A.G. Gancarski
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan says she wasn’t aware that a city employee set up a gun registry that critics say violates state law, and Deegan disclaims responsibility for the practice that persisted for nearly two years of her administration.
“It never made it to my level. It never made it to me,” Deegan said on “First Coast Connect.”
“This directive was written before I came into office. I’ll say that again: It was written before I came into office, before I was sworn in, and we know that from documentation. So we don’t know how long before that that was under discussion, but apparently it was simply sent from a city employee to a security firm.”
Deegan’s assertion is true in the sense that the “Check Points and Perimeter Security” memo from Facility Manager Mike Soto was drafted June 30, 2023.
June 30, a Friday, was the final day of the Lenny Curry administration. Deegan was sworn in the next day.
“At a minimum, record the name, state issued photo ID unique identification number, age, (and) weapon type in the WEAPON AND FIREARM LOGBOOK,” the document dictates. A subsequent revision maintained that language.
However, that revision was made July 24, 2023, long after Deegan was sworn in, raising questions about why her administration wouldn’t be aware of the practice.
And the policy wasn’t stopped until late last month, raising questions about chain of command and supervisory authority in the executive branch.
Deegan says that now, nearly halfway through her first term, corrective measures are being taken.
“As soon as I found out about it, we stopped the practice and we’ve now put some proactive steps into place to make sure that we’re aware of any form of procedure or policy that we might not have been aware of,” Deegan said. “We’re going to continue to move forward with making sure that the proper checks and balances are there.”
Deegan said her team was now “asking city departments to put together all policies and procedures and … check those against state law.”
“We called it a policy change, but really it was simply a directive for a practice for the security company. That’s really what it was,” Deegan said.
“It wasn’t a policy, necessarily. It was a, you know, ‘This is the step that we’re going to take to comply with this new law.’ I think that was my supposition from simply what I know, what I’ve seen, is that this new law was going to go into place. I guess there was a response from the security folks of, ‘Here’s how we’re going to try to keep people safe’.”
The “directive” may cost a lot of money.
Florida Statutes 790.335 bans registries under threat of criminal and civil penalties, including potential “felony of the third degree” charges and “a fine of not more than $5 million” via a civil action from the Attorney General.
The language suggests that the policy may include a list of gun owners who carry weapons into city buildings like City Hall and the Yates Building, regardless of security concerns.
“No state governmental agency or local government, special district, or other political subdivision or official, agent, or employee of such state or other governmental entity or any other person, public or private, shall knowingly and willfully keep or cause to be kept any list, record, or registry of privately owned firearms or any list, record, or registry of the owners of those firearms.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis sees this as a bigger issue than the Mayor’s Office does. He says he wants “consequences” for the “unlawful” registry.
Deegan also defended General Counsel Michael Fackler retaining his father-in-law’s firm as outside counsel for the defense of city employees subpoenaed in the ongoing probe by the 4th Circuit State Attorney.
“He is a separate and equal branch of, basically, the government. So what I was told, because I asked about this, is … that was run up through both local and state ethics and was approved. So I don’t have any reason to doubt that.”
Via Fackler and the Mayor’s Office, local Ethics Chief Kirby Oberdorfer produced opinions from past Attorneys General and Ethics Commissions making the case that the hiring of law firms presented no conflict.
We are still seeking details into the hourly rate, whether any caps apply, which budgetary subfund will pay for it, and if there will be an appropriations bill filed in the City Council. We will update with those details once provided.
