Agency Achieves Reaccreditation
On Thursday, June 19th, 2025, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office was Reaccredited for its 3rd time by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement at the summer FLA-PAC (Florida Police Accreditation Commission) Conference held in Orlando, Florida. The formal assessment for reaccreditation took place at the Sheriff’s Office on April 7-8, 2025, and reviewed the agencies policies [...]
INMATE VISITATION AND TELEPHONE USAGE
Effective June 24, 2025, The Columbia County Detention Facility has begun changing inmate visitation and telephone vendors from Securus to SmartCommunications. This may cause intermittent interruption of services during this time. It is also recommended that you limit the funds placed on the Securus account during this transition because funds will not transfer over to the [...]
Murder Suspect Sentenced
2023 homicide suspect and registered sex offender, John Leonard Bowen, Jr., 47, convicted of Second Degree Murder in the death of Coyoete Kathren Cheyenne Turner, 18, and sentenced to life in prison yesterday in Columbia County Court. On Sunday, September 3, 2023, at approximately 11:37 a.m., deputies from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office responded to 981 [...]
Deputies Awarded for Cooperation in Apprehending Murder Suspect
CCSO Members Recognized by Gainesville Police Department On Friday night, June 6, 2025, multiple members of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and Columbia County Combined Dispatch were recognized for their participation, support, and successful capture of a fleeing homicide suspect from January 2024. During this award presentation ceremony held at the Gainesville Police Department, GPD Police [...]
Well-Being Check Leads to Drug Arrest
A citizen calls in a report of a person sleeping in their car on the side of the road which leads to the discovery and seizure of over 45 pounds of marijuana and the arrest of the driver. At 8:14 a.m. on Friday morning, June 6, 2025, a concerned citizen called 911 to report a driver [...]
Sheriff Kitchings Promotes 2 Members
(Sheriff Kitchings with Cpl. Latimer and Sgt. Cole) On Thursday, June 5, 2025, Sheriff Kitchings promoted two members of the organization in a ceremony held at the CCSO Operations Center. The ceremony was attended by family, friends, and agency personnel. Deputy Josh Latimer was promoted to the rank of Corporal. Corporal Latimer has served at [...]
Awards Ceremony
Pictured From Left: Daniels, Tanksley, Crawford, Sheriff Hunter, Cason, Rooney (Not Pictured: Bunner, and Davis) On Friday, December 20, 2024, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office held its annual Christmas Party and Awards Ceremony. Several individuals were recognized for their hard work throughout the year. We would like to congratulate those recipients. "Skip" Bunner was recognized as [...]
3 New Members Sworn In
(Pictured From Left: Stubbs, Sheriff Hunter, Cady, and Garland) On December 3, 2024, Sheriff Hunter held a swearing in ceremony for three new members of the agency. The ceremony was attended by family, friends, and CCSO personnel. Trevor Garland was sworn in as our new Information Technology Assistant. He will be assigned to the IT [...]
New Detention Officer Sworn In
On Friday, November 8, 2024, Sheriff Hunter conducted a swearing in ceremony at the CCSO Operations Center. The ceremony was attended by family and CCSO personnel. Robert Molinski was sworn in as a detention officer and will be assigned to the Columbia County Detention Facility. Please join us in welcoming him to our team!
