- April 23, 2024
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In a unanimous decision after a hearing that lasted just six minutes, the Florida Commission on Ethics voted to censure Flagler County Sheriff James L. Manfre and fine him $6,200.
There was no discussion among members of the commission before the vote. Commission Advocate Elizabeth Miller said that Manfre had "never accepted resopnsibility or accountbility for his actions." Attorney John Marsey, representing Manfre, said the Commission Advocate's argument "continues to suggest that because the Sheriff exercised his right to a hearing and didn't roll over or admit wrongful intent, that he should be penalized. I respectfully suggest that is not in the public's interest."
Commissioner Michael Cox made a motion to accept the final order including Administrative Law Judge Suzanne Van Wyk's recommendation to recommendation: to censure Manfre and fine him $6,200 for misusing an agency credit card and failing to properly report a stay in then-undersheriff Rick Staly's cabin as a gift. Van Wyk had found that the commission advocate had not proved a third charge, that Manfre had misused his position by using a Sheriff's Office vehicle on personal trips out of the county and out of the state.
The commission voted unanimously to accept Cox's motion and recommend the fine and censure.
Manfre, who is out of town and did not attend the hearing, said in a written statement that he would appeal the decision.
"I have never violated any state law or agency policy or procedure and intend to appeal this affront to our system of laws," he wrote. "I am certain that an unbiased district court of appeals will overturn this biased decision.
He called the fine unjust, and disproportionate.
"Ultimately, I do take responsibility for all of my actions and do want to put this matter behind us; however, with a good conscience, I do not believe the penalties proposed by the ethics commission are appropriate based on my actions, nor are they equal to sanctions provided others," he wrote. "I only have to look at former Republican Flagler County Sheriff Don Fleming’s 2012 ethics violation where he was fined only $500 for his use of a membership to a private resort that was valued at over $40,000 over a five-year period. ... I ask that you compare Fleming’s penalty to my fine of $6,200 and public censure for $300 related to four events over a six-month period that was immediately reimbursed when the accounting error was discovered by our auditors. Remember, this was a proposed fine that was initially assessed as $1,500 and subsequently, inexplicably, increased to $19,000."
Manfre had said in February that he would accept the Ethics Commission's decision, but changed his mind in March, calling the case a "political setup."
"My original reaction was just to put it behind me. Politically, that would be the smarter thing to do," Manfre, who is up for re-election, said in an interview March 15. "But on reflection and talking to my family, I’ve decided that, other than them dismissing the charges, I intend to appeal any decision that finds me in violation of the ethics code, or any fine. ... They’re asking for a fine 10 to 20 times greater than Don Fleming received. This is unfair, it’s unjust."
In his statement issued after the Ethics Commission's ruling, Manfre questioned the commission's process.
"As the sheriff of this county for seven years and a long-time prosecutor and attorney, I have been appalled at the Commission on Ethics’ process," he wrote in the statement. "From four alleged violations to three and now to two, in the end, this was all about $300 spent over four officially sanctioned sheriff events that should have been resolved with the information I provided to my accounting department. It also had to do with the value of a three-night stay I spent at the personal invitation of Rick Staly, my former undersheriff’s personally owned cabin. The value of this stay, by the testimony of the commission’s own witness, was subject to interpretation. Staly is now running for sheriff against me.
