Crestview News Bulletin by Tom McLaughin
March 27, 2018
First Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Eddins announced Monday morning that Kelley had been charged with a noncriminal violation of the law, which governs the release of public records and the conduct of open meetings in Florida.
A fine of $500 would constitute the maximum penalty under state law for a noncriminal Sunshine Law offense, said Greg Marcille, the chief deputy assistant state attorney in Eddins’ office.
The charges stem from the Oct. 18, 2017 release of a document considered “confidential and exempt” from public scrutiny to a television reporter, a news release from the State Attorney’s Office said.
The complaint alleged Smith had committed serious breaches of school district policy and violated state statutes in performance of her duties.
Smith has since been arrested and charged with failing to report suspected child abuse in the 2016 case involving Noah Perillo, a Kenwood Elementary School pre-K student at the center of an investigation that currently has seen four former or current school district employees arrested and awaiting trial.
By filing the charge against Kelley, Eddins complied with the recommendation of a grand jury empanelled to investigate several aspects of Okaloosa County’s troubled school district. He had stated his intention to charge Kelley on March 15, the day the grand jury presentment was made public. [READ MORE]