ORLANDO, Fla. – As news broke Thursday about State Rep. Carolina Amesty’s indictment and arrest on forgery charges, questions immediately arose about whether the Windermere Republican would resign or be suspended from office.
Amesty’s charges stem from a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into documents from her family’s school, Central Christian University, submitted for licensing from the Florida Department of Education. An Orlando Sentinel probe into those documents accused Amesty of notarizing a forged employment form for a teacher who never taught at the school or, according to him, applied to teach there.
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Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain, an appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis, referred the case to a grand jury, which handed up the indictment on Thursday.
A statement from the Amesty campaign Thursday showed no intention of resigning or suspending her campaign:
“This prosecution, initiated just a few weeks prior to absentee ballots being dropped, is based on misleading reports from a partisan newspaper about a notarization of an employee verification background report, the truth of the contents which have not been questioned in any manner. Rep. Amesty calls for a speedy trial, looks forward to her day in court, and is confident of her public vindication.”
Amesty Campaign
And according to Florida law, she doesn’t have to.
Moreover, there’s no mechanism in Florida law for anyone else to suspend Amesty, unless she is convicted of a crime.
According to the Florida Constitution, Article III, which deals with the legislature:
Each house shall be the sole judge of the qualifications, elections, and returns of its members, and shall biennially choose its officers, including a permanent presiding officer selected from its membership, who shall be designated in the senate as President of the Senate, and in the house as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Florida Constitution, Article III, Sec. 2
This means Gov. Ron DeSantis has no standing to suspend Amesty. He has the power to suspend other public officials in state, county and local governments for crimes, or if he feels they have been incompetent.
But it falls to the Florida House to decide whether to suspend Amesty. Here’s what the chamber’s rules say:
15.10—Felony Indictment or Information of a Member
(a) If an indictment or information for a felony of any jurisdiction is filed against a member of the House, the member indicted or informed against may request the Speaker to excuse the member, without pay, from all privileges of membership of the House pending final adjudication.
(b) If the indictment or information is either nolle prosequied or dismissed, or if the member is found not guilty of all felonies, the member shall be paid all back pay and other benefits retroactive to the date the member was excused.
15.11—Felony Guilty Plea of a Member
A member who enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a felony of any jurisdiction may, at the discretion of the Speaker, be suspended immediately,
without a hearing and without pay, from all privileges of membership of the House through the remainder of that member’s term.
15.12—Felony Conviction of a Member
(a) A member convicted of a felony of any jurisdiction may, at the discretion of the Speaker, be suspended immediately, without a hearing and
without pay, from all privileges of membership of the House pending appellate action or the end of the member’s term, whichever occurs first.
Florida House of Representatives Rules
Therefore House leaders are not required to suspend Amesty, unless she requests it.
News 6 has left several messages with the Florida House’s media office to get more information on the rules and have not heard back.
House Speaker-designate Daniel Perez told Florida Politics.com Friday that the charges against Amesty were unrelated to her duties as a lawmaker.
The Florida Legislature is not in session right now. There is a September meeting for the Joint Legislative Budget Commission in September, which Amesty is not a member of. The are no other meetings in Tallahassee planned until after the Nov. 5 election when members would be sworn in.
Amesty, who represents House District 45, was first elected in 2022. She is running for reelection right now against former Disney executive Leonard Spencer.
The district includes the area of West Orange County along the State Road 429 corridor from State Road 50 to I-4, including Horizon West, Windermere, Winter Garden, and the western edge of Osceola County into Poinciana and Davenport.
Amesty intends to continue campaigning for reelection. Her political action committee, Friends of Carolina Amesty, has a fundraiser scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 4 with an appearance by Donald Trump Jr.
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