FORT WALTON BEACH — The superintendent of Okaloosa County Schools has decided to retain and pay for her own legal counsel.
Mary Beth Jackson said she will pay the $2,500 retainer for Meyer, Brooks, Demma and Blohm and the fees incurred anytime she uses its services.
Jackson told the Daily News Friday morning she decided to hire the law firm so she could stay inside the law if she and the board ever take differing views.
Initially, Jackson said she was going to ask the Okaloosa County School Board to pay the retainer with district funding.
“I decided last Friday morning not to proceed with my legal questions at public expense, but to handle it at my own expense,” Jackson wrote in a Monday morning email to the Daily News.
The issue was not mentioned at Monday evening’s School Board meeting.
It’s not the first time Jackson has worked with the Tallahassee firm.
Back in March 2011, when she was running for office, she paid a $2,500 retainer to it with her campaign dollars, according to her campaign finance report.
The report also showed she spent an additional $378.83 and $566.33 for legal services in April 2012.
The firm has also represented the Florida Education Association and the Okaloosa County Education Association.
The local union has a current retainer with the firm, according to Greg Butler, the executive director of OCEA.
Jackson is not the first superintendent in Okaloosa County to retain counsel.
In recent history, former superintendent Don Gaetz also paid for his own attorney, said School Board chairman Rodney Walker, who is in his fifth term.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.