Michael D. Durham initially served the citizens of Highlands County under the authority of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office as a correctional officer. Subsequently, he transferred to court security as a bailiff and then road patrol. Mr. Durham also served for the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners in the role of code enforcement official.

Mr. Durham received his Associates of Arts in 1994 from South Florida Community College and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a focus on finance in 1996 from Webber College in Babson Park, Florida. In 2000, he received a Juris Doctorate from Saint Thomas, a Catholic University in Miami, and in 2008 received a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of South Florida, and was inducted in to Pi Alpha Alpha the National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. 

Mr. Durham is an FDLE certified instructor in firearms, law, general subject area and is a certified circuit court mediator.

Mr. Durham served at Broward Legal Aid and then as a senior Assistant County Attorney for Pinellas County Government. In this capacity he served in the litigation section representing all County Constitutional Officers, specifically the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. In 2005, Mr. Durham returned to Highlands County as the General Counsel for the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.