Sheriff's Office gives nearly $1.5 million back to county

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings plans to return more than $1.4 million to Orange County government coffers Thursday.

About $1 million of the $1,435,169 in unused funds was left over because the county gave the Sheriff's Office more than it needed to pay for gasoline when the price was nearly $4 per gallon, sheriff's officials said. The price dropped to about $2.30 per gallon but is now about $2.70 per gallon. The Sheriff's Office saved further by implementing fuel-conservation measures, a spokesman said.

The rest of the money came from a $297,000 COPS grant and about $150,000 in miscellaneous funds not used by various agency departments.