Jacksonville City Council advances measure giving Duval School Board its own lawyer despite Donna Deegan opposition

A City Council panel has forwarded a resolution seeking to give the Duval County School Board its own General Counsel.

Jacksonville’s General Counsel is considered the principal legal authority for consolidated government, leading Mayor Donna Deegan’s Office to oppose the City Council measure as “chipping away at consolidation.”

School Board Chair Charlotte Joyce said the current setup, which has the city’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) screen hires, doesn’t make sense given a lack of qualified applicants with “education law experience” for the most recent opening,

Moreover, Joyce argues that every other district in Florida has attorneys selected by the Board.

Jacksonville, of course, is an exception because of the consolidation approved by voters in 1967 that gave Jacksonville’s City Government latitude over Duval County’s affairs.

But most aspirant School Board lawyers aren’t experts in Jacksonville’s unique charter form of government.

“When you open up an applicant pool, I think the first question that a lot of experienced attorneys in education law would look at is, why am I applying to the city of Jacksonville and not to the School Board?” Joyce contended.

Furthermore, other counties’ lawyers are eligible for the Florida Retirement System, creating another “disadvantage” that “narrows the applicant pool.”

The Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety (NCSPHS) Committee approved the resolution Monday morning after discussion of the ramifications and members arguing that the move would indeed undercut Jacksonville’s form of government.

NCSPHS Committee member Ron Salem said he “came full circle” on the resolution given the School Board handles its own budget, and that Duval County Public Schools would still have “significant ties” to the Office of General Counsel even after its prospective independent hire.

Ken Amaro, another member of the morning committee, worried that this move could create a slippery slope with other parts of government wanting their own lawyers, thus undermining the Office of General Counsel’s historic authority and potentially “dismantling the Charter.”

Also in NCSPHS, Jacksonville General Counsel Michael Fackler cautioned that having an applicant report to a Board could be “difficult” for an attorney, and that he would prefer the School Board lawyer report to him rather than the Board to render a “correct legal opinion” rather than something politically driven.

“That concerns me,” said NCSPHS member Michael Boylan.

Joyce said the city OGC, appointed by the Mayor, could be construed as “political” as well.

NCSPHS Chair Mike Gay not only backs the bill but is now a cosponsor after a 6-2 vote, with Amaro and Boylan on the losing side.

After Rules considers the measure Monday afternoon, the full Council gets final review Oct. 14.

A committee not supporting the measure would not kill the bill, unlike in state or federal government.

Final passage would set the stage for a local bill to be carried by the Duval County legislative delegation in the 2026 Session.