Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed former Alachua County sheriff Emery Gainey to the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) Board of Trustees on Monday.
Gainey, who lost by 392 votes to Chad Scott in November’s race for Alachua County sheriff following a recount, will take his position on the FAMU Board of Trustees effective Jan. 7, the day after he leaves his position as sheriff and Scott takes over.
“I’m looking to serve to help this [FAMU] university achieve its mission and goals of being a quality education institution for the students that attend, whether they’re Floridians or students outside the state of Florida,” Gainey said in a Tuesday interview. “[It’s] something this institution has done with a great reputation over a long period of time, and as a member of the [FAMU] Board of Trustees, we want to help, not only continue that, move it, help advance it to the next level.”
In October 2021, Gainey was one of four members appointed to the Santa Fe College Board of Trustees, where he currently serves as the chair.
Gainey has no previous ties to FAMU but said he hopes to bring what he’s learned as a Santa Fe trustee to the new assignment.
“Having served as a board of trustee member and current chair of Santa Fe College since 2021, I would take that experience with me and serving as a board of trustees member for FAMU,” he said.
Gainey, who was born and raised in Gainesville, earned his associate’s degree from Santa Fe College and his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Florida. He served 25 years with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) before retiring from the ACSO in 2007.
From there, Gainey joined the Attorney General’s office and served as the director of law enforcement and victim services, where he remained until he was appointed as the interim Marion County Sheriff in 2016. Gainey would return to the Attorney General’s office where he would serve as the chief of staff before retiring in 2020.
On Sept. 7, 2023, DeSantis appointed Gainey as the interim Alachua County sheriff after former Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. announced he would step down from his position due to health reasons on July 31, 2023. Watson said in June 2023 he was not seeking reelection.
Gainey said he believes his 16 months as sheriff have gone extremely well.
“We came to the office at a time when it was in serious need of leadership and direction, and my team and I were very satisfied with what we accomplished…in terms of restoring integrity and pride within the organization and filling a significant amount of the 248 positions that were open during that time,” he said. “We recognize there’s a lot more work to be done, but we are very happy with the direction [in which] we placed the agency.”