By Douglas Hanks
Miami Herald
MIAMI — After Miami-Dade’s sheriff announced an end to police security details for the county’s mayor and 13 commissioners, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava plans to reassign correctional officers at the Miami-Dade jails she oversees to serve as drivers and bodyguards for elected officials, the Miami Herald has learned.
The plan would have fewer than three dozen officers at the county’s Corrections Department take on duties currently performed by plainclothes sheriff’s deputies. They serve as personal bodyguards and drivers for Levine Cava and commissioners, who are shuttled around the county in black SUVs that can activate flashing police lights as needed.
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In the midst of a budget fight with Levine Cava and commissioners, Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz last week announced plans to pull those security details — known as sergeants-at-arms — starting Nov. 9, saying the $4.1 million service is too expensive. Levine Cava called the move “a significant security challenge” in a written response to Cordero-Stutz but made no mention of a potential workaround.
At a Monday morning event at the county’s Corrections Department, Levine Cava revealed that workaround, telling correctional officers assembled for an unrelated ceremony that the agency was “entering a new chapter in security for our elected officials,” according to a recording of the event reviewed by the Herald. “Don’t you worry. We’re not going to miss a beat.” She then asked an administrator how many correctional officers are “now trained to serve as our sergeants-at-arms,” and the answer was 33.
It’s not clear how much policing authority the correctional officers would bring with them to their new roles as sergeants-at-arms. While they are law enforcement officers, correctional officers typically lack the kind of broad arrest powers held by a police officer or deputy. Levine Cava’s office did not immediately respond to a request for more details but did issue a statement noting the mayor asked Cordero-Stutz for a transition plan ahead of Nov. 9.
“The Mayor is not waiting for that response to act,” the statement read. “We are working with departments under the Mayor’s authority to ensure there is no gap in protection for elected officials.”
Staffing has been a challenge at Corrections for years, with the agency relying on overtime to fill shifts at the county’s jails, which now house about 5,000 people a day. That’s up from an average of 4,500 three years ago. The department has about 3,000 employees, and its current $606 million budget notes that “additional hiring may be approved to further mitigate overtime expenses.”
In an interview, Commissioner Raquel Regalado said she hasn’t been briefed about a plan to use correctional officers as sergeants-at-arms. But she also said she’s against that kind of plan.
“Using correctional officers to drive elected officials is a horrible idea,” Regalado said. “They should be in the jails. Our jails are overcrowded.”
Levine Cava often points to improvements in the county’s jail system as a signature achievement during her six years in office. In 2025, a federal judge lifted court-ordered supervision of the jail system that had been in place since 2013, citing improved conditions. Levine Cava implemented signing bonuses and more dollars for hiring, which she said was crucial for the kind of recruiting needed to chip away at the agency’s strained staffing situation.
The tug-of-war over county bodyguards reflects the latest friction point over Miami-Dade’s state-imposed new form of government. Until 2025, Levine Cava was in charge of the county’s police department. But under a change required by an amendment to Florida’s Constitution , the agency transferred to Miami-Dade’s first elected sheriff since the 1950s.
While county police officers became deputies under Cordero-Stutz’s authority, county correctional officers remained under Levine Cava’s authority. Correctional officers are considered law enforcement in Florida, though with more limited authority to arrest than a sheriff’s deputy has.
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