KEYSTONE HEIGHTS—Former Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels has filed paperwork to regain his old job. Daniels won the position in 2016 as a Republican. Michelle Cook beat Daniels four years later while the incumbent was entangled in a sex scandal. Last week, Daniels filed to run for the job with no party affiliation.
Daniels was arrested in 2020 following a year-long FDLE investigation into whether he illegally ordered the arrest of his mistress. However, in September 2022, a jury acquitted him of all charges after a three-day trial in Green Cove Springs.
Prosecutors had claimed that while sheriff in 2019, Daniels ordered deputies to arrest Cierra Smith for stalking him. He was charged with lying to law enforcement about the circumstances surrounding Smith’s arrest and destroying evidence by deleting his Google account and attempting to wipe his agency phone clean of all files.
