Grady Judd: “We'll be discussing things that you need to know, safety tips or just what's interesting. We'll go from belly laughs to serious law enforcement stories.”

LAKELAND — Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is no stranger to the media, and come Friday, he'll arguably become a part of it.

In collaboration with Ledger Media Group Productions and parent company GateHouse Media, Judd will be the host of the “Not in My County” podcast. The podcast will stream every Friday, beginning this week at noon.

“I think the sheriff has a good shot at being America's sheriff after this,” said Rob Connelly, director of digital audio for GateHouse Media. “He's already managed to get some pretty impressive guests. He's a natural; he speaks well and he's already in the media.”

Judd's first guest is Andrew Pollack, an activist for school safety whose daughter was killed in the Parkland tragedy in February. Other guests set to appear this month are Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and Sheriff John Layton, president of the National Sheriff's Association.

“You'll have what you would think of as a fireside chat with your sheriff,” Judd said. “We'll be discussing things that you need to know, safety tips or just what's interesting. We'll go from belly laughs to serious law enforcement stories.”

The current president of the Major County Sheriff's Association, Judd has been featured on national cable news networks, radio and elsewhere. Judd has been regarded as a “no-nonsense” or “tell-it-like-it-is” personality. Credited with the idea to start the podcast was Brian Burns, publisher of The Ledger.

“Grady and I were in my office having a light-hearted conversation, talking about the silly things in law enforcement and I just said we should start a radio show,” Burns said. “These guys have to live with seeing some pretty horrific things in law enforcement. This gives a more mellow, light-hearted perspective.”

Judd first gained national publicity in 2006 after a suspected cop killer was shot 68 times by law enforcement. After being questioned about the seemingly excessive number of shots, Judd explained, “that's all the bullets we had.”

Judd has been sheriff since 2004.

“We're excited to get this going and seeing where it goes,” said Bob Heist, executive editor of The Ledger. “We're looking for people to subscribe and download the podcast. We expect this to attract an audience well beyond Polk County, obviously. Sheriff Judd is a national name, a national face with national contacts. It has the opportunity to resonate and become a national product.”

The 30-minute program will focus on national and local crime stories, trends in law enforcement and real stories from Judd's day-to-day life. The show initially will be produced in The Ledger's studio. Judd also will visit with newsmakers, celebrities and elected officials from across the country. The show will have no political or religious agenda, Heist said, and will be family-friendly.

“He has national appeal, but locally, he's a hero,” Burns said. “This was originally just a fun idea. It's totally separate of news coverage, so there is no bias.”

Heist reiterated that the collaboration will not affect The Ledger's coverage of the Polk County Sheriff's Office, noting that it isn't an editorial product. Heist said it does create a new platform for advertisers and a growing audience outside traditional print.

“Watchdog journalism and protection of the First Amendment are the cornerstones of journalism and the kind of journalism we pride ourselves on at Ledger Media Group,” Heist said. “There is no compromise, and there's frankly been no conversation involving The Ledger's day-to-day coverage of the Sheriff's Office, or vice versa."

Ten percent of all advertising revenue raised by the podcast will go to support Polk Sheriff Charities, which includes the Polk Sheriff Youth Ranch. Connelly said other news-oriented podcasts will likely still be the New York-based parent company's most listened to shows, but he expects the new podcast to rank highly among entertainment programs.

“This really does have a chance to be a leader,” he said. “We'll look to develop more of these types of programs as we go on.”

“Not in My County” will be available on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Alexa and Google Home. To subscribe or find out more, visit www.notinmycounty.com. Judd said there also will be an outlet for listeners to submit questions.

“The focus is that it's educational,” Judd said. “For those who might not know my biography or much about me before I became sheriff, there's segments for that, too. It'll allow people to get to know their sheriff and how much I care for this community.”

Mike Ferguson can be reached at Mike.Ferguson@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson.