About the Polk County Sheriff’s Office:

The Polk County Sheriff's Office is a full service law enforcement agency serving Polk County Florida. Polk County is the fourth largest county in the state with 2,010.2 total square miles, 1,874.9 square miles of which is land area. The Sheriff is an independent constitutional officer and by function is statutorily charged with the responsibility of providing all primary law enforcement services within Polk County. The agency also provides related law enforcement services to the entire county, including: civil and criminal process, limited service response, assistance to municipal agencies, crime prevention and education programs, victim assistance services, and providing school crossing guards for the Polk County School System.

The Sheriff is presently given the responsibility for the administration and every day operation of the Central County Jail, South County Jail Facilities, and Sheriff's Training and Respect Program to include prisoner transportation throughout the state.

The Sheriff is also statutorily charged with the responsibility for providing deputies to attend the Board of County Commissioners meetings and for all sessions of Polk County and Circuit Courts within Polk County.

The Sheriff’s Office employs 1,550 full-time (572 sworn, 428 certified, 550 civilians), 256 part-time, and 1,000 volunteer members. The Polk County Sheriff's Office primary service response area consists of the unincorporated areas of Polk County (those area with Polk County that are outside city limits). The unincorporated area of Polk County totals approximately 1,909 of the county's total 2,010.2 square miles.  This service area is subdivide into specific geographic areas of directed patrol and investigative responsibility composed of two regions, four districts, and twelve sectors.