The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting a preliminary inquiry into allegations that County Administrator John Titkanich – after consulting with County Attorney Jennifer Shuler – gave himself an unauthorized pay raise in May.

The inquiry will determine whether the agency has uncovered enough evidence to launch a criminal investigation.

County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Ryan Butler confirmed last week that the FDLE had received the report that his internal audit chief initially shared with the State Attorney’s Office here.

Local prosecutors forwarded the report to the FDLE, Butler said, to avoid a potential conflict of interest with the Sheriff’s Office, which is currently engaged in what has been a contentious budget battle with Titkanich and the County Commission.

“Given the circumstances, it didn’t make sense to get the Sheriff’s Office involved,” Butler said. “The FDLE has a special unit that handles these kinds of cases.”

Butler, a former prosecutor, was referring to the FDLE’s Office of Executive Investigations, which, according to the agency’s website, “conducts complex investigation into allegations of criminal activity by public officials.”

He said he didn’t know how long it would take for the FDLE to complete its review.

In the meantime, Butler said the pay raise Titkanich had received between June 6 and Aug. 15 has been suspended, pending approval by the commission, which appears to be divided on whether the administrator is entitled to an annual increase.

Shuler, who in a May 21 email to Titkanich wrote that she believed they both were eligible for annual raises, placed the matter on the agenda for this past Tuesday’s commission meeting – one week before the one-year anniversary of the day she began working for the county.

Her agenda item, in fact, included recommended language for amending their contracts to provide for such raises.

However, Commission Chairman Joe Flescher said last weekend he expected the item to be removed from the agenda to accommodate the FDLE’s inquiry.

“I don’t believe we should be discussing this particular issue at this juncture, during an ongoing law-enforcement review,” Flescher said. “It’s not the appropriate time, and I believe the item should be removed.

“Whatever the outcome of the inquiry – and whether it does, in fact, become an investigation – that is when this matter should be addressed, and not beforehand,” he added. “To decide on either of these items before we hear back from the FDLE would be premature.

“The commission should not obstruct any law-enforcement investigation.”

Vice Chairman Dery Loar, who served three terms as sheriff here before retiring from law enforcement in 2021 and successfully running for a commission seat in 2022, agreed with Flescher’s assessment.

“This is not the best time to have a discussion about amending contracts, so the item probably needs to be pulled,” Loar said. “And I think it will be.”

Would the FDLE abandon its inquiry if the commission votes to amend the contracts of the administrator and attorney and approve their pay raises?

Butler believes it’s possible.

“It’s hard to say what the FDLE would think of that, if the commission says the raises were always meant to be in the contract,” he said. “If a governing board says it agrees with the county administrator and county attorney, it would probably have some impact.”

Florida law includes a “Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees,” which makes it illegal for a public employee to “corruptly use or attempt to use his or her official position” to secure a special privilege, benefit or exemption for themselves or others.

Supervisors ordering a subordinate to take unapproved action to obtain an improper benefit may be charged with misuse of public position, if there is corrupt intent.

“I don’t think it’s going anywhere,” Loar said, “but it might.”

Titkanich declined to comment beyond his previous remarks, in which he denied that he “unilaterally” gave himself a pay raise, adding that he consulted with legal counsel and had discusses the matter individually with each of the five commission members.

He also said he would have “happily” put the raise on the commissioners’ agenda if any of them had raised a concern about it and that it was “disingenuous to imply” he was not forthright.

In a statement sent last week through County Communications Manager Kathy Copeland, Shuler wrote: “I prefer to provide my comments from the dais to all commissioners at one time. They are my clients, and I believe this issue should be addressed directly with them in the sunshine.”

Titkanich’s raise was discovered last month by Comptroller’s Office Internal Audit Director Edward Halsey, who filed a 32-page report challenging the justification for the salary increase and questioning the process the administrator followed to obtain it.

While the report stopped short of accusing Titkanich of any ill-intent, Halsey wrote that the manner by which the pay increase was approved represented a “breakdown in internal control procedures.”

The salary increase the administrator was seeking should have been brought to the commission, the report’s “Conclusions and Recommendations” stated, prompting Butler to add, “There’s a huge problem with this.”

Halsey recommended the matter be put on the agenda for Tuesday’s commission meeting.

Loar said he took some comfort in know that the county’s system of checks and balances resulted in an “independent, competent and thorough investigation” that brought Titkanich’s raise to light.

“This is the way the county government is supposed to work,” he said.