Jacksonville, FL — The Florida Commission on Ethics has found probable cause to believe Jacksonville Democratic State Representative Kimberly Daniels filed inaccurate financial disclosures.
Daniels was serving as a Jacksonville City Councilwoman in 2012, 2013, and 2014, when these violations are alleged to have occurred. The Commission issued its finding of probable cause over inaccurate “Form 6- Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests” for those years.
The Advocate’s Recommendation says Daniels’ forms do not claim any time-share or real property assets, or mortgage liabilities, and that Daniels said she didn’t have any assets or liabilities in her name during that time frame- she lived in a parsonage at the church where she’s a pastor and uses her sister’s car. Also during those years, Daniels served as the Founder and President of Spoken Word Ministries, as well as the Owner and President of Kimberly Daniels Ministries International, Inc. There were several properties found registered under Daniels or the two organizations she is involved in running.
Daniels says the church pays the mortgage on one of the properties, although as a guarantor, she would be required to pay if the church did not. The Advocate says that could be considered a “contingent liability”, which would not be required to be disclosed, although the matter should be further investigated. Per Daniels’ divorce agreements- as additionally outlined in the Advocate’s Recommendation- the sale of at least one property owned by Spoken Word will have proceeds split between Daniels and her now-former husband. The Advocate notes that as “interesting”, but says it still appears the property would not have meet criteria for disclosure.
The church additionally pays premiums on a one million dollar life insurance policy for Daniels, which she disclosed as an asset during the time frame in question. The Advocate says listing this as a personal asset is “questionable” because of the church’s ownership of the policy.
Among the items the Advocate says it appears should have been disclosed is Daniels’ share in a home equity loan on a property in her name. There are also several time-shares which Daniels says the church pays the bills for. Despite that, the Advocate found the property to be in the names of Daniels and her now-former husband, and therefore should have been disclosed assets, with an affiliated maintenance debt disclosed as a liability.
The Commission says a finding of probable cause is not a determination that the violation occurred. Rather, Daniels can choose to reach a stipulation- or settlement- with the Commission Advocate or can request a full evidentiary hearing in front of an administration judge.
Daniels is already separately facing a finding of probable cause from the Florida Elections Commission for three alleged violations. The FEC found Daniels may have used campaign funds on personal expenses, deliberately failed to include information on at least one campaign report, and made or authorized a payment prohibited by Florida statute. Among the claims, Daniels is accused of using campaign finances to pay for an ad in a magazine that was an advertisement for her book "Demon Dictionary", and not a political ad.
The allegations being examined by the FEC stem from when Daniels was running for re-election to City Council in 2015.
This is a developing story that will be updated in to the evening.
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