Broward County commissioners voted unanimously not to renew the sheriff’s office fire-rescue agreement after 2028, returning roughly 900 employees and oversight of the department to the county

By Rafael Olmeda
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — The end of the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s control of County Fire-Rescue has begun.

The County Commission decided Tuesday to wrest control of the area’s fire-rescue department from the Broward Sheriff’s Office after their current contract runs out in 2028.

| WEBINAR: Making firefighter health and wellness work with limited resources

The nine-member commission voted unanimously to notify the Sheriff’s Office that its fire-rescue contract, which has been renewed every five years without controversy since it took effect in 2003, will not be renewed after 2028.

“This has been a matter of fiscal accountability and our responsibility to taxpayers,” said County Commissioner Lamar Fisher, who spearheaded the move to sever the longstanding relationship.

The change means the 900 or so employees of Broward County Fire-Rescue will once again, after 2028, be employees of the county rather than the Sheriff’s Office. Their contracts will be negotiated with the county and their benefits packages will be managed by the county. They will no longer answer to the Broward Sheriff.

The county will also be responsible for fulfilling the contracts the Sheriff’s Office has with numerous cities for fire-rescue services, including Cooper City, Weston and Dania Beach.

Fire-Rescue’s $259 million budget is currently paid for by a combination of allocations from the county and the cities who enter contracts with the Sheriff’s Office.

County officials say they are frustrated that once the Sheriff’s Office gets its funding, they feel they have zero say in how it actually spends the money. The county can agree to provide millions for raises and benefits to deputies and first responders, but the sheriff can then decide to move the money to other services within his authority, commissioners have complained.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office has asked the county for significant funding increases every year Sheriff Gregory Tony has been in office, sparking funding disputes that came to a head last year when the sheriff took his fight to Tallahassee, urging the governor and top state officers to override the county’s funding allocation.

Commissioner Steven Geller, a critic of Sheriff Tony’s spending priorities, said accountability is one of his key complaints with the Sheriff’s Office, though he did want to make it clear that Tuesday’s vote came with the flexibility for the county to reconsider its position within the next year.

The loss of Broward Sheriff’s Fire-Rescue is the latest in a string of losses for the agency’s jurisdiction.

Earlier this year, the Broward Sheriff’s Office lost jurisdiction over Deerfield Beach, which voted to establish its own police department starting in late September 2027. Pembroke Park severed ties with BSO in 2022, and the county is considering establishing independent police forces at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades, though no timeline has been established.

The Sheriff’s Office did manage to hang onto Pompano Beach, which went under BSO protection in 1999 and voted this year to extend the relationship for at least two more years.

In a statement, Sheriff Tony called the county’s decision not to renew the contract “deeply disappointing.” The sheriff said it was “particularly troubling that the same Commission that has refused to provide our first responders with the compensation they deserve is now prioritizing control over a proven public safety system that has served this community since 2003.”

He said, “Public safety is not about control. What matters is the skilled, timely and coordinated response of highly trained public safety professionals, like the men and women of Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue .”

Buffalo Grove’s new Fire Station 25 features cancer-reduction measures, sleep-focused bunk rooms, expanded apparatus bays and a larger fitness area

September 22, 2026 09:37 AM

Gavin Newsom cited concerns that the move would not be financially sound; AB 1383 would have lowered retirement ages by 2 years and raised maximum accrual rates by 0.3%

September 22, 2026 09:01 AM

 · 

Long View fired Chief James Brinkley after accusing him of undermining the interim town manager and entering a burning home without protective gear while on administrative leave

September 22, 2026 10:01 AM

Fly Precision identified Greg King and Ryan Cutter as the two crew members killed when their helicopter crashed during water-drop operations on the Dome Fire

September 22, 2026 03:21 PM

©2026 South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Visit sun-sentinel.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

How thoughtful fire station design can integrate exhaust removal and clean-air systems to reduce firefighter exposure to diesel exhaust and airborne contaminants