Former longtime Lake County Sheriff Gary Borders dies

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Former longtime Lake County Sheriff Gary Borders has died.

Borders headed the sheriff’s office from 2006 until he retired in 2017.

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The sheriff’s office said Borders passed away peacefully Tuesday morning after a recent battle with cancer.

“He touched many lives during his years of service, the impact of which will not soon be forgotten,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

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Borders was appointed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush following the sudden, accidental death of Sheriff Chris Daniels in a charity school bus race event. Lake voters later elected Borders to a full term in 2008.

Borders had previously worked as a chief deputy of Criminal Justice Operations with the Lake Sheriff’s Office and he was a long-time major with the Lake County Department of Corrections.

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Borders, a Republican, was raised in Ashland, Kentucky.

“I knew at a young age that serving the public was something that I wanted to do,” Borders said on his previous election website.

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