GAINESVILLE – Decisions about how Florida sheriff’s offices prepare for policy reviews, facility inspections and accreditation will include an Alachua County voice during the coming year.
Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott has been selected as vice chair of the Florida Sheriffs Association Accreditation Advisory Committee for 2026-27, the Sheriff’s Office announced.
The appointment places Scott in a leadership role on a committee that helps guide the association’s accreditation program. Its work includes evaluating operational proposals and assisting agencies as they prepare policies, facilities and training programs for review under standards established by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation.
The committee does not conduct agencies’ routine assessments. Instead, members focus on broader program direction and help sheriff’s offices navigate the process of obtaining or maintaining accreditation.
Accreditation is an independent review intended to determine whether a law enforcement agency follows established professional standards. Participating agencies must demonstrate compliance with all applicable mandatory standards and at least 80% of applicable nonmandatory standards, according to the commission.
An assessment team reviews an agency’s policies, procedures and practices. Accredited agencies must undergo the process again after three years to retain their status.
Scott brings more than three decades of local law enforcement experience to the committee. A Newberry native and Newberry High School graduate, he began his career with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office in 1990 as a midnight-shift patrol deputy.
His assignments included serving as a school resource officer at Newberry High and Oak View Middle School and working in patrol, special operations and criminal investigations. Scott also served as a SWAT team member and special operations supervisor, according to his Sheriff’s Office biography.
Scott left the agency to serve as Alachua police chief from 2014 to 2022. He later returned to the Sheriff’s Office as major of operations and was promoted to colonel, overseeing patrol, investigations and community outreach.
Voters elected Scott sheriff Nov. 5, 2024, and he was sworn in as Alachua County’s 39th sheriff in January 2025.
The advisory committee works with Florida Sheriffs Association accreditation coordinators and provides guidance to agencies across the state. Scott’s selection gives the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office a role in shaping how that assistance is provided.
The Sheriff’s Office said Scott and its employees are “extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve our state” and help Florida’s 67 county sheriffs’ offices pursue accreditation.
Scott’s term as vice chair covers the 2026-27 committee year.
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