Steven Markasky and his K9 Niko
Officer Markasky has been with the Jacksonville Police Department since October 2012 and serves as: Field Training Officer, SWAT operator, Canine Division, Honor Guard and Certified Drug Recognition Expert. Officer Markasky has an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Phoenix and was awarded the Lee Zimmerman Officer of the Year award in 2013.
K9 Niko and Officer Markasky became partners in May of 2017. Niko is a 3 year old Belgian Malinois from Hungary. Niko and Officer Markasky are a K9 team certified through the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association, (NNDDA), in Police Service Dog and Narcotics Detection.
GFOA Distinguished Budget Award The City of Jacksonville was awarded the GFOA's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for it's budget for the fiscal year 2017-2018. Along with the city receiving it's award, the Finance Director, Roxanna Briley, received a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation. The Distinguished Budget Program was established to encourage and assist state and local governments to prepare budget documents of the very highest quality while meeting guidelines that have been established by the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting and the GFOA's best practices on budgeting and then goes to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal.
Illegal Signs Jacksonville has a sign ordinance that is not new and will be enforced by all City employees who are in a City owned vehicle. All signs pulled will be taken to the Public Works Building on Tena St. Here, you will find a quick reference guide as to what signs will be removed. If you have any questions, please contact the Code Enforcement Office, Audra Lane or the Police Department.
All advertising signs placed in the right of way are illegal and will be removed (the right of way is the strip of land approximately 50' to 75' wide that the city street is placed inside of)...meaning the ROW is bigger than the street.
Telephone poles are typically placed 12 inches inside of the ROW, this means all advertising or "Bandit Signs" (garage sales, gutters, for sale signs, etc.) placed between the telephone poles and the street will be removed.
Signs nailed to the telephone poles are illegal and will be removed
Lake Jacksonville
The City of Jacksonville maintains the Lake Jacksonville Recreational Area. Lake Jacksonville, which is located about three miles from downtown Jacksonville, offers 1,325 acres of water. The Parks Department maintains ten screened shelters, seven camping sites with water and electricity and ten R.V. Pads with water and electricity. There are picnic tables throughout the camping and swimming area.Lake Jacksonville also has three boat ramps and two public swimming areas. The camping area also has restroom facilities with showers for the campers. Reservations can be made for camping by calling 903-589-3510 or by using our online reservations.