SHERIFF F.L. McGehee

Sheriff Fitzuald Lee McGehee was born in 1911 in Marion County and was a descendant from a pioneer Marion County family. He took office in January of 1957.  He started his law enforcement career with the Ocala Police Department in 1939 and transferred to the Sheriff’s Office during the term of Sheriff Ed Porter.  

While a deputy, McGehee was instrumental in getting several programs for young people started.  He was a strong believer in promoting friendly relationships between youth and law enforcement. Sheriff McGehee started the safety patrol program in Marion County.

Prior to 1958, the Sheriff’s Offices in Florida had been operating on a fee system. The county paid the Sheriff fees for specific activities but gave no other money in the form of a budget. The fees which were dictated in 1957 included $1.50 for each arrestee carried to the jail, and .15 cents a mile to transport prisoners to the courthouse and back to the jail. The county also paid for jail operations by paying a set amount per prisoner per day.

The budget system was instituted in place of the fee system for the fiscal year 1957-58. The first Marion County Sheriff’s Office budget was $210,000.

Sheriff McGehee hired the first black deputies to be full time employees, Tim Howard and Horace Monroe. They were hired to mostly police the black community, which they did quite effectively. Segregation was the order of the day at that time and they would not answer calls at a white residence.  Both had long careers and would retire in the 1970’s.

Sheriff McGehee beat Harvey Bessinger by an 8 to 1 margin to win the May primary for a second term, but died of a heart attack on July 13, 1960, before the general election. He was 48 years old at the time of his death.