Florida Senate - 2013                                     SR 728
       
       
       
       By Senator Evers
       
       
       
       
       2-00739A-13                                            2013728__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution honoring Colonel Graham W. Fountain for
    3         his distinguished service to state and local law
    4         enforcement.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain began his local law
    7  enforcement career in 1980 as a deputy sheriff in Okaloosa
    8  County and went on to provide executive leadership in two
    9  Florida Panhandle counties, serving as undersheriff to Okaloosa
   10  County Sheriff Larry Gilbert and as chief of staff and director
   11  of law enforcement operations for the Walton County Sheriff’s
   12  Office, and
   13         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain worked diligently to
   14  protect children from crime by working with the Okaloosa
   15  District School Board to implement the county’s first school
   16  resource deputy program and went on to serve in other public
   17  safety positions, including chief investigator for the State
   18  Comptroller and investigator with the Florida Division of
   19  Insurance Fraud, where he was honored for his investigative
   20  activities, and
   21         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain has gone above and beyond
   22  the call of duty to further professionalize the field of law
   23  enforcement by encouraging public service and community
   24  involvement, serving for 6 years as a commissioner of the
   25  Florida Commission on Law Enforcement Agency Accreditation and
   26  as a two-term president of the State Law Enforcement Chiefs’
   27  association, and
   28         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain has been active in
   29  supporting area charities and nonprofits, including Toys for
   30  Tots, Homestead Ministries, Inc., Regenerate Student Ministries,
   31  Inc., Habitat for Humanity, the American Heart Association, and
   32  Florida Sheriff’s Boys and Girls Ranches, and currently serves
   33  on the Florida Historical Commission, and
   34         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain has been honored with many
   35  awards and recognitions for his commitment to protecting the
   36  citizens of and visitors to this state, and
   37         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain was appointed by Governor
   38  Jeb Bush as Director of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement for the
   39  Florida Department of Transportation where, over the course of 8
   40  years, he brought the agency from relative obscurity to
   41  recognition as one of the top enforcement agencies in the
   42  nation, and
   43         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain served on this state’s
   44  Domestic Security Statewide Working Group, the U.S. Department
   45  of Justice Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the State
   46  Emergency Management ESF-16 Executive Leadership Council, and
   47         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain managed the implementation
   48  of the “Pre-Pass” system for prescreening commercial motor
   49  vehicles, reducing the regulatory downtime for trucks traveling
   50  the roadways and saving the transportation industry millions of
   51  travel hours, and
   52         WHEREAS, Colonel Graham Fountain has honorably served
   53  Okaloosa and Walton Counties and this state for more than 28
   54  years in the fields of public safety and law enforcement and
   55  will retire on May 10, 2013, from his position as chief of staff
   56  of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, NOW, THEREFORE,
   57  
   58  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   59  
   60         That the Senate recognizes Colonel Graham W. Fountain for
   61  his distinguished service to our state; honors him for his
   62  extensive contributions in the fields of law enforcement, public
   63  safety, and criminal justice professionalism; and wishes him
   64  well upon his retirement.