JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax has obtained transcripts of two key players named in the Attorney General’s lawsuit against the City of Jacksonville.
The two city officials tell two very different tales and proving which version of events is correct could be the difference maker in the first-of-its-kind case.
The City of Jacksonville is headed to court, after being sued by Florida’s Attorney General for $5 million for a policy that logged the information of more than 100 gun owners who entered city buildings while armed over a two-year period.
“Florida law prohibits government entities from keeping a registry of privately-owned firearms or their owners,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a video posted on social media announcing the lawsuit Tuesday.
The AG’s case hinges on the claim a high-ranking official within the mayor’s office, specifically then-Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Charles Moreland, reviewed and approved the logbook policy.
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“That’s kind of where, in a sense, where the rubber hits the road in a case like this,” said criminal defense attorney Chris Carson.
Carson explained there are still a lot of unknowns, as this is the first time the state’s gun registry ban has ever been enforced in this way.
“You just end up in a spot where there’s a whole lot of uncertainty because just nobody has been down the road before,” said Carson.
But already, Action News Jax is getting insight into challenges that likely lie ahead.
Transcripts of two interviews conducted during the State Attorney’s criminal investigation into the logbooks obtained by Action News Jax reveal two very different stories.
Facilities Manager Mike Soto told investigators he sent Moreland a copy of the logbook policy and later got verbal approval from Moreland to execute it in July of 2023.
Soto even testified Moreland gave specific instructions related to the approval during the conversation.
“He gave me guidance to execute everything except for limiting the amount of weapons that can come in,” Soto said in the interview.
But Moreland testified he was never able to open the file sent by Soto and had no recollection of discussing the logbook policy with him.
Moreland told investigators if he had known there was anything about keeping a list of gunowners in the policy, he would have had concerns and consulted city legal staff.
“There would have been a whole lot of conversations around anything that required a written document - a written gun registry,” Moreland explained to investigators.
Carson argued that conflicting testimony will likely make the Attorney General’s case difficult to prove.
But he noted, unlike criminal cases, civil cases do have lower evidentiary standards.
“If it’s a close call, person A says this, person B says this and person A is slightly more credible, in a civil case that could be all that it takes,” said Carsen.
Soto’s testimony also revealed possible red flags that may have been missed early on that suggested there could be legal issues with the registry policy.
Soto told investigators the security company contracted by the city told him they were “concerned about keeping certain logs”.
When Soto was asked when he first became aware the logbook policy could violate Florida law, he indicated that happened during a Homeland Security Assessment in September of 2023- two months after the logbook policy went into effect.
During that assessment, Soto said JSO asked him whether leadership “was aware of the practice”.
“And I told them that they were because in my — my perception was that they were because I
involved Dr. Moreland," Soto told investigators.
Carson argued that testimony could play a big role in the case.
“That may then open up some other questions regarding the structure and who knew what and when they knew it,” said Carson.
Despite the two apparent warning signs, the logbook policy stayed in effect until April 2025, when a citizen trying to enter a city building complained after being asked to give their information to security.
According to the mayor’s office, JSO’s concerns were “never communicated” with the administration.
At the conclusion of the State Attorney’s Office investigation, investigators determined the mayor, nor any senior officials within her administration, had any knowledge of, or part in crafting the logbook policy.
The Mayor’s Office has maintained the same and has characterized the Attorney General’s legal efforts as “politically motivated deflections that waste taxpayer dollars”.
Councilmember Matt Carlucci (R-Group 4 At-Large) noted that when the administration finally learned about the policy, it was immediately stopped.
He argued that after the State Attorney’s Office found no criminal wrongdoing, that should have been the end of it.
“I think the Attorney General should have respected her investigation and moved on to more important things,” said Carlucci.
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