Steve Oelrich tells people who slip up about his title that it is still OK to call him "sheriff" - a position he had for about 14 years until a few weeks ago.

But he's hoping it will be replaced with a new title - "senator" - a few weeks from now.

Oelrich resigned as Alachua County's sheriff midterm to run for state Senate District 14, capping a long career in law enforcement that began with the St. Petersburg Police Department and included stints investigating official corruption and drug runners in Miami and the Caribbean.

"I knew when I was about 15 or 16 that it's what I wanted to do. It's a career where you can combine service and also excitement," Oelrich said.

Oelrich was born in Pensacola and first studied policing at St. Petersburg College. After working as a police officer there for a few years, Oelrich attended Florida State University while also working also for Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

A career with FDLE took Oelrich to various cities including his most rewarding job - a Tallahassee-based homicide investigator working throughout the Panhandle.

With FDLE in Gainesville, Oelrich worked primarily on drug investigations and financial fraud. Oelrich then took a break from law enforcement and opened an insurance agency.

After 10 years of that, he ran for sheriff and beat sheriff's Capt. Buddy Crevasse for the post.

Oelrich unsuccessfully sued the Alachua County Commission about the way it funds the Sheriff's Office. Meanwhile, in 1995 he was one of 88 people participating in a charity dove hunt who was charged with hunting in a baited field. Oelrich said he and others didn't know the field was baited.

A fine was paid, but Oelrich and two others testified before Congress and eventually laws were changed regarding knowledge that the field is baited.

Oelrich said he decided to run for the state Senate because of the opportunity it gives him to have a role throughout the region

Education, public safety and growth management have emerged as primary issues for Oelrich.

"Anybody who has been on Newberry Road or Archer Road, or even to Newberry or Starke, knows that we have fallen way behind in keeping up with traffic," Oelrich said.

"I'm very interested in education and literacy. Somebody who graduates from high school should read and write and be able to do arithmetic to get by in the workplace," Oelrich said.

Oelrich also has focused on environmental issues, particularly protecting the area's water quality and quantity, and pledging to promote alternative sources of energy.

He said the message is getting out.
"Even when I go to little places outside of Alachua County, people recognize me as the sheriff," he said. "I've been encouraged by the responses I've had. It's been reinforcing."