- April 17, 2024
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Flagler County Clerk of Court Tom Bexley is offering to provide the Flagler County Sheriff's Office with an additional 1,000 square feet of work space at the county courthouse building.
It's 1,000 square feet more than Bexley initially told the county administration he could spare. But it's also 4,000 square feet less than the county had requested.
“As of this morning, the clerk of courts, as promised, delivered a proposal to help resolve the sheriff’s shortage of space," County Administrator Jerry Cameron said July 24, according to the county's public information officer. "While the proposal is less space than what was previously requested, it represents an effort to help resolve the present critical situation. County administration will work with the sheriff to see if the proposal is workable. Meanwhile, administration will continue to pursue all potential alternatives until a resolution is reached."
Bexley had made his offer July 24 after Cameron, at the County Commission's behest, sent Bexley a July 17 letter stating that the county would prepare to sue him if he did not respond favorably by end of day Friday, July 19, to a request by the county to have a space study conducted on the building, and to abide by its recommendations. Bexley called County Commission Chairman Donald O’Brien July 19 and asked to schedule a meeting for Monday, July 22, with O’Brien and Cameron to discuss the matter. In that meeting, he told them he would provide them with an interlocal agreement for additional space.
The FCSO’s staff has been displaced from its own building on State Road 100 because of mold there since June 2018, and has been divided between the courthouse and the jail administrative building while a new FCSO building is constructed. But the sheriff has asked for more space, saying the agency’s current space limitations are impeding its ability to function.
The interlocal agreement was provided to the county alongside a brief cover letter addressed to O'Brien. It states: "This is in response to actions taken by the Board of County Commissioners as stated in the letter from County Administrator Jerry Cameron dated July 17, 2019. Attached as promised in our meeting of July 22, is the Interlocal Agreement outlining the terms and conditions of the offer extended from this office to the Board of County Commissioners to aid in the County’s dilemma."
The three-page proposed interlocal agreement includes a one-page floor plan of the proposed space to be transferred to the sheriff for his agency's use. That space is contiguous with space the FCSO is already using within the courthouse.
The agreement states, "Acceptance of this agreement indicates an understanding between the Parties that there will be no additional Clerk space to allocate for any operations other than the Clerk’s Office." It also requires that courthouse be "returned to its original purpose built floor plan intended for Clerk operations," and states, "The Clerk’s break room located on the first floor adjacent to the Records Department is designated for Clerk’s Office employees only."
View the proposed interlocal agreement HERE.
