soon after sued the county because the Commission approved just over half of the budget increase he was requesting.
Flowers claims commissioners did not properly discuss which particular budget line item requests it planned to reduce when approving a scaled-back budget increase.
One commissioner, former sheriff Derryl Loar, says this is the first time a constitutional officer has sued county commissioners over budget concerns.
Loar takes issue with Flowers likening the situation to the "defund-the-police" movement, calling it "completely untrue." He points out that no money has been taken away from the Sheriff's budget, they just lowered the amount of an increase the agency received for the current fiscal year, which began October 1.
Flowers wanted $12.2 million, but commissioners only approved $6.8 million.