Governor DeSantis immediately
suspends Reams from office

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on Wednesday, Sept. 20, arrested Clerk of Court Kirk Reams and two alleged accomplices on theft-related charges.
Reams, along with his financial consultant and director of finance, Warren “Charles” Culp, Jr., and Justin “Tyler” McNeill, a former deputy clerk in the clerk’s office and director of human resources, were each charged with fraud and theft-related crimes, according to the FDLE.
Reams, 46, was arrested on one felony count each for scheme to defraud over $50,000, and grand theft over $100,000, according to the charging document.
Culp Jr., 52, of Tallahassee, was arrested on one felony count for scheme to defraud over $50,000; two felony counts for grand theft over $100,000; six felony counts for grand theft over $20,000, but less than $100,000; and one felony count for grand theft more than $750, but less than $5,000.
Culp formerly held a State of Florida position where he was involved in the auditing of the clerk of court office, including court budgets, according to the FDLE press release. Culp eventually became finance director for the clerk’s office.
McNeill, 40, of Monticello, was charged with one felony count each for scheme to defraud over $50,000, and grand theft over $100,000.
McNeill left the clerk of court office in October 2021 when he was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to serve the remainder of former Elections Supervisor Marty Bishop’s term after the latter resigned. McNeill chose not to seek election when his appointed term ended in 2022.
FDLE’s Office of Executive Investigations inspectors initiated the criminal investigation almost two years ago, in October 2021, after receiving reports from the Jefferson County Commission of alleged criminal misconduct related to the clerk’s office.
Triggering the commission’s action was the discovery of two $5,000 checks written by Reams as contributions, one to the Jefferson County Republican Party for the group’s annual Lincoln dinner, and the second to Ducks Unlimited, Inc., a wetlands and conservation group reportedly led by a former elected state official. State law prohibits using public funds for partisan political purposes.
The checks incident led the Jefferson County Commission to authorize a forensic audit of the clerk’s office that cited multiple instances of inappropriate uses of public funds, which findings the commission forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office for investigation.
“The criminal allegations against Reams included reports that he was spending county money on advertising and sponsorships and misusing the county purchasing card (P-Card) to pay for non-office related travel expenses,” stated the FDLE press release.
The complaint also alleged that Reams and Culp fraudulently misappropriated funds from the Jefferson County Commission’s bank account, and that Reams used his position to establish a contract kickback scheme by which he, Culp and McNeill plotted illegally to enrich themselves, according to the FDLE.
“Through the varying schemes, Reams, Culp, and McNeill defrauded Jefferson County of over $800,000 in public funds,” the FDLE press release stated.
Reams was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Wednesday afternoon, as was Culp in the Leon County Jail. McNeill turned himself into the local jail later on the same day.
The Office of the State Attorney, Second Judicial Circuit, will prosecute the case, the FDLE release stated.
For Reams, this is the second time in six years that he has been investigated and arrested by the FDLE for alleged misdeeds.
In October 2017, the agency arrested Reams following an investigation into a nude photo shoot at the courthouse that involved his then girlfriend and a loosely related charge of petty theft.
The FDLE investigators ultimately determined that the photos, taken after working hours in the courthouse in 2013, did not constitute a crime per state law.
The investigation, however, revealed that Reams had given his then girlfriend a county-owned laptop that she had used in her hair salon business, resulting in a charge of first-degree misdemeanor against Reams.
He was tried on the misdemeanor charge in October 2018 and exonerated by a six-member local jury, which found him not guilty.
Reams, who had been suspended from office since his 2017 arrest, next successfully sued Gov. Rick Scott and Senate President Joe Negron for reinstatement to his office.
He then successfully sued the Jefferson County Commission for back pay during his year’s suspension and also got the county to pay his attorney’s fees.
Hours after Wednesday’s arrests, the governor suspended Reams from office for a second time.
"It is in the best interests of the residents of Jefferson County, and the citizens of the State of Florida, that Kirk B. Reams be immediately suspended from public office," DeSantis wrote in the executive order.
First elected clerk of court in 2006, Reams has served 16 years in the office, not counting the prior one-year suspension.