Marion County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 331,298. Its county seat is Ocala.
Alachua County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 247,336. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida since 1906, when the campus opened with 106 students.
Gainesville is the county seat of, and the largest city in, Alachua County, Florida, and is both the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida, metropolitan statistical area and the largest city in North Central Florida. In 2019 the US Census Bureau estimated Gainesville's population at 133,997, a 7.6% increase from 2010, and the metropolitan statistical area's population at 288,212.
Hawthorne is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States, incorporated in 1881. Indigenous peoples of the Americas had been living in the area since around 100 CE; Hawthorne grew around their trading trails. Throughout its history, Hawthorne has been known for its agriculture, railroad, and rural lifestyle. Hawthorne's population was 1,417 at the 2010 census, with an area of 7.06 sq mi (18.3 km2).
Alachua County Public Schools is a public school district serving Alachua County in North Central Florida. It serves approximately 27,000 students in 41 schools and centers.
Santa Fe College is a public college based in Gainesville, Florida, with satellite campuses in Alachua and Bradford counties. Established in 1965 as "Santa Fe Junior College" by the Florida Legislature, the school began offering classes in September 1966. As of 2020, the school had an enrollment of 18,487 students, and offers associate and baccalaureate degree programs.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) is a joint city-county law enforcement agency, which has primary responsibility for law enforcement, investigation, and corrections within the consolidated City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida, United States. Duval County includes the incorporated cities of Jacksonville, Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach; the beach cities have their own police departments as well.
The University of Florida Campus Historic District is a historic district on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The district, bounded by West University Avenue, Southwest 13th Street, Stadium Road and Gale Lemerand Drive, encompasses approximately 650 acres (2.6 km2) and contains 11 listed buildings plus contributing properties. On April 20, 1989, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. On June 24, 2008, additional information was approved which resulted in the addition of 6 contributing properties
The Gainesville metropolitan area is the metropolitan area centered on Gainesville, Florida in North Central Florida. In 2015 the population of the two-county area was 277,163.
The 1867 Matheson House is a historic building in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is located at 528 Southeast 1st Avenue. It was the home of James Douglas Matheson and Augusta Florida Steele Matheson, the daughter of Florida pioneer Augustus Steele, who founded Hillsborough County and Cedar Key. James Douglas Matheson owned a dry goods store in downtown Gainesville and was active in local and state politics, as was his son, eight-term Gainesville mayor Chris Matheson, who was also a state legislator.
The Alachua County Library District is an independent special taxing district and the sole provider of public library service to approximately 250,000 citizens of Alachua County, Florida. This includes all of the incorporated municipalities in the county. It maintains a Headquarters Library and four other branches in Gainesville. There are branch locations in seven of the eight other incorporated municipalities in the county. ACLD also operates a branch at the county jail, and two bookmobiles.
Steve Oelrich is a former Republican member of the Florida Senate from 2006 to 2012, where he represented the 14th District, which included Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy, Marion, Putnam, and Union counties.
In the United States, a sheriff is an official in a county or independent city responsible for keeping the peace and enforcing the law. Unlike most officials in law enforcement in the United States, sheriffs are usually elected, although some states have laws requiring certain law enforcement qualifications of candidates. Elected sheriffs are accountable directly to the citizens of their county, the constitution of their state, and ultimately the United States Constitution.
The 34th Street Wall is a 1,120-foot-long retaining wall along SW 34th Street in Gainesville, Florida. The wall, which dates back to 1979, was originally built by the Florida Department of Transportation to prevent erosion of a hill on the nearby University of Florida golf course when 34th Street was widened from two lanes to four.
Harmon Murray was a young African American who briefly achieved notoriety in 1890 and 1891 as the reputed leader of a feared criminal gang in northern Florida, and for killing a number of men, including a sheriff and a deputy sheriff, before being killed himself by an acquaintance.
The Lenco BearCat is a wheeled armored personnel carrier designed for military and law enforcement use. It is in use by several military forces and law enforcement agencies around the world.
The Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) is a division of DLA Disposition Services, a subordinate command of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) in the United States. LESO is responsible for operating the 1033 Program or LESO Program, which transfers excess military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies. The program legally requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to make various items of equipment available to local law enforcement. The modern program arose during the H. W. Bush administration, in Section 1208 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, which allowed surplus DOD equipment, weapons, and tactical vehicles to be transferred to law enforcement for use in drug enforcement. During the Clinton administration, usage was expanded into other areas, including counter-terrorism. Section 1033 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 amended 10 U.S.C. § 2576(a) to allow the military to transfer "property... including small arms and ammunition... suitable for use by the agencies in law enforcement activities, including counter-drug and counter-terrorism activities". Precedent legislation of the same concept has existed since the end of World War II.
Clovis Watson Jr. is the sheriff of Alachua County, Florida. A Democrat, he was elected in 2020. Previously, he served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020, representing the 20th District, encompassing eastern Alachua County and northwestern Marion County from Gainesville to Ocala.
Henry S. Harmon was an attorney and politician in Florida after the Civil War. He was the first African-American to be admitted to the bar in Florida.
