J. Allison DeFoor, former Florida Keys sheriff, Lt. governor candidate, dies

Florida Keys admin October 29, 2026 0 Comments

J. Allison DeFoor, former Florida Keys sheriff, Lt. governor candidate, dies

J. Allison DeFoor, former Monroe County sheriff, judge and Gov. Bob Martinez’s choice for lieutenant governor when he ran for reelection in 1990, died Tuesday, current Keys Sheriff Rick Ramsay said.

“Sheriff DeFoor was an extraordinary public servant who committed his life to others,” Ramsay said in a statement. “He is remembered for his outstanding leadership at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office as well as his devotion to the less fortunate.”

Ramsay did not disclose the cause of death. DeFoor was 72, and is survived by his wife Randy and extended family, Ramsay said.

DeFoor had a reputation as not only a reformer, but someone who accomplished steep professional feats at a young age.

He became a county judge at 28 before serving as a circuit judge. He was also a public defender and prosecutor.

He was elected Monroe’s sheriff in 1989, but stepped down when Martinez, a Republican, asked him to be his running mate. He told the Miami Herald in 2019 that he only agreed to join the ticket if Martinez chose Rick Roth as his successor. Roth, who’s credited with modernizing the sheriff’s office, went on to serve another 18 years before retiring in 2009.

Martinez lost the race to Democrat Lawton Chiles, but DeFoor’s career continued on an upward trajectory. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him his Everglades Czar, and he was a member of the Florida Bar’s Board of Governors and worked as a law professor at University of Miami, Ramsay said.

He also earned a doctorate at the South Florida Center for Theological Studies and was ordained an Episcopal priest.

“Dr. DeFoor served on numerous other boards including the Florida Chamber Foundation, Florida Historical Society, Associated Industries of Florida, and Florida Tax Watch, the Florida State College Foundation, Memorial Park Foundation, Episcopal Children’s Services, and Operation New Hope, among others,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “He also served as the President and CEO of the North Florida Land Trust.”

In recent years, DeFoor served as canon to the ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of Florida.

“Alongside his years as a judge, sheriff and conservation leader, Allison offered more than a decade of faithful service to the diocese, including a deep commitment to prison ministry and nearly eight years as Canon to the Ordinary,” the Diocese said in a statement.