Ken Jenne

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title: "Ken Jenne" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "florida-atlantic-university-alumni", "florida-state-university-alumni", "1946-births", "florida-sheriffs", "florida-lawyers", "florida-democrats", "american-people-convicted-of-tax-crimes", "people-from-lake-worth-beach,-florida", "florida-politicians-convicted-of-crimes", "20th-century-american-lawyers", "21st-century-florida-politicians", "20th-century-florida-politicians"] description: "American politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Jenne" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Ken Jenne
image	Ken Jenne.jpg
office	Sheriff of Broward County
term_start	1997
term_end	2007
predecessor	Ron Cochran
successor	Al Lamberti
state_senate1	Florida
district1	29th
term_start1	1993
term_end1	1997
predecessor1	Peter Weinstein
successor1	Steven Geller
state_senate2	Florida
district2	30th
term_start2	1991
term_end2	1993
predecessor2	Tom McPherson
successor2	Matthew Meadows
state_senate3	Florida
district3	32nd
term_start3	1979
term_end3	1989
predecessor3	William G. Zinkil
successor3	Howard Forman
office4	Minority leader of the Florida Senate
predecessor4	???
successor4	Buddy Dyer
term_start4	1994
term_end4	1998
birth_date	December 1, 1946
birth_place	Lake Worth Beach, Florida, U.S.
party	Democrat
spouse	Caroline M. Jenne (m. circa 1976-2011; divorced)
relations	Evan Jenne (son)
alma_mater	Palm Beach Junior College
Florida Atlantic University (BA)
Florida State University (JD)
::

|name = Ken Jenne |image = Ken Jenne.jpg |image_size = |office = Sheriff of Broward County |term_start = 1997 |term_end = 2007 |predecessor = Ron Cochran |successor = Al Lamberti |state_senate1 = Florida |district1 = 29th |term_start1 = 1993 |term_end1 = 1997 |predecessor1 = Peter Weinstein |successor1 = Steven Geller |state_senate2 = Florida |district2 = 30th |term_start2 = 1991 |term_end2 = 1993 |predecessor2 = Tom McPherson |successor2 = Matthew Meadows |state_senate3 = Florida |district3 = 32nd |term_start3 = 1979 |term_end3 = 1989 |predecessor3 = William G. Zinkil |successor3 = Howard Forman |office4 = Minority leader of the Florida Senate |predecessor4 = ??? |successor4 = Buddy Dyer |term_start4 = 1994 |term_end4 = 1998 |birth_name = |birth_date = December 1, 1946 |birth_place = Lake Worth Beach, Florida, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = Democrat |occupation = |spouse = Caroline M. Jenne (m. circa 1976-2011; divorced) |children = |relations = Evan Jenne (son) |religion = |alma_mater = Palm Beach Junior College Florida Atlantic University (BA) Florida State University (JD)

Kenneth C. Jenne II (born December 1, 1946) is a former Democratic member of the Florida State Senate and a former sheriff of Broward County (Broward County Sheriff's Office), which encompasses Fort Lauderdale. He resigned as sheriff in September 2007, after having pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion and mail fraud. On November 16, 2007, he was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.

Education

Jenne was born and raised in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. His father, Kenneth C. Jenne Sr., was employed by a utility company, and his mother worked for the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Court. He attended Palm Beach Junior College, where he was student government president. In 1968, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, where he served as student body president.

He subsequently earned a Juris Doctor from Florida State University in Tallahassee. He later served in the United States Army Reserve. He retired at the rank of sergeant as a public safety supervisor. He graduated from the FBI's National Executive Institute, as well as the National Sheriffs' Institute.

Career

Politics

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Ken_Jenne,_Sheriff,_Broward_County_Sheriff's_Office.jpg" caption="Jenne as Sheriff of Broward County"] ::

By 1972, Jenne was a prosecutor for the Broward County State Attorney's Office. Following his time as a prosecutor, he was elected to the Broward County Commission and served as commission chairman in 1976.

Jenne was elected to the Florida Senate in 1978 to represent District 32. He would remain in this position until 1988. Jenne was subsequently elected to the Florida Senate in 1990, this time representing District 29 and he would stay in this position until 1998. Jenne is credited with holding a majority of the top committee chairmanships in the Florida Senate, including the position of Senate Democratic Leader. In January 1998, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, a fellow Democrat, selected him to become Broward County sheriff to succeed the late Ron Cochran.

Law enforcement

As sheriff, Jenne directed a 6,300-member organization with a $638 million budget. Under his direction, the organization was responsible for law enforcement and fire rescue duties in 14 cities and towns, as well as all unincorporated areas of Broward County. He resigned on September 4, 2007 in light of federal corruption charges.

Corruption

Jenne resigned in September 2007, after agreeing to plead guilty to federal tax evasion and mail fraud charges after a corruption investigation uncovered crimes in his outside business dealings, federal prosecutors said. Jenne faced a possible grand jury indictment on more serious money laundering charges. Several of Jenne's long-term Democratic allies, including former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth and former Florida Senate President Jim Scott, pleaded for leniency.

Jenne pleaded guilty to three counts of tax evasion and one count of mail fraud conspiracy and was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.

Incarceration

Before being assigned to prison, Jenne resided in the Federal Detention Center, Miami. In December 2007, he was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta. Later that month he was moved to the penitentiary in Lee County, Virginia.

Jenne served most of his sentence in the Virginia prison. By September 2008, he was moved back to FDC Miami, as he was a possible witness in a civil case against the Broward Sheriff's Office (BSO) involving a jail beating. Jenne was released from FDC Miami on September 29, 2008. He now reportedly lives in Hollywood, Florida and is a business consultant.

References

References

1. (Jan 13, 2018). "Florida Senators".
2. [https://nuwber.com/person/563a37f1e0cd4806cbb69a09 Profile], nuwber.com. Accessed August 14, 2022.
3. Anderson, Curt. (2007-11-16). "Fla. Sheriff Gets Prison for Corruption". The Associated Press.
4. [http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2007Nov16/0%2C4675%2CBrowardSheriff%2C00.html Curt Anderson, "Fla. Sheriff Gets Prison for Corruption"], foxnews.com, November 16, 2007.
5. "Your Move, Ken".
6. "Ex-Broward sheriff jailed year and a day".
7. "Florida Atlantic University - Alumni Hall of Fame 1985". Florida Atlantic University Office of Alumni Relations.
8. "About Sheriff Ken Jenne". Broward County Sheriff's Office.
9. (1998). "The Florida Senate Handbook 1996-1998". The Florida Senate.
10. "Broward Sheriff's Office - About the Broward Sheriff's Office". Broward County Sheriff's Office.
11. Aguayo, Terry. (Sep 5, 2007). "Florida Sheriff Set to Admit Guilt in a Corruption Case". The New York Times.
12. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. (November 2025). "Former Broward sheriff sentenced to prison in corruption case".
13. McMahon, Paula and Tonya Alanez. "[http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/rothstein-s-dive-from-bahia-drive-miami-detention-107230.html Rothstein's dive from Bahia Drive: Miami detention center humbles lifestyle of disgraced attorney]." ''[[The Palm Beach Post]]''. Tuesday December 8, 2009. Retrieved on December 30, 2009.
14. Blum, Vanessa. "[http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-0929jenne1206,0,6187453.story Jenne moved to Atlanta prison] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-06-04 ", ''[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]]'', December 6, 2007; retrieved December 30, 2009.)
15. Nolin, Robert. [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-0929jenne1220,0,6056377.story "Ex-sheriff moved to Virginia prison"] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-06-04 , ''[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]]'', December 20, 2007; retrieved December 30, 2009.)
16. link. (2010-05-27 , [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]]; retrieved December 30, 2009.)
17. link. (2011-07-18 , virginiascan.yesvirginia.org; retrieved December 30, 2009.)
18. Reich, Judith and Robert Nolin. "[http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-0929jenne0928,0,7694791.story Broward's fallen sheriff freed from prison]{{Dead link. (November 2025)

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