PUNTA GORDA, Fla.–The Broward School Board voted unanimously on Sept. 13 that four former members will have to pay their own legal bills for their defense against the State of Florida.
Ann Murray, Donna Korn, Patricia Good, and Laurie Rich Levinson were suspended from serving in their elected positions by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Aug. 26, following a grand jury recommendation citing “incompetence, neglect of duty, and misuse of authority.”
DeSantis took action after a statewide grand jury released a 122-page report accusing the school board members of a range of “inexcusable actions … and unacceptable behavior” related to the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. During the massacre, the shooter killed 17 people and wounded 17 others.
The current board unanimously voted that the four former members will be responsible for their own legal bills rendered after Aug. 26.
Chairman Torey Alston, recently appointed to the school board by DeSantis, requested the action after reports surfaced that Ann Murray and Donna Korn had accrued legal bills totaling more than $120,000 over 16 months.
“These Suspended Officers sought to expunge portions of the Grand Jury Report. The School Board provided payment for the legal representation in these actions,” according to the agenda item. “The School Board has the discretion to cease payment of legal services for the representation of the Suspended Officers.”
However, the school district will pay for the ousted members’ legal services prior to the suspension, said Marylin Batista, general counsel for the school board, during the meeting. State law requires legal coverage for school board members if the legal action is “related to their jobs,” she said.
But, Batista continued, the law doesn’t require coverage for “suspended board members.”
It was reported that Murray had billed the district $74,689; Korn’s lawyers had billed $45,391. Good’s bills were combined with services for a former district employee and totaled $4,141. Levinson has not submitted legal bills.
Korn and Murray fought to have negative information, including the call for their removal, expunged from the grand jury report. The report was concluded in April 2021, but it was not released until August, due to legal challenges by the suspended board members.
Murray’s attorney Peter Patanzo told board members at the meeting that he had asked for a delay of the grand jury’s report before Korn’s final appeal was rejected, citing that there were “problems with the grand jury process that needed to be resolved.”
He said that a statewide grand jury is “supposed to span multiple jurisdictions, but the report focused almost entirely on Broward.”
Grand juries are also supposed to “keep out the names of witnesses who are not indicted,” Patanzo said.
“This is going to set a precedent one way or another and they can’t have unlimited executive authority,” Patanzo told media outlets at a press conference on Sept. 10.
The grand jury report’s release resulted in appeals by the now suspended school board members, who fought to have it redacted or expunged.
A county judge rejected the requests.
The members then appealed to the 4th District Court of Appeals. That court denied their appeals twice.
They appealed to the state Supreme Court. Justices there declined to hear the case.
School board members would have to pay their own legal fees if they choose to appeal their suspension to the state Senate, which would make the final decision on their removal.
The terms of Murray, Korn, and Levinson are set to expire in November, making it unlikely that the Senate could hear their case before then. Good’s term is scheduled to expire in November 2024.
DeSantis said on Aug. 26 that he took the report’s recommendations and decided to act on his constitutional authority as governor.
“It is my duty to suspend people from office when there is clear evidence of incompetence, neglect of duty, misfeasance or malfeasance,” he said in a written statement. “We hope this suspension brings the Parkland community another step towards justice. This action is in the best interest of the residents and students of Broward County and all citizens of Florida.”
In announcing the suspensions, DeSantis said, “These are inexcusable actions by school board members who have shown a pattern of emboldening unacceptable behavior, including fraud and mismanagement, across the district.”
In 2019, the governor asked the Supreme Court to convene a grand jury to look into safety and security issues statewide in the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy.
The Epoch Times reached out to the board members for comment but they would not comment on the ongoing case.