Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott and Alachua County Commissioner Anna Prizzia agree that open communication and dialogue will improve the community, and both said they’re on the same page concerning inmate mugshots, a topic of recent conversation that they said got skewed.
Prizzia said the county never directed Scott to take down mugshots, to remove them from public access, or to never use mugshots. On Jan. 6, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted to send a letter to Scott concerning the increased use of mugshots on the sheriff office’s social media page, especially for persons who had not been convicted.
In an interview with Scott and Mainstreet, Prizzia said she intended the letter to start a conversation. Chair letters and public discourse are how the BOCC must communicate, and she said that format often appears more formal and demanding than intended.
“There’s this structure of formality that’s built into the way the system exists, and it unfortunately does create this like dynamic of formality that’s maybe not the easiest in terms of having a working relationship between two different institutions that operate very differently,” Prizzia said.
She added that Scott has been the most accessible of the three sheriffs she has worked with while on the BOCC. For his part, Scott said he’s always open to talking about the sheriff’s office and its policies.
Serving as police chief for the city of Alachua, Scott said he knows what it means to have an elected board as your boss—policy often needs approval from above. As an elected sheriff, Scott is the policy director for the office, but his word and viewpoint isn’t law, he said.
“Sometimes people will say, ‘Oh, you’re the sheriff. People can’t tell you,’” Scott recalled. “I don’t want to be that guy. I want to be the guy that people can come to and we can talk and we can compromise.”
He said that was the case for the mugshots.
When the BOCC made a motion to send a letter, Scott released a public statement saying his office would continue to work with transparency and collaborate with the county government. In the statement, Scott said he would have discussions with the BOCC and was confident they would arrive on common ground.
Scott told Mainstreet that the sheriff’s office reached a consensus and decided not to post mugshots and charges to social media for non-convicted individuals and non-violent arrests. But state law allows access to the records, and the sheriff’s office will keep the records available on its website.
“Being in law enforcement for so long, I may not see how it conveys to other people,” Scott said about mugshots. “I just want to be very cognizant of that. I want to be very transparent to the community, so that’s open ears for everything.”
For Prizzia, the change is about eliminating public shame that could make returning to a productive life even harder and increase chances of recidivism—convicted persons who end up back in jail after release. Plus, charges might get dropped or changed for someone not already convicted.
“To me, it just feels like a way to add a layer of compassion to the process that is pretty challenging for everybody involved. It’s somebody’s worst day,” Prizzia said.
At the BOCC meeting, she and Commissioner Mary Alford said the mugshots were not limited to just informing the public of violent offenders but also charges like marijuana possession and non-violent offenses. She said the practice had crept back after former Sheriff Sadie Darnell left office.
Fellow commissioners agreed to send the letter, but Chair Ken Cornell dissented. He said without hearing the sheriff’s side, he’d hate to send a letter with the request.
Cornell was outvoted, but the county never ended up sending the letter. After the vote, Scott’s reply and meetings with commissioners, Prizzia asked at the following county meeting that the BOCC withdraw the letter.
But news articles on the issue and ensuing social media buzz created the impression that there was a rift between the sheriff and county, Prizzia said.
“It was a request in a letter. That’s not a command,” said Katy Burnett, strategic projects manager for the sheriff’s office.
“And we can’t come in,” Prizzia added. “He’s an elected official. He gets to make the decisions about what makes sense for the sheriff’s office.”
Prizzia said she knows Scott is readily available. That might mean more phone calls to discuss policy than board letters. She had also brought up the topic with the sheriff’s office at previous county meetings.
People often get their news through quick sound bites and social media interactions. She said some outlets will also take sound bites just meant to attract attention, and in this case, Prizzia said more was made out of it than really existed between the sheriff’s office and the county commission. The same can happen with mugshots.
“It’s just sensationalizing it by making it a part of social media campaigns and communication campaigns,” Prizzia said about the mugshots. “And I don’t think that they meant to sensationalize it, but I think that’s what ends up happening.”
The entire BOCC has said at meetings that the relationship with the sheriff’s office has improved. In November 2024, it was Prizzia who introduced Scott on Heartwood Sound Stage when he had the lead in ballots and would, following a recount, become the next sheriff.
Scott said he wants to continue the close relationship and discuss policies because it’s about helping the community. The sheriff’s office might land in a different place than the county at times, and there might be disagreements, but he said that’s not an adversarial relationship.