A.G. Gancarski
In a Jacksonville sheriff’s race where both sides have had plenty of dirty laundry from their personal lives aired in recent weeks, the latest is a lawsuit from 2002 that found Democrat Ken Jefferson to be in contempt of court for failure to pay child support.
FloridaPolitics.com has obtained a copy of the 2002 court order, which found Jefferson “refused to comply” with the order for child support and was in arrears for $22,000. To make up the amount, the circuit court required Jefferson to pay an extra $350 a month on the amount until it was paid in full.
The Jefferson campaign said the order was a result of the divorce. The original judge had ordered Jefferson to pay 75 percent of his salary, a sum he could not maintain. He also was trying to abide by the terms of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy from years before. Even though it was discharged, he continued to make payments rather than default on any part of the debt.
Jefferson, according to his campaign, satisfied the whole obligation, paying it in full, and even overpaying because the sum was not renegotiated even as the various children passed the age of maturity. Jefferson stuck with the terms of the court decree until the youngest of his four children turned 18.
Here’s the 2002 Jefferson contempt order.
