James Uthmeier teases update on Jax gun registry probe, differs with State Attorney on clearing Donna Deegan admin

Attorney General James Uthmeier says his ongoing probe of a list of Jacksonville gun owners who carried weapons into local government buildings is almost complete.

And he takes issue with local State Attorney Melissa Nelson for missing the mark in her own report on the controversy, which absolved the administration of Mayor Donna Deegan of legal responsibility for the practice that has drawn scrutiny from the Right.

“We are investigating this. We’ll have more to announce soon,” Uthmeier said in St. Johns County.

“I think the local State Attorney concluded that it was a lower level staff person that didn’t know what they were doing. You know, most everybody here knows that ignorance of the law is not typically a defense. So I do believe what happened was wrong and unlawful. We’re taking a hard look at it. We’ll have some updates soon.”

The 4th Circuit State Attorney’s Office (SAO) concluded late last year that while Jacksonville officials were guilty of “poor communication and a lack of legal review — not from deliberate misconduct” regarding a registry of people carrying guns into City Hall and the Yates Building, there is no ground for criminal charges related to the practice.

Uthmeier rejected that finding, saying at the time that the “conclusion of this investigation without charges or accountability is unacceptable” and “Jacksonville’s creation of a gun registry for any reason is unlawful and reprehensible.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis and others have pilloried the gun registry as a violation of constitutional rights by the Deegan administration. The “Check Points and Perimeter Security” memo from Facility Manager Mike Soto was drafted June 30, 2023, during the transition between the outgoing Lenny Curry administration and Deegan’s incoming group. It was revised in July after Deegan was sworn in.

State Attorney Nelson’s Office notes that the city “stopped the practice immediately once it was discovered,” but not before “more than 140 entries recording the names, birthdates, ID numbers, and firearm types of over 100 individuals” were memorialized.

In the course of the investigation, the State Attorney’s Office issued subpoenas to Roy Birbal, former public safety chief Lakeisha Burton, Chief Administrative Officer Karen Bowling, Steven Long, Pat McCollough, Kelli O’Leary, former acting General Counsel Bob Rhodes, Facilities Manager Mike Soto, and former city lawyer and current City Council lawyer Jason Teal.

The SAO concluded that “sanctions only apply when a registry is created ‘knowingly and willfully.’” The Public Works manager who created the registry did so because “he wanted data about how many people carried firearms into City buildings — believing it would improve preparedness in case of an emergency, not realizing it created a legal problem.”

Indeed, the General Counsel and senior officials in the administration did not review the practice that was in place for nearly two years.

The relevant law, 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. But the SAO’s conclusion that no crime was committed insulates the administration and its members from any such sanction.

“The City of Jacksonville fully cooperated with State Attorney Nelson and her office from start to finish, and we thank them for conducting a careful and thorough review,” read a statement from a Deegan administration spokesperson last year.

“They confirmed that the policy in question was implemented by an individual employee concerned with building security unbeknownst to Mayor Deegan or her leadership team. This practice immediately ended when it was brought to the administration’s attention. Jacksonville will always follow the law and support constitutionally protected rights.”