Malcolm E. Beard

Malcolm Elmore Beard (February 21, 1919 – January 2, 2019) was an American politician from the state of Florida.

Beard was born in 1919 in Moultrie, Georgia. He moved to Florida with his family in 1924, served in the United States Navy during World War II, and attended the University of Tampa. Beard worked for the Tampa Police Department from the 1940s until he was elected sheriff of Hillsborough County in 1964, ousting incumbent sheriff Ed Blackburn in what the Tampa Bay Times would later describe as "a tight, bitterly contested race — the last time Hillsborough County saw a truly competitive race for the office." He served as sheriff until 1978. Beard served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1978 to 1980. In 1979, he was elected to the State Senate for the 22nd district, and he served until 1996. In 1985, he changed districts and parties, sitting for the 23rd district as a Republican. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's Malcolm E. Beard Sheriff's Operations Center was named after him in 2013. He died on January 2, 2019, seven weeks before his 100th birthday.