Judge in Escambia County v. Pam Childers legal dispute wants additional legal arguments
The judge in the lawsuit between the Escambia County Commission and Escambia County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Pam Childers wants more information before making a crucial ruling in the case.
Okaloosa County Circuit Court Judge William Stone ordered both sides on Wednesday to submit additional legal briefs on two issues raised in the ongoing court battle.
At the beginning of 2022, Childers refused to authorize payments to three county commissioners' retirement accounts, arguing the contributions constituted an illegal pay raise for commissioners.
Escambia County sued to force Childers to authorize the payments arguing the retirement program was authorized under a Florida law passed in the late 1990s and that Childers lack the authority to block the payments.
What's the current state of the lawsuit?
Childers sought the judge in the case to issue a ruling on what is considered compensation and issue a ruling on the 1990's law at the center of the case.
In his Wednesday order, Stone said he wants clarification about references in the previous legal filings to a 57% match of a salary.
In Childers' last filing, her attorneys wrote, "There can be no doubt that receiving more than $50,000 a year of public funds, a 57 percent match to your salary, into your private self-directed retirement account."
The sentence is in reference to the fact that if the county continued to make contributions as it had before Childers blocked the payments, the county would be making a 57% contribution rate into the three county commissioners' private annuity funds enrolled in the retirement program.
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Escambia County Commissioners' pay set by the state is $92,738, with a 57% contribution rate, equating to an additional $52,860 deposited into their retirement accounts.
Stone also wants further arguments on how Florida law defines compensation and salary. Stone noted that one law makes supplemental compensation illegal to elected officials, while the law that created the Florida Retirement System says that retirement contributions are not considered supplemental compensation under the law.
Stone said he doesn't find it "reasonable" the legislature would've created the authorization for the retirement programs while also making contributions to them illegal, but asked for additional legal arguments on the issue.
Stone gave both sides until March 31 to file their new legal arguments.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia County v. Pam Childers: Judge wants more information
