The Jacksonville City Council will meet in special session at noon June 6 at City Hall to call for a special election for Duval County sheriff.
The single agenda item, Resolution 2022-430, comes after Sheriff Mike Williams announced that he is retiring effective June 10.
The resolution specifies a candidate qualifying period beginning at noon June 10 and ending at noon June 17.
Candidates must reside and be a registered voter in Duval County 183 days prior to the date of qualifying. To get on the ballot, they must collect the required qualifying petitions or pay a fee.
The special election is scheduled for Aug. 23. If no candidate receives 50% plus one vote in the first election, the two candidates receiving the most votes will be on the ballot for a runoff in the Nov. 8 general election.
The resolution states that Section 8.03, Charter of the City of Jacksonville requires that where possible, said special election shall be held in conjunction with any other election scheduled to be held with the county, and economy of resources can best be achieved if the Council makes simultaneous provisions for the special election of the Office of Sheriff in conjunction with the statewide, multicounty, county and district offices primary election.
The resolution requests that Mayor Lenny Curry notify Gov. Ron DeSantis of the vacancy and, in accordance with the charter, asks DeSantis to appoint an acting sheriff to temporarily fill the vacancy until a new sheriff is elected and takes office immediately upon certification of the special election.
Under the city’s consolidated government charter: “If the sheriff should die, resign, or remove his residence from Duval County during his term of office, or be removed from office, the office of sheriff shall become vacant.”
Duval County property and court records show Michael S. and Jodi Williams sold their home at 2976 Marsh Elder Drive S. in Jacksonville on March 4, 2021, for $397,000. The couple listed an address in Fernandina Beach, in Nassau County, on the deed for sale.
Williams announced his retirement June 2 just hours ahead of the deadline for the city Office of General Counsel to issue an opinion regarding his residency status.
A draft opinion by General Counsel Jason Teal concluded that Williams vacated his office when he moved to Nassau County.
Teal prepared the opinion at the request of City Council President Sam Newby.
Newby told News4Jax.com that he withdrew his request for the opinion after Williams announced his retirement because it resolves the issue for now.
Williams contended that state law, which does not require a sheriff to live in the county where he holds office, supersedes the city charter.
In his June 2 letter addressed to the citizens of Jacksonville, Williams said he is resigning because a court battle over his residency “would not be good for the community.”
Williams joined the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in 1991 as a patrol officer. A Republican, he was elected sheriff in 2015 and re-elected in 2019.
The winning candidate in the special election would serve until 2023. That election already has numerous candidates.
With Williams limited to two consecutive term in office, six candidates already have filed for the ballot in the November 2023 election for sheriff: Democrats Lakesha Burton, Wayne Clark, Tony Cummings and Ken Jefferson; and Republicans Mathew Nemeth and Thomas “TK” Waters.