BY JENNIFER CABRERA

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 24-105 on June 4, assigning an existing Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigation into the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office to the 3rd Judicial Circuit because 8th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Brian Kramer declared a conflict of interest in the case.

The Executive Order requests that 3rd Judicial Circuit State Attorney John Durrett send one or more Assistant State Attorneys and Investigators to the 8th Judicial Circuit for one year to investigate and prosecute the case.

According to the Executive Order, Kramer advised the Governor that he has a conflict of interest because he has endorsed Sheriff Emery Gainey in the upcoming election.

“A number” of subpoenas were issued to ASO employees on April 13, 2023, but the target of the investigation is unknown. Sheriff Gainey was appointed on September 7, 2023, after Sheriff Clovis Watson, Jr., resigned on August 1 for health reasons.

FDLE Public Information Officer Dana Kelly told Alachua Chronicle that the investigation was initiated before Sheriff Gainey was appointed.

Kramer also confirmed that the existing investigation, which was initiated some time before the subpoenas were issued in April 2023, is the one he withdrew from.

Gainey told Alachua Chronicle, “We were made aware today, for the first time, that the case the State Attorney and FDLE have been investigating since 2023 was transferred to the 3rd Judicial Circuit. The investigation involves the former administration under former Sheriff Watson and has nothing to do with my administration.”