- April 26, 2024
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Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed an executive order publicly reprimanding Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre for violating Florida ethics laws, and ordering him to pay a $6,200 fine. The public reprimand concludes an Ethics Commission case that began in 2014.
The executive order states that Manfre "is hereby publicly censured and reprimanded" for using an agency credit card for personal use and for failing to report a gift in excess of $100. The gift in Manfre's case was a five-night stay in then-undersheriff Rick Staly's cabin in Tennessee. (Manfre did ultimately report the cabin stay after realizing after an ethics seminar that it was required, but the Ethics Commission stated that he had not done so properly.) The executive order gives Manfre 30 days to pay the fine. To view the executive order, click here.
In an emailed statement concerning the executive order, Manfre wrote he that he had not violated agency policy or state law.
"I ask the citizens of Flagler County to look at my ethics experience and understand that at no time did I ever violate any agency policy or state law," he wrote in the statement. "... I never intended to do anything wrong and followed existing practices that were in place when I took office in 2013. As your Sheriff, I do take full responsibility for all of my actions and apologize to each and every citizen of Flagler County." (View Manfre's full statement below. )
The Ethics Commission in April voted unanimously after just a six-minute hearing to impose the penalty of a public censure and fine against Manfre. The commission had earlier rejected a stipulation agreement that would have required Manfre to pay a fine of $1,500 and restitution of $850.50 for using an agency vehicle on a personal trip, instead opting to reopen the investigation.
An Ethics Commission advocate in Feb. 2016 reccomended a fine of $19,000 over three charges — that Manfre had not properly disclosed the cabin stay as a gift, that he'd used an agency credit card for personal use, and that he'd used an agency car for a personal out-of-state trip — but an administrative law judge opted not to pursue the charge concerning the use of the agency car.
Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre has released the following emailed statement concerning the public reprimand from the governor's office:
This is not a new step, rather one I agreed to and have expected since I resolved this matter. I ask the citizens of Flagler County to look at my ethics experience and understand that at no time did I ever violate any agency policy or state law. In fact, when I was notified of the issues, I immediately enacted strong internal regulations to prevent this from happening to others in the future. As for the violations, one was for $300 spent on sanctioned meals over four events, over six months, three years ago that was immediately reimbursed when the accounting error was discovered. The other was my lodging at my former undersheriff’s cabin. In this case, I was the one who realized there was an issue and self-reported the matter to authorities. I later based my decision to pay the cost of the stay on guidance I received from my attorney.
I never intended to do anything wrong and followed existing practices that were in place when I took office in 2013. As your Sheriff, I do take full responsibility for all of my actions and apologize to each and every citizen of Flagler County.
I have personally learned a lot from this political setup and inconsistent ethics process and have moved on, as I have never lost focus of my duties and responsibilities. I ask that you move forward with me as we celebrate all of the positive accomplishments that have made over the past three and a half years and look ahead to accomplishing so much more as we keep our community safe and secure for all who live, work and vacation in Flagler County.
Sincerely,
James L. Manfre,
Sheriff of Flagler County
