In May, Administrative Law Judge G.W. Chisenhall heard the State Commission on Ethics case against Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill. The attorney for Underhill and the state yesterday submitted their recommended orders for the judge to consider.
Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Miller, the advocate for the ethics commission, asked that Judge Chisenhall that Underhill be removed from office for violating Florida Statutes sections 112.313(6), 122.313(8), 112.3148(3), 112.3148(4), and 112.3148(8).
Mark Herron, Underhill’s attorney, recommended his client “be subject to a public censure and reprimand” for violating sections 112.31348(4) and 112.3148(8).
The attorneys disagreed on whether the state proved Underhill:
- violated Section 112.313(6) or Section 112.313(8) with respect to the release of “shade meeting” transcripts;
- violated Section 112.3148(3) by soliciting a gift from a lobbyist or the principal of a lobbyist;
- violated Section 112.3148(8) by failing to file a Form 9 “Quarterly Gift Disclosure” disclosing a gift of legal services having a value in excess of $100 from the Clark Partington law firm; and
- violated Section 112.3148(8) by failing to file a Form 9 “Quarterly Gift Disclosure” disclosing travel expenses and shipping costs having a value in excess of $100 from the Pensacola Sports Authority.
Herron agreed that the commissioner violated Section 112.3148(4) by accepting a gift having a value in excess of $100 from the principal of a lobbyist, and he failed to timely file Form 9 “Quarterly Gift Disclosures” and/or to disclose a gift to his legal defense fund from Richard Andres.
He listed as reasons why Underhill show be given a less severe penalty:
- Underhill included the donation from Mr. Hemmer to his legal defense fund on his Form 9 disclosure for the quarter ending December 2019.
- Also, the evidence indicated that Underhill’s failure to include the donation from Mr. Hemmer to his legal defense fund on his Form 9 disclosure resulted from an error in transposing the information from his records to the Form 9 attachment.
Judge Chisenhall has 30 days to render his final order.
