the Democratic Party has increased its share of the presidential vote. In 2020, Joe Biden was the first Democratic presidential nominee to win over 40% of the county's vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Growth in the Pensacola suburbs as well as the sizable black population has made Escambia County the least Republican-leaning of the Western Panhandle counties. Government Escambia County government is led by a five-member Board of County Commissioners. Each is elected from a single-member district. The county commission appoints a professional county administrator as chief administrative officer of the county. The chief law enforcement authority of Escambia County is the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, also an elective office. The sheriff of Escambia County is Chip Simmons, elected in 2020. The fire protection arm of the Escambia County is the Escambia County Fire Rescue (Florida). Board of County Commissioners Escambia County is divided into five districts. One county commissioner is elected from each district to serve a four-year term. Commissioners are chosen in partisan elections by voters from the districts in which they live. The board appoints a county administrator to be chief administrative officer of the county, responsible to the commission for the orderly operations of matters within the board's jurisdiction. The current office holders are, Escambia County District 1: Jeff Bergosh (vice chair) Escambia County District 2: Doug Underhill Escambia County District 3: Lumon May Escambia County District 4: Robert Bender (chair) Escambia County District 5: Steven Barry Escambia County Administrator: Wes Moreno (interim) Escambia County Deputy Administrator: Chips Kirschenfeld Escambia County Deputy Administrator: Vacant Escambia County Attorney: Alison P. Rogers County jail In 2011, the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division issued a letter detailing the results of its investigation into conditions at Escambia County Jail, which houses roughly 1,300 prisoners. The department found that, although Sheriff David Morgan had recently implemented a series of reforms, conditions at the jail still routinely violated prisoners' constitutional rights. Specifically, the department concluded that known systemic deficiencies, stemming mainly from staffing shortages, subjected prisoners to excessive risk of assault by other prisoners and to inadequate mental health care. Additionally, the department found that, until recently, the jail had an informal policy and practice of segregating its housing units, reserving one for African-American prisoners. According to the Department of Justice, this race-based segregation stigmatized and discriminated against many of the prisoners, and aggravated racial tensions in the jail. Between