How first criminal investigation of city since Deegan became mayor started and what's at stake

Yahoo

06-05-2025

State Attorney Melissa Nelson's investigation of how the city of Jacksonville kept written records listing the names of gun owners who entered City Hall and the Yates Building marks the first criminal investigation of actions by the city since Mayor Donna Deegan took office in July 2023.
Nelson launched the probe on April 22 and has not yet delivered any conclusion in the ongoing investigation.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has separately said if the allegations are true, it would be a "serious breach of Florida law."
Here is a rundown of what the case involves and what the potential consequences would be.
What started the investigation?
On April 21, a member of Florida Carry, a nonprofit gun rights organization, went to the downtown Yates Building, which houses the county tax collector's office and the property appraiser's office, and found that people carrying concealed firearms must provide their names in order to continue past the security checkpoint.
The Florida Carry member realized the requirement to provide identifying information such as a drivers license conflicts with a longstanding state law, said Eric Friday, general counsel for Florida Carry.
He said he understands gun owners were asked to give their names, drivers license numbers and the make and model of their firearms in order to enter the Yates Building and also City Hall. Both buildings have security checkpoints staffed by First Coast Security through a contract with the city.
"Florida Carry knows for a fact that on the table over there in City Hall and on the table at the entrance of the Yates Building were green notebooks that said 'weapons and firearms logs,' and that those logs had information of gun owners in them," Friday said.
He said the Florida Carry member recorded the encounter at the Yates Building.
"We believe in the right to bear arms and the right of Floridians to have their private information (remain) private," Friday said. "And we will continue to encourage the state attorney, the attorney general and any other lawful investigation to occur to find out who is behind this."
Security measures to check visitors for hidden weapons were added at Jacksonville City Hall in December 2007.
What law is at stake?
Florida has had a law on its books since 2004 that says state agencies and local governments "may not 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."
The law says such record-keeping "is not a law enforcement tool" and is illegal because it can be used to profile, harass or abuse "law-abiding citizens based on their choice to own a firearm and exercise their Second Amendment right."
What is the punishment for violating the law?
Jacksonville General Counsel Michael Fackler told the City Council's Rules Committee at its May 5 meeting the case involves "potentially significant sanctions."
The criminal penalty is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $5,000. The State Attorney's Office determines if there was a criminal violation of the law by a person or entity, according to the state statute.
City Council member Nick Howland said at the Rules Committee the State Attorney issued investigative subpoenas to the city on April 22, which is the day after the Florida Carry member went to the Yates Building.
In addition, the state attorney general can bring a civil action seeking a fine of up to $5 million against a government entity if the court finds evidence the list, record or registry was "compiled or maintained with the knowledge or complicity of the management of the governmental entity."
"My office is looking into this allegation and we will be in contact with local officials to ensure those responsible are held accountable," Uthmeier said in a May 1 post on X.
Can gun owners carry firearms into City Hall and the Yates Building?
Yes. State law for years has allowed gunowners to bring weapons and firearms into city buildings if they have a state-issued concealed carry license.
Starting July 1, 2023, gunowners could bring concealed weapons into city buildings even if they do not have a concealed carry license but meet certain requirements.
State law puts some buildings off-limits to concealed weapons such as sheriff's offices, police agencies and courthouses. The law also bars carrying a concealed weapon or firearm into a local government meeting so at Jacksonville City Hall, a gunowner can carry a gun into the building but not into council chambers when City Council is meeting.
In the case of the city's gun logs, Friday said the city's policy denied gun owners the ability to carry concealed weapons into city buildings as they are legally entitled to do unless they first agreed to provide the personal information for written records.
"That is a criminal offense in in the state of Florida, and we know for a fact that people who attempted to enter without being willing to disclose information that's protected by law were turned away and not allowed to conduct business with the city," he said
When did the written record-keeping begin for the gun logs?
That remains an open question. The mayor's office said in a May 2 statement the "policy in question was created and written" before she took office on July 1, 2023.
"In light of the issue that has been raised, we are undergoing a review of all policy directives, particularly those from the previous administration that were left for us on their way out," the statement said. "Mayor Deegan and the leadership of her administration fully support constitutionally protected rights."
Lenny Curry, who was mayor before Deegan, responded that assertions he had "anything to do with this 'policy'" are false and an attempt by the Deegan administration to shift blame.
"No employee within my organization kept and logged citizens exercising constitutional rights in City Hall," he said. "Deegan can't say the same. This is why they are under investigation."
How many names were written on the gun owner lists?
That also is a question that has not been publicly answered because the gun logs are part of the investigation by prosecutors.
The investigative subpoena issued by the State Attorney's Office sought documents that pertain to the complaint about the lists, Fackler told the Rules Committee. He said the city turned over those documents.
Friday said Florida Carry hopes that none of the gun logs remain in the possession of the city and the State Attorney will be able to use the subpoenaed documents to find out "when this started and hopefully, who started it as well."
How did the investigation of the firearm logs become public?
The existence of the State Attorney investigation became public nine days after the city received the subpoenas when Howland, who is chairman of the Rules Committee, told Action News on May 1 about the probe into the gun logs.
Howland said at the Rules Committee meeting he began looking into the matter on April 29 after someone who asked to remain confidential contacted him. He said that source was likely "motivated by the fact that none of this had yet come to light" and Jacksonville residents deserved to know about it.
Jacksonville City Councilman Nick Howland asked what the University of Florida would do with the Prime Osborne Convention Center for the new UF campus in downtown Jacksonville during Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority brunch Thursday morning April 24, 2025 at Jacksonville City Hall in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]
He said he spent two days researching the matter by speaking with the State Attorney's Office, First Coast Security, the city's Office of General Counsel, the Property Appraiser's office and the Tax Collector's office, members of the Curry administration, and an attorney with expertise in constitutional issues.
"When I gathered enough information to confirm conclusively that state law had been broken, in my opinion, I decided it was then time for transparency," Howland said. "That's when I went to the press."
What law firm is defending the city?
After getting the complaint on April 21, the city retained the Bedell Firm. The firm's partners include Hank Coxe, who is one of the leading criminal defense attorneys in the state.
Coxe is the father-in-law of Fackler, a connection Fackler told the Rules Committee about when council members asking him about how and why the city retained the Bedell Firm. Fackler said the family connection had nothing to with the city's decision to retain Bedell.
Will City Council launch its own investigation?
City Council has the authority to launch its own investigation with subpoena power but at least for now, Nelson has asked City Council to hold off.
City Council member Ron Salem said during the Rules Committee meeting that council should form a special investigative committee just as it did for an in-depth accounting of what happened during the attempted sale of JEA in 2019. He said doing the same for examining the gun logs would show council is consistent, regardless of whether the mayor is a Democrat as Deegan is or a Republican as Curry is.
"That was a Republican mayor," Salem said of the JEA investigative committee. "We went after a Republican administration, but it was the right thing to do."
He said the only reason for council not pursing an investigation would be if Nelson asked council not to take that course.
Later that day, Nelson sent a letter to City Council saying she was making a formal request for council to "delay or pause any effort to form such an investigative body."
Q&A with State Attorney Melissa Nelson: Here's what she had to say about several topics
Howland said he agrees with Nelson's request.
"I commend the state attorney for treating this potentially criminal matter with the seriousness it deserves and will do everything I can to ensure law enforcement has the space and support it needs to conduct a thorough investigation into the Deegan administration's firearm registry," he said in a statement. "Jacksonville deserves the truth."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Details emerge in investigation of Jacksonville gun owner list