SARASOTA - Having agreed to part ways with their administrator, Sarasota County commissioners have tapped a sheriff's officer to temporarily take over.  With investigations ongoing, they're looking to Major Kurt Hoffman to restore public confidence and trust in the local government.

Jim Ley is gone, a criminal investigation is ongoing, and even the FBI is looking into activities.  County leaders like commissioner Joe Barbetta say they need help from elsewhere.  "I felt the organization may have needed a shot from the outside...somebody with character who could come in quickly."

They are looking right down the street to the sheriff's office.  Hoffman says he started Wednesday as any other day.  "I kind of started out with a bowl of oatmeal and went for my morning run. After that my day kind of changed. It was unexpected."

Hoffman says he's honored to help and thinks he can bring some stability to the county during these tumultuous times. "Particularly here at the Sheriff's Office we have high moral standards. That has been instilled in us by Sheriff Knight. I think you bring those values and those ethics to whatever problem you are dealing with. Obviously there are some issues over there that need to be looked and need to be resolved."

Some issues still need to be ironed out. Hoffman is administrative division commander and general counsel for sheriff's office. He also heads the budget. Not an easy man to replace. "I am glad you realize I have a lot to do here. There is a lot. Obviously everybody knows the financial concerns we are in."

The two sides also need to figure out how the commission and Hoffman can work on the sheriff's more than $85 million budget together. "We don't want to create any issues that would create a conflict of interest so we are in discussions right now to see how we can do that."

Hoffman says while he's there he can also be looking for any possible misdealings which may have been taking place. Overall though he says he will just be a caretaker while working to regain the faith in local government. "At the top of the to do list is to restore public confidence and integrity in the system. The citizens need to feel like they are having a fair shake in all dealings with the county. Also, the county employees there feel like they are getting a fair shake as well."

Sheriff Tom Knight told ABC 7 Thursday that he supports the move and they will make do with losing Hoffman for a few months.  Hoffman says it could be a few days before a final deal can be approved and he can take over day to day operations.