Courtney Pittman, interim executive director of the St. Johns County Airport Authority, addresses the board March 10, 2025, about the departure of the board's legal counsel. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today
Published on April 9, 2025 at 1:17 pm
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The State Attorney’s Office has subpoenaed a variety of records from the St. Johns Airport Authority related to operations and top-level administrators, new documents reveal.
The Airport Authority has been in hot water since the board’s legal counsel quit in February and alleged that elected board members Reba Ludlow and Len Tucker had repeatedly violated state laws surrounding private meetings.
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Ludlow has denied those allegations. Tucker has declined to comment.
According to the subpoenas, the State Attorney’s Office wants to see:
- Records, including information about payments, relating to window tinting that was performed at the authority’s administrative offices,
- Travel, pay and flight documents for the Airport Authority’s former interim executive director, Jamie Topp.
- Records relating to the Airport Authority’s lease of hangars and waiting list.
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A number of the subpoenaed records relate to the Airport Authority’s relationship with Modern Aero, a local company founded by Airport Authority member Jennifer Liotta and her husband, Matt.
The subpoenas seek “applications, leases and inspection records” for hangars leased by modern Aero or connected to any board member. The State Attorney’s Office also wants flight logs showing whether Topp flew on planes owned, leased or operated by the Liottas’ company.
The St. Johns Airport Authority shared information about the subpoenas as part of its list of agenda items for its upcoming board meeting Monday. During that meeting, the board will address the fact that, in addition to the subpoenas from the State Attorney’s Office, the Airport Authority has received a number of public records requests that it does not have the staff to accommodate.
The Airport Authority says it has received 17 public records requests since Feb. 20. One came from Jacksonville Today, which requested copies of emails and text messages between Ludlow and Tucker.
Other items on the Airport Authority’s agenda include a discussion about the hiring of a temporary legal counsel to provide the board with legal advice while they look for a new permanent general counsel.
The St. Johns Airport Authority holds its meetings once per month at the Airport Conference Center of the Northeast Florida Regional Airport on U.S. 1.
The board meeting Monday is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
