By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

The man mistakenly outed as the person behind a Facebook account that was trolling county commissioner Mike Kemp and Wakulla Citizens Page administrator Becky Whaley has filed a federal lawsuit against Kemp and Whaley claiming infliction of emotional pain and suffering, and retaliation – and against Wakulla County for negligence – seeking unspecified damages.

The man, Craig Rawlings, and his wife, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on April 3. They are represented by Tallahasee attorney Marie Mattox.
(The Rawlings sought victim protection under Marsy’s Law for the criminal case, and The Sun had previously not named them.)
While the case was filed almost a month ago, it appears none of the parties named had been served and were unaware of the lawsuit .
The civil lawsuit closely follows the allegations laid out in the criminal case: that Whaley was upset with being trolled by a person hiding behind a Facebook account known as “Thunder Lightening” (sic), as were Kemp and fellow commissioner Ralph Thomas. When Thunder Lightening posted about filing a complaint for dangerous driving by someone in a white box truck, Kemp – a retired deputy with the sheriff’s office – asked his friend Deputy Don Newsome for information about the incident. Unfortunately, there had been more than one incident involving a white box truck, and Newsome came back with the name “Craig Rawlings” as the complainant. Thomas had looked up the voter registration for Rawlings on WebElect, an application for Republican candidates to research voters, and provided the information to Kemp and Whaley. At one point, Whaley texted Kemp for the information on Thunder Lightening because “I’m about to bust him out.” He sent her the voter info and she posted it on Wakulla Citizens.
The next day, Rawlings’ wife contacted Whaley to ask why she had done that and requested she take it down.
Eventually, she did.
Kemp had been using the Rawlings name for weeks prior to that in responding to Thunder Lightening.
The Rawlings went to the sheriff’s office to complain. When the initial investigation was closed without charges, Rawlings went back with a new statute that outlawed using public records to harass, and the investigation was re-opened.
As Kemp was engaged in a re-election campaign, State Attorney Jack Campbell held off on charges until after the election and then Kemp and Whaley were charged with harassment, and Newsome was charged with improper access to the sheriff’s computer system.
Both Whaley and Newsome have entered into Deferred Prosecution Agreements to resolve their criminal cases, which would mean the charges would be dropped after a period of time.
The civil lawsuit mirrors the allegations of the criminal case, claiming that the Rawlings suffered from unwanted online attention, and claiming they suffered emotionally from the events.
While not named as a defendant, Commissioner Thomas draws attention in the complaint for his actions in researching who might be behind the Thunder Lightening account, eventually determining it was not Rawlings but a man named Lonnie Walton.
Wakulla County is named as a defendant because of the actions of Kemp and Thomas.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Wakulla Transportation will continue to provide ride services for local residents after Big Bend Transit withdrew its proposal.
Apalachee Regional Planning Council sent out an email on Thursday, April 16, alerting Wakulla Senior Citizens Director Lara Edwards, whose agency operates Wakulla Transportation, that Big Bend Transit had withdrawn and that ARPC would recommend Wakulla Transportation be awarded the contract.

Big Bend Transit issued a statement explaining its reasons for withdrawing its bid: “We value the public input shared during the recent (Commission for Transportation Disadvantaged) meeting and, most importantly, we respect the voices of Wakulla County residents who expressed a preference to maintain their current tranportation provider.
“While we firmly believe that Big Bend Transit could bring meaningful enhancements and expanded mobility options to the community, we also recognize that successful public transportation services must align with the comfort and confidence of the people they serve.
“With that in mind, Big Bend Transit has made the decision to respectfully withdraw from consideration.”
Senior Citizens Director Lara Edwards issued a statement on her reaction to the news: “The past few weeks have definitely been a roller coaster of stress and emotion – for our staff, for the seniors, and myself,” Edwards said in a statement. ”Nothing is guaranteed when it comes to grants and funding and Wakulla Senior Center and Wakulla Transportation depend heavily on both. Maintaining this coordinator designation and the funding that comes with it is vital to our operations and transportation. The driving force behind the protest was our seniors. They stayed the course, spread the word, and fought for a service that is vital to them, knows them, and knows Wakulla.
“I thank all of our seniors all of our riders and all of the staff that hung in there despite the uncertainty. We look forward to continue to provide an amazing transportation service and to continue working with ARPC and the Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged in the future,” Edwards said.
Senior Center Board Chair John Shuff also issued a statement that read: “I want to thank Apalachee Regional Planning Council, for digging into the details of the proposals that were provided for operating Wakulla’s transportation system, then reversing course, and deciding to recommend awarding the 5 year grant. I think Big Bend Transit could read the handwriting on the wall when they decided to pull out.
“We have struggled hard for the last couple years developing a system that works for our citizens and, just this last year, began to work within our budget at the Senior Center,” Shuff wrote. “We will take these next five years, if we are awarded the grant by the State Commission for Transportation Disadvantaged, as a challenge to make further improvements to our transportation system that continues to work for our citizens in need, and stays within our budget. One of the main points not discussed during all this is the fact that operating this system also allows us to pick many of our seniors up in the mornings and carry them to the Center so they can meet with their friends.
“Thanks goes out to all that helped us get to where we are in this process,” Shuff said in his statement, “but special thanks goes out to Ralph Thomas, Chris Russell, Donna Savary and Sean Gellis. These folks are not board members, but they showed up and spoke at the critical meetings that won the day because they care about our community.”
Shuff’s statement ended with a sales pitch to the community: “You have a great Transportation system use it! We increased ridership 20% last year and would like to hit that goal again this year- the number is 850-926-7145 or the Website is: Wakullaseniorcenter.com.”

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Dale Evans, a former high-ranking member of Sheriff Jared Miller’s command staff, filed a federal lawsuit last week claiming he was fired in 2025 as an act of retaliation for bringing up issues related to the sheriff’s office.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee on Thursday, April 16, by Evans’ attorney, Marie Mattox.

The 23-page complaint notes that Evans also disclosed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and said he was discriminated against by the sheriff.
Capt. Brett Surace, the public information officer for the department, said it appeared that the case had yet to be served and that the agency would have no comment until it could review the allegations.
At the time he was dismissed, Evans was a major over road patrol.
Evans was submitting a series of complaints to the sheriff’s office alleging improper behavior by Sheriff Miller and other command staff. One memo, about Col. Herman “Chuck” Whaley, commander of Criminal Investigations, drew a charge of insurbordination against Evans and his subsequent dismissal.
Last year, in response to the memos, Sheriff Miller told The Sun in an emotional interview that he and Evans had been friends for decades, and he was disturbed by the change in Evans’ behavior.
In the lawsuit, Evans accuses Sheriff Miller of sexually harassing female members of the staff, and be verbally abusive to other staff.
In February 2023, Evans filed a formal written complaint claiming a hostile work environment and retaliation.
The lawsuit states that Evans believes the internal affairs investigation for the alleged insubordination was “pretextual and retaliatory, designed not to address legitimate workplace issues but instead to punish (Evans) for reporting wrongdoing and engaging in protected activity related to discrimination in the workplace and retaliation.”

Law enforcement officers and special olympians made the almost 2 mile run from the sheriff’s office to the courthouse on Wednesday as part of the annual Torch Run for Special Olympics. Sheriff Jared Miller noted the runs throughout the state has raised millions of dollars for Special Olympics over the years. (Photos by William Snowden)

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Circuit Judge Ron Flury recused himself from presiding over the felony case of former County Commissioner Mike Kemp, who faces charges of using a public record to harass and tampering with a witness, both felonies.
While Judge Flury offered no explanation for removing himself from the case, it came two days after Kemp’s attorney, Stephen Webster, filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that there was no attempt to harass or threaten the alleged victim.

It appears possible that Judge Flury may have some connection to one of the criminal cases cited in the motion. Before he was on the bench, Flury was a prosecutor for the state attorney’s office and at one time was chief prosecutor in Wakulla.
The charges stem from efforts by Kemp and Becky Whaley, formerly the administrator of the Wakulla Citizens Page on Facebook, to unmask an internet troll going by the name “Thunder Lightening” (sic). Using some voter registration information obtained from County Commissioner Ralph Thomas, Kemp and Whaley believed they had uncovered the true identity, and Whaley put it out on Facebook. It was, however, not the right person – and the victim and his wife strenuously objected to the publicity.
According to the criminal investigation and depositions, Kemp sought to apologize to the victim, but his overtures were taken by the victim as continued harassment. The motion to dismiss argues there is no proof that Kemp’s behavior was intended to influence, intimidate or impede a witness – and the absence of such effect or intent undermines the charge.
The Kemp case had been set for trial under Wakulla Circuit Judge Layne Smith, but he re-cused himself after growing frustrated with attorneys Webster and David Kemp (no relation) in an unrelated case and making some intemperate remarks. Judge Flury, who has been assigned cases in Gadsden County, was given the case.
There has yet to be a new judge assigned to Kemp’s case.
Co-defendant Becky Whaley accepted a deferred prosecution agreement last year in which the criminal charges will be dropped if she stays out of trouble for a period of time.
Another defendant in the case was Wakulla Deputy Don Newsome, who was contacted by Kemp and provided information to help Kemp’s efforts to determine the identity of Thunder Lightening, was charged with improper access of information. He too accepted a deferred prosecution to drop the charges.
Newsome is still on suspension with the sheriff’s office as an internal investigation is ongoing.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Dozens of seniors from the Wakulla Senior Center loaded up on buses last week and traveled to Tallahassee to appear at the meeting of the state Commission for Transportation Disadvantaged – urging them to reject a recommendation that Big Bend Transit replace Wakulla Transportation in providing transportation services.

At that meeting on Wednesday, April 8, members of the commission expressed concern about the bid process and voted not to award the bid to Big Bend Transit.
The matter was to go back to the Apalachee Regional Planning Council, which judged the two bids, and come back before the commission for its June meeting.
“An error has been made and you have the chance to correct it,” attorney Sean Gellis, representing the senior center and Wakulla Transportation, told the commission. He raised several issues with the bid process and procedures – the three judges didn’t sign their scoresheets, points were awarded to Big Bend Transit for items not submitted such as an audit, nor did BBT submit names and resumes for managers.
While the Wakulla Senior Center Board and executive director were aware of the problems and initially sought to file a protest, the decision was ultimately made not to protest the bid citing the requirement to file a $13,000 bond.
It’s not clear what the ARPC will do.
Wakulla Transportation is hopeful that problems with the bids will lead the ARPC to throw out the bids and have a re-do.
CTD Chair Monica Russell expressed concern that the local board voted 4-3 to reject Big Bend Transit’s bid. The local board’s recommendation is purely advisory, not binding, but Russell was conerned about the lack of local support. She also expressed concern that there was no cost comparision between Big Bend Transit and Wakulla Transportation.
CTD Member Krysta Carter said, based on comments, she was concerned that how the bids were actually scored could have been outside requirements of Florida statutes.
The commission’s legal counsel noted that statute 427 which outlines their responsibility in awarding community transportation contracts said the commission “approves” the awards, which led to a convoluted procedure in which the chair made a motion to approve the award to Big Bend Transit and members voted to reject it.
Senior Center Chairman John Shuff noted Wakulla Transportation got a perfect score from ARPC for its service, and that ridership was up 20% over last year.
Lara Edwards, the senior center’s executive director, noted that ridership was up 100% over the past 5 years, and that Wakulla Transportation had been providing the ride service to the community for 35 years. She also had petitions to keep Wakulla Transportation signed by 642 people, representing 98% of riders.
Several Wakulla seniors were at the meeting and told the commissioners how important Wakulla Transportation and the senior center are to them, and how much the drivers care for riders.
The commission voted to approve contracts for Calhoun County, and Franklin and Gulf counties, all of which had only one bidder.
The Wakulla County process was the only county with more than one bid.
Big Bend Transit’s manager Shawn Mitchell disputed some comments by some speakers, saying the company provides much the same service – out-of-town trips, scheduling rides, etc.
Mitchell said Big Bend Transit is looking for a location in Wakulla and intends to expand services, building on what Wakulla Transportation has done.
Depending on what happens next, Big Bend Transit could take over the ride service as of July 1.

Republican Gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner made his first stop to a rural county on his afforability tour, stopping by the old Wakulla County courthouse on Monday, April 13, for a roundtable.

Some Wakulla elected officials were on hand to hear Renner’s opinions, including county commissioners Valerie Russell and Ralph Thomas, at left, also joined by Molly Jones BoWell and Kyle Jones. Other elected officals who met with Renner included county commissioners Josh Lawhon and Quincee Messersmith, Clerk of Courts Greg James, Tax Collector Lisa Craze, and Supervisor of Elections Joe Morgan.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Jeffrey Duggar, once a popular teacher at Wakulla High School who was later imprisoned for aggravated child abuse after a 15-month-old he took in was killed, was arrested in February for breaking out windows at Zion Hill Church.
Duggar was arrested on Feb. 23 after sheriff’s deputies were called about a man breaking out windows at the church.

A neighbor heard noise and saw a man with a “large metal object” in his hands at the church and photographed him.
Deputies followed footprints from the church to a house on Whiddon Lake Road where Duggar was seen with a bloody face, “acting delusional.”
Duggar reportedly admitted to deputies that he was breaking windows at the church. It was estimated to cost $30,000 to repair the damage.
Duggar faced a first degree murder charge after the death of a boy in 2007. A jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of aggravated child abuse at a trial in 2009 and he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.
The judge who presided over the case, Circuit Judge William Gary, noted at the sentencing that he had never seen such an outpouring of support from a community as had come out in support of Duggar.
Duggar had taken in the child from a mother who couldn’t care for him.
Judge Gary called the case a tragedy as Duggar had been the child’s best hope out of a life of poverty.
Jack Campbell, who was chief prosecutor in Wakulla at the time and prosecuted the case, claimed Duggar had beaten the child and put him in a coma.
Duggar was released from prison in 2013.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Four Wakulla softball players signed college scholarships at a ceremony at the high school on Tuesday, March 31.

• Abbigail Lawhon – Southeastern University
• Allison Stephens – Gulf Coast State College
• Brianna Stephens – Gulf Coast State College
• Makenzie Marlow – St. Johns River State College
  (A fifth player who intended to sign at the ceremony was sick and unable to attend: Aislin Hunter is a commit to Florida Southwestern State College.)
  Head Coach Sally Wheeler praised the players who, as freshmen, played on the team that went to the state championship.
  “Their work ethic is even greater than their talent,” Wheeler said.
  All of the players thanked their families for their support, and praised their fellow teammates.
  Superintendent of Schools Rick Myhre spoke briefly, saying of the girls that they were evidence that this generation are good kids. “Look at these girls,” he said. “The future is bright.”
  The signing was held in the new CTE building at the high school and was packed with friends and family.

Senior citizens holding ‘We support Wakulla Transportation’ signs held a protest on Tuesday, March 31 against plans by the Transportation Disadvantaged Board to strip the Wakulla County Senior Center of its role providing transportation to local residents, a service it’s provided for 35 years.

At this point, starting in June, transportation service for Wakulla is to be taken over by Big Bend Transit. A final vote is set for Wednesday, April 8, at the state Department of Transportation office in Tallahassee – and seniors are planning to pack the buses, gather up their petitions opposing the change, and head to Tallahassee to make their voices heard.