MIAMI.- One week before the announced date to withdraw the bodyguards of the mayor and the commissioners of Miami-Dade, the administration of Daniella Levine Cava is considering using prison officers to cover these functions, in the midst of a dispute over the resources assigned to public security.
In an Oct. 22 letter, Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz notified that her office would end the Sergeant-at-Arms program effective Nov. 9. The service provides personal protection and transportation to the head of the county government and the 13 members of the Commission.
The official has justified the measure as part of an effort to redistribute resources in the face of what she considers a budget deficit. According to the explanation previously offered by local authorities, maintaining the scheme costs approximately $4.1 million annually.
The alternative plan was disclosed by Levine Cava herself, during an activity of the Department of Corrections, where she pointed out a new responsibility of the agency in the protection of authorities and an administrator indicated that 33 officers had been trained to serve as sergeants-at-arms.
The proposal contemplates that correctional personnel assume tasks performed by agents of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO). The rejection also came from Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who maintained that these employees must remain in prisons and attend to the needs of the confinement system.
In her written response to the sheriff, the mayor also warned about the security of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, where public employees work, citizen actions are carried out and transportation services converge. Their concern extends to both elected officials and those who come to the building.
Levine Cava requested a transition plan that spells out what coverage will continue, how responsibilities will be coordinated, and how threat assessments will be shared. The request was included in the exchange of letters published in October.
The disagreement over escorts is part of a broader financial controversy. In an Oct. 8 statement, the Mayor’s Office and Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez defended an allocation of approximately $1.234 million for MDSO during fiscal year 2026-2027, which they called the largest in the agency’s history.
The administration maintained that the amount exceeds the sheriff’s certified budget request by $186.3 million. He also stated that it includes resources for 200 additional positions, 80 agents and 120 civilians; and about $95 million for overtime and associated benefits.
Cordero-Stutz rejected that interpretation in an Oct. 9 statement. His office argued that comparing overall totals does not resolve a shortfall of approximately $42 million because existing commitments limit the money available to hire and train agents, purchase equipment and cover other operational needs.
MDSO then announced it would appeal the budget to the Florida Commission of Administration. The sheriff defended that she would look for financing and savings alternatives to meet her agency’s obligations without increasing taxes or cutting essential county programs.
The controversy occurs during the second year of Miami-Dade’s new institutional structure. Cordero-Stutz took office in January 2025 as the first elected sheriff in nearly six decades, while the Corrections system remained under county administration. The replacement proposal uses these personnel, who continue under the command of the Mayor’s Office.
