CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article included incorrect information about a criminal charge that Theodore Murray was convicted of. The article has been updated.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is running for re-election for a sixth term against a Frostproof contractor who has a criminal record and complaints about his treatment by law enforcement officers.
Theodore Murray, a non-party affiliate, filed in May to take on Judd. At the time, he told a reporter he was motivated to run because law enforcement had both wrongly arrested him and failed to investigate crimes in which he was a victim.
Judd, a Republican, has served with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for 52 years and has been sheriff since 2005. He is the longest-serving sheriff in Polk County history.
No interviews: Neither Judd nor Murray answered LkldNow’s questionnaire for its Voter Guide.
Despite saying on his Facebok page that he is “open to any interviews that media or the community would like to schedule,” Murray did not respond to a voicemail message or an email requesting comment.
Judd, known for his press conference performances, also would not agree to an interview for this article.
Murray positions: In a statement on his Facebook page, Murray made multiple pledges, among them:
- Accountability and transparency: “Criminals will be charged, from any background, rich or not so wealthy, regardless of color, political affiliation or status in the community.”
- Body cameras and dashcams will be implemented.
- “Educate rather than incarcerate, uplift rather than beat down.”
The sheriff’s positions: While Judd did not respond to LkldNow’s or other groups’ questionnaires on issues in the race, he has given statements in the past on his positions on the topics Murray mentioned.
Accountability and transparency: The Polk County Sheriff’s Office voluntarily participates in 10 accreditation and inspection processes, according to the PCSO website. Among them, the department is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, which requires compliance with 462 standards.
In addition, when deputies or corrections officers are arrested, Judd holds press conferences to inform the public and issues press releases.
Dashboard and body cameras: Judd has long been opposed to body cameras and remains so, saying they would invade a person’s privacy if worn in someone’s home.
He also says the cost is prohibitive. It would cost between $4 million and $6 million a year to outfit Polk deputies, he said. He said he came to that figure from Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gaultieri, who spends about $5 million a year for the lease, storage and maintenance of footage and the labor to fulfill public records requests for an agency similar in size to Polk County.
Educate rather than incarcerate: The Polk County Jail has long offered multiple education programs, including:
- GED preparation courses.
- Trusty/Inmate Work Program, through which they can earn certifications in various trades/labor categories.
- Culinary certification program.
- Job readiness programs.
- KNOT Your Average Academy (hair braiding and business course).
Judd controversies: The sheriff has faced multiple controversies throughout his 52-year law enforcement career, which LkldNow detailed in a 2022 article. Among them were an unsuccessful lawsuit accusing the Sheriff’s Office of mistreatment of juvenile detainees. Last week, a report on PBS Newshour raised questions about Sheriff’s Office procedures for interviewing youths who allege sexual abuse.
Murray’s past: Murray has a history of arrests, convictions, lawsuits and mental health issues.
Murray first came to public attention in 2003 when he was a Fort Meade High School football coach and was arrested for repeatedly secretly videotaping a 15-year-old junior varsity football player while the boy was in the private staff shower. According to an arrest affidavit, the teen said Murray also touched his penis in the middle of the night during an overnight football camp trip when they shared a hotel room.
Murray was charged with video voyeurism and lewd and lascivious molestation of a child between 12 and 16-years-old. In a plea deal, the state attorney’s office dropped the molestation charge, a felony, and Murray pleaded no contest to the video voyeurism charge, a first-degree misdemeanor at the time. He was found guilty and sentenced to one year of probation.
Other arrests: In 2011, a Polk County sheriff’s deputy arrested Murray on a charge of domestic violence for hitting his partner of two years in the face with a broom handle. The State Attorney’s Office dropped the charges.
In 2022, when Murray was running for Congress against incumbent Greg Steube, Murray was arrested in Apalachicola and charged with reckless driving (deputies say he almost rammed a stolen truck into a deputy’s car), battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest without violence.
Found mentally incompetent: According to the arrest affidavit, he told a deputy he was being “guided by colors,” and that “the devil had been reincarnated into a horsefly, which bit him between his first and second toe on his left foot.”
A judge found him mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered that he be sent to a mental health treatment facility until he was well enough to face charges.
He was still in the facility during the 2022 general election, when Steube won with 63.8% of the vote. Andrea Doria Kale, a Democrat, earned 35.5%, while Murray garnered .6%. Murray did not vote in that election.
Another charge, lawsuits In July 2023, he was found guilty of reckless driving and resisting an officer without violence. He was sentenced to one year and 22 days in the county jail and probation of one year and three months. In February of this year, his probation was terminated early.
Murray, a general contractor, has also been sued a number of times for faulty roof repair and taking a downpayment on a rental property that was deemed uninhabitable by code enforcement. He was also sued by two local hospitals for nonpayment. The cases were all settled, either out of court or after a hearing.
Judd statement: Judd gave only one comment for this article, saying he understands some people might not like him.
“There’s people out there saying that dadgum Grady Judd arrested me or my son or my daughter and I’m not going to vote for him … I’ll vote for the other guy,” Judd said. “Well, the other guy is a pedophile.”
Campaign Finances: Judd has raised $526,465, far more than any other Polk candidate for countywide office in 2024. Judd’s campaign has spent $23,931.
Murray’s only contribution was his own $9,100 donation; he spent all but $49.24 on his fee to qualify for the election.
The average campaign contribution to Judd in 2024 was $580.71, according to a LkldNow analysis in October. The top occupations of Judd contributors break down like this: Retired (11.2% of total dollars), law enforcement (10%), attorney (8.5%), real estate (7.6%), agriculture (3.3%). See a full list of donors to Judd’s campaign.
Also, the Friends of Grady Judd political action committee raised $397,450 from 39 individuals and organizations. Its donors are listed here.
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If Grady actively enforced the traffic laws I would like him better. As it is now, FS 316.293 pretty much goes unenforced in Polk. And, I’ve got a two-lane I-4 running by my home, Grady. Very few Polk drivers are worried about getting caught doing 55 in a 35.
As long as we have people like Grady Judd at the helm we won’t have nearly the crime problems that we would have of someone else was in there I’m a former police officer in Grady Judd is my kind of man he gets the job done doesn’t matter who it is and he does an excellent job of training his people
I am very happy with the way traffic is enforced in Polk. I am a very busy person, and I can’t be delayed by a speed limit I consider to be too low. I also need a few extra horsepower so that’s why I disable the noise abatement equipment.