The Clay County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is seemingly imploding and it couldn’t happen at a better time, right before Sheriff-Elect Darryl Daniels takes office in January.

The ironic thing about the whole incident is not only was Sergeant Ken Binkley known to have a short temper, and said to be “a jerk,” he is also retired CCSO under-sheriff and former Clay County Sheriff candidate Craig Aldrich’s neighbor!

Aldrich saw his fifteen minutes of fame crushed when he lost the election to Daniels in August. During the race the public got a glimpse of what really was happening at the sheriff’s office: command staff taking county vehicles to strip clubs, possible document altering and it was alleged they were not actively seeking meth labs in the county even though they get federal grants to do so.

When I reached out to the sheriff’s office for comment, spokeswoman Mary Justino had the following to say:

Sgt. Ken Binkley is on paid administrative leave as of Tuesday. We can confirm only that he is the subject of an active internal investigation. Per Ch. 112 (Florida’s Officers Bill of Rights) we cannot divulge the subject matter of the IA or release any related investigative materials while the IA is active.

Ken Binkley was hired by the CCSO on 12/9/1996 and employed in our Detention Bureau (Jail).
On 11/20/2009, Binkley was promoted to Detention Bureau Sergeant and that is the position he holds at this time, pending the completion of the IA.

Sheriff-Elect Darryl Daniels said he was aware of the incident but did not have a comment at this time because it was currently under an internal investigation.

There has also been mention of possible criminal charges being filed against Sergeant Binkley.