{"id":176104,"date":"2026-03-03T08:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T08:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/176104\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T08:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T08:17:10","slug":"florida-ag-ramps-up-pressure-on-jacksonville-what-was-uncovered-may-cost-city-millions-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/176104\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida AG ramps up pressure on Jacksonville, what was uncovered may cost city millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Florida Attorney General <\/a>James Uthmeier is preparing a potential civil action against the City of Jacksonville<\/a> after determining the city unlawfully maintained what he calls an \u201cillegal firearm registry\u201d for nearly two years, escalating a dispute with local prosecutors who declined to bring criminal charges.<\/p>\n

In a letter sent Monday to Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson<\/a>, Uthmeier said his office would retrieve evidence connected to logbooks kept at Jacksonville City Hall and the nearby Yates Building between July 2023 and spring 2025. Those logs recorded more than 140 entries documenting names, birthdates, ID numbers, and firearm types for over 100 people entering city buildings while armed, according to the State Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

According to Uthmeier’s letter, Nelson\u2019s office concluded in January that the practice resulted from poor communication, a lack of legal review, and a mid-level employee\u2019s misunderstanding of state law \u2014 not criminal intent. Her investigation found the directive, issued by facilities manager Mike Soto in a memo drafted June 30, 2023, and formalized in late July, was never submitted to the city\u2019s Office of General Counsel. Nelson\u2019s office determined that sanctions under state law only apply when a registry is created \u201cknowingly and willfully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uthmeier <\/a>rejected that assessment, arguing the logbooks still violated section 790.335 of Florida Statutes, which bars local governments from keeping any list or registry of privately owned firearms or their owners. In his letter, he wrote that the city\u2019s conduct \u201cdoes not withstand scrutiny,\u201d adding that ignorance of the law \u201cis no excuse\u201d and that keeping the logs was intentional and thus met statutory requirements.<\/p>\n

The Attorney General\u2019s Office <\/a>cannot prosecute the case, but can pursue civil enforcement, according to the AG. Under the statute, Jacksonville could face fines of up to $5 million if a registry was created with the \u201cknowledge or complicity\u201d of city leadership. Uthmeier said his office, led by Deputy Attorney General Jason Hilborn, would move forward with collecting evidence and evaluating whether such penalties apply.<\/p>\n

See also: Widows of West Palm Beach officers fight city over line-of-duty death benefits<\/a><\/p>\n

The city has maintained that the directive originated from one employee and was never authorized by senior leadership. A spokesperson for Mayor Donna Deegan said Jacksonville fully cooperated with Nelson\u2019s investigation, which found no evidence that the information was copied, shared, or used for lawenforcement purposes. The city stopped the logging practice immediately after it was discovered in April 2025, officials said. <\/p>\n

The controversy has fueled political tensions, with Gov. Ron DeSantis and other critics labeling the logbooks a violation of residents\u2019 constitutional rights. Uthmeier\u2019s announcement signals the matter is far from resolved, despite the State Attorney\u2019s conclusion that the issue stemmed from administrative errors rather than intent to break the law. <\/p>\n

Uthmeier said Floridians whose personal data was recorded \u201cdeserve accountability\u201d and may be entitled to redress. His office has asked Nelson for continued cooperation as the civil review moves forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is preparing a potential civil action against the City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-176104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}