PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

Welcome to the Public Information Office of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Our unit serves as the bell tower for Marion County to get information out to the public when trouble is on the horizon. If there is a crime trend such as burglary or thefts, we sound the alarm to help citizens protect themselves and their families from becoming victims of crime.

The Public Information Office works with local media, Associated Press and national news outlets when needed and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We also arrange interviews with television, newspaper and radio for our officers.

Part of the responsibilities of the Public Information Office is the development and production of safety brochures, newsletters, public service announcements (PSAs), public displays and also maintaining the Sheriff’s Office website.

The Public Information Office provides a vast amount of information to the public, whether via the media, contact with the community, or our website.

We continually strive to provide information that will benefit the safety and security of the citizens of Marion County, which is why we have developed numerous systems on our website that give you instant access to information at the click of a mouse.

The integrity of the cases involved and being able to catch criminals so they are not a threat to the community is our number one goal. However, we will do whatever we can to assist the citizens of Marion County in acquiring the information they request.

Here are a few things that we provide on our Facebook page and website as a courtesy to community:

• Media Releases

• Missing Persons

• Currently Incarcerated Inmates

• Past Inmates

• Sexual Offenders and Predators

Much of this information is also available by contacting the Sheriff’s Office directly at the number listed on our contact page.

Please remember that often times, cases are still active and much of the information may not be released at the time it is requested.

Social Media

Social Media Posting Policy:

We encourage you to share your thoughts as they relate to the topic being discussed. You are fully responsible for the content of your comments. We welcome your comments, but we expect comments generally to be courteous, follow our rules of decorum, and be related to the social media posting being discussed. To that end, we have established the following policy and we reserve the discretion to remove comments that: 1) contain obscene, indecent, or profane language; 2) contain threats or defamatory statements; 3) are bullying, intimidating, or harassing towards any user; 4) contain personal attacks; 5) contain hate speech; 6) promote or endorse services or products; 7) suggest or encourage illegal activity; 8) are multiple, repetitive off-topic posts by a single user (spam); 9) are not topically related to the particular posting; 10) violate a legal ownership interest of any other party; or 11) imbed links to other Internet sites. In short: please be nice. Our rules of decorum are in place to encourage civil discourse and to prevent a poster from disrupting dialog in a way that prevents or impedes the accomplishment of the purpose of our social media sites. Our purpose is to convey important public safety information, increase our ability to quickly, effectively, and efficiently reach Marion County and North Central Florida residents to help us find criminal suspects, find missing and/or endangered persons, communicate public safety alerts, and further our mission of preventing, reducing, suppressing, displacing, solving, and fighting crime in Marion County.