Clay County

Atlantic Beach police chief says she’s stepping down to run for sheriff in Clay County

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — Atlantic Beach Police Chief Michelle Cook said she’s stepping down from her post at the end of the month to run for sheriff in Clay County.

Cook is listed on the Clay County Supervisor of Elections website as an active Republican candidate for the November 2020 election.

She wrote a post on her Facebook page about running for sheriff, saying in part, “I grew up in Clay and I consider Clay my home. The City of Atlantic Beach is a wonderful community and the officers of the ABPD are top notch. But I feel a calling to run for Sheriff in Clay.”

Cook was the Duval County area’s first female police chief when she became chief of the Atlantic Beach Police Department in 2017.

“Don’t really come to work every day thinking, ‘Oh, I’m the first female chief.’ I’m just excited to be the chief and for this opportunity,” Cook told Action News Jax at the time.

She joins a field of four other Republican candidates running for sheriff: Ben Carroll, Harold Rutledge, Mike Taylor and Catherine D. Webb.

Well, I guess I need to make it FB Official. I will be stepping down from my position as the Chief of Atlantic Beach...

Posted by Michelle Cook on Wednesday, January 8, 2020