🔒 Okaloosa County will keep its existing concealed-carry policy for county employees.
⚠️ Officials cited public safety risks, perception issues, and training hurdles against open carry expansion.
📝 Commissioners plan to send an annual letter to employees clarifying rules and safety expectations.
SHALIMAR — The Okaloosa County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to retain its existing policy allowing county employees with concealed-carry permits to carry firearms while on duty, declining to expand the policy to include open carry despite recent statewide legalization.
Human Resources and Risk Management Director Kelly Bird opened the discussion by noting that employee questions had surged after Florida’s September authorization of open carry.
The county first permitted employees with concealed-weapon permits to carry in 2017, and that rule has remained unchanged since then. Bird told commissioners that the county had received several inquiries about whether county employees are permitted to open carry while on duty.
County Attorney Lynn Hoshihara explained that although Florida law preempts most firearm regulations, counties are explicitly allowed to regulate whether their own employees may carry weapons while performing their duties.
She said the commission could leave the policy as-is, expand it, or alter the requirements, but reminded officials that specific locations, including meeting rooms during official sessions, polling places, sheriff’s offices, and schools, remain off-limits.
Those areas, she said, will remain gun-free.
Commissioners broadly agreed that the existing policy has functioned without issues and that expanding it could introduce new risks, public perception problems and logistical challenges.
Commissioner Sherri Cox said visible firearms could escalate already tense interactions between employees and the public, particularly in fields like code enforcement. She warned that it “could be very damaging to our relationship with those citizens… to approach them with [a] weapon exposed.”
Chairman Paul Mixon supported maintaining concealed carry, saying he preferred “the element of surprise rather than the billboard,” and argued that moving toward open carry could “come back to haunt us.”
Commissioner Trey Goodwin said he was open to exploring open carry in the future. Still, he believed it carried added risks, such as the possibility of a firearm being taken from an employee.
He suggested that any such policy would need strong competency requirements, saying that if an employee carries a gun, they “probably should have some level of training on how to use it and how to safeguard it.”
Commissioner Drew Palmer argued that an open-carry policy would be a “pretty big lift,” requiring detailed standards on carrying, holstering, and equipment.
Palmer said he supported maintaining the current approach, saying, “As of now, I’m happy with the policy as we have it.”
Mixon also questioned who would be responsible for training if requirements were added, asking, “Do we put that burden upon our sheriff’s office to train even 1,000 county employees…?”
Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel emphasized that “our current policy is working” and moved to keep it unchanged. Cox seconded, and the board approved the motion unanimously.
At Mixon’s request, commissioners also agreed to have Hoshihara and County Administrator Jon Hofstead prepare a letter to county employees outlining the county’s stance. The chairman suggested it could be provided yearly to maintain clarity.
Hoshihara added that she would continue sharing updates from statewide county-attorney discussions on how other jurisdictions are responding to Florida’s new firearm landscape.
The vote leaves intact Okaloosa County’s 2017 rule allowing employees with concealed-carry permits to carry firearms in county vehicles and on most county properties, with all state-mandated gun-free zones still in place.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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