County officials are set to vote on a proposal to rename the Marion County Sheriff’s Operations Complex in honor of the late Sheriff Don R. Moreland, a “law enforcement legend” credited with modernizing the agency and overseeing the construction of the facility itself.
The proposal, spearheaded by retired Marion County Judge John Futch, will be presented during the Marion County Board of County Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, January 20.
The item calls for the jail, emergency operations center, forensics building, and training facilities that comprise the center to be renamed the Don R. Moreland Criminal Justice Complex. Under the plan, individual buildings on the campus would retain their existing names, but the overarching geographical area would bear Moreland’s name.
In a letter to the county administrator, Futch noted that Moreland oversaw the creation and expansion of the complex after the county acquired the land. He wrote that Moreland is a legend in Marion County law enforcement and added that he has garnered support for the renaming from current Sheriff Billy Woods, Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken, Belleview Police Chief Terry Holland, State Attorney Bill Gladson, and Clerk of Court Greg Harrell.
Moreland, who passed away recently, served five consecutive terms from 1972 to 1992, making him the longest-serving sheriff in Marion County history. Following his tenure as sheriff, he was appointed by President Clinton as the U.S. Marshal for the Middle District of Florida, serving for nearly nine years.
County records describe Moreland as a fearless lawman who transformed the Sheriff’s Office from a rural operation into a modern law enforcement agency. He was the first sheriff in the county to institute written policies, standardized performance evaluations, and a career service act that protected deputies from political termination.
Before Moreland’s administration, deputies were required to purchase their own firearms. He began issuing agency firearms around 1984 and implemented the “Indianapolis plan,” issuing patrol cars to individual deputies to care for.
Moreland’s administration was also marked by significant steps toward diversity and inclusion. The late sheriff appointed Patti Lumpkin as the county’s first female road deputy and discarded a racially segregated policy that had previously allowed only Black deputies to respond to calls in Black areas of the county. His tenure also saw the promotion of the agency’s first Black sergeant, lieutenant, and captain.
Moreland also implemented the county’s first D.A.R.E. program, its first SWAT team, its first underwater recovery team, and also introduced the first computers into the agency.
If approved, the dedication will initially be memorialized with a sign from Marion County. Staff indicated that a formal entrance will be designed later, to be funded by donations solicited by the group requesting the dedication.
Marion County Administrator Mounir Bouyounes has recommended approval of the motion, stating the dedication would be a fitting memorial to the many contributions Sheriff Moreland made to Marion County. Moreland was inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Hall of Fame in May 2024.
Moreland died on November 6, 2025. Monday, January 19, would have marked his 91st birthday.
Sheriff Don Richard Moreland, age 90, of Ocala, Florida, passed away on November 6, 2025. He was born on January 19, 1935, in Dawson, Georgia, a son of Lee and Ella Moreland.