TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Malcolm Elmore Beard, a former sheriff and Florida state senator, has died. He was 99.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that Beard died Thursday.
Beard was born in Moultrie, Georgia, and moved to Florida with his family in 1924. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and joined the Tampa Police Department in the 1940s.
Beard was elected Hillsborough County Constable in 1957, and served in that position until 1964, when he was elected sheriff. He was Hillsborough County's sheriff until 1978.
He served in the Florida House of Representatives before being elected a state senator, where he served until 1996.
In 2013, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Operations Center was named after him.
Funeral plans are pending.
