K9S UNITED ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

ROBERT A. HARDWICK
Sheriff, St Johns County Sheriff’s Office

Robert A. Hardwick was elected Sheriff in November of 2020. Prior to serving as Sheriff, he served as the 11th Chief of Police for the St. Augustine Beach Police Department from 2013- 2020. He also served as the Assistant Chief Investigator with the Office of the State Attorney 7th Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia Counties. At the State Attorney’s Office, he supervised investigations over the four counties to include; homicide, police corruption, governor assignments and special prosecutions. During his 26-year plus law enforcement career Sheriff Hardwick also worked at the St. Augustine Police Department, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Corrections.

As a veteran of the U.S. Army and Florida Army National Guard, Sheriff Hardwick has participated in multiple deployments to the Middle East in support of military operations. His deployments include as far back as Operation Desert Storm in 1990 with the 82nd Airborne Division and as recent as Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and 2004 with the 53rd Infantry Brigade supporting the 5th Special Forces Group. His most recent assignment was in the Florida Army National Guard as a Platoon Trainer (TAC) at the Camp Blanding Regional Training Institute’s Officer Candidate School (OCS). In 2018, after 25 years of active and national guard service, Sheriff Hardwick honorably retired.

Sheriff Hardwick has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Flagler College and a Master of Arts Degree from Barry University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Session 247 and a graduate of the FBI’s Florida Executive Development Seminar, Class 16. Sheriff Hardwick is also a graduate of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Chief Executive Seminar, Session 48.

In August of 2016 Governor Rick Scott appointed Sheriff Hardwick to the Criminal Justice and Standards Training Commission (CJSTC). He is served as Chair for the Officer Discipline Penalty Guidelines Task Force and Chair for the Florida League of Cities’ Law Enforcement Advisory Panel, (LEAP). Sheriff Hardwick serves on the Region V Training Council and the St. Johns River State College Criminal Justice Academy Advisory Board. He serves on the Board of Directors for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Police Athletic League, the St. Johns County School’s Academy of Law & Homeland Security and the School Advisory Board for St. Joseph Academy Catholic High School. Sheriff Hardwick continues to volunteer as a local youth coach.

Sheriff Hardwick has been married to his wife for 29 years and they have two adult sons.