Veteran JSO officer arrested, second charged in 2021

JACKSONVILLE — For more on this story watch Action News Jax reporter Jessica Barreto’s live report on CBS47 at NOON.

A 17-year veteran of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) has been arrested for providing confidential information to a Georgia law enforcement employee, investigators say.

According to Undersheriff Pat Ivey, their investigation began on March 29 after Sergeant Tamara Hardin’s name surfaced during a similar investigation at a Georgia police agency.

Georgia investigators reported one of their employees had been requesting information from Sgt. Hardin, which she provided on a number of occasions.

Sergeant Hardin was taken into custody Tuesday morning following a brief investigation by JSO’s Integrity Unit.

Ivey said Sgt. Hardin has chosen not to resign but that she will surely be terminated pending the conclusion of the criminal investigation.

Hardin has been charged with one count of disclosure of confidential information and one count of offenses against users of computers, both are third degree felonies. Her bond has been set at $20,000.

JSO told Action News Jax that Sgt. Hardin has requested her mugshot be exempt from public disclosure, and will not confirm any photos of her per public statute 119.071.

Action News Jax found a Twitter post from back in 2016 in which an officer of the same name was awarded Officer of the Month.

Hardin marks the second officer arrest in 2021. Action News Jax told you earlier this month after a JSO officer was arrested and charged with one count of misdemeanor battery for allegedly hitting a man who was in the backseat of the officer’s patrol car, handcuffed.

Cox Media Group