State Attorney Melissa Nelson | News4Jax
Published on September 9, 2025 at 12:37 pm
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The State Attorney’s Office says it will not investigate whether text messages by three members of Jacksonville City Council violate Florida’s Sunshine Law.
A spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office tells WJCT Public Media that the office has determined “there is no legal or factual basis to open a criminal investigation.”
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The decision comes after Leslie Jean-Bart, a civil rights attorney and president of the Democratic Black Caucus of Duval County, had twice asked State Attorney Melissa Nelson to investigate whether text messages between council President Kevin Carrico and council members Mike Gay and Ron Salem on a specific bill violated Florida law.
The council members said the messages involved legislative process, not the substance of the bill.
Text messages don’t ‘reflect secrecy’
“This office has a clear record of investigating Sunshine Law violations when the facts justify it,” David Chapman, communications director for the State Attorney’s office, said in an email. “We have convened grand juries, pursued accountability, and confirmed violations when supported by evidence.
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“By the same standard, we have declined investigations when the facts did not support them. The outcomes have differed, but the principle has not: A criminal case requires a factual basis before it can begin,” Chapman wrote.
“In this matter, the circumstances — whether involving a text message disclosed in a public meeting or the drafting of legislation openly debated with differing viewpoints — do not reflect secrecy, collusion, or an attempt to avoid public scrutiny.”
Florida Sunshine law bars public officials from discussing public business outside the public eye. Jean-Bart told WJCT First Coast Connect host Anne Schindler on Aug. 26 that she had sent Gov. Ron DeSantis a letter requesting the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations.
In her letter, she noted that Nelson used the same political consultant and strategist as some of the City Council members implicated in the allegations.
Jean-Bart said Tuesday that she disagreed with the state attorney’s decision, which she said conflicts with decisions in previous cases.
“An investigation is warranted where there is credible evidence of a potential violation; and here, there is more than enough,” she wrote in a letter to Nelson. “By refusing even to inquire, your office effectively immunizes conduct that the law is designed to deter.”
Jean-Bart disputed that her complaint was a result of “petty politics.”
“It is about enforcing one of Florida’s stronest open government rotections,” she wrote. “Jacksonville has a painful history of corruption that led to consolidation and the very creation of these transparency safeguards. To ignore a clear violation now risks repeating that history.”
Anne Schindler of WJCT and Michelle Corum of Jacksonville Today contributed to this report.
