NEWS RELEASE                                             

For Immediate Release
April 8, 2008
Contact: Michele Nicholson
Public Information Officer
  (850) 651-7420

ADDITIONAL REWARD AVAILABLE FOR ANNEX BOMB THREAT ARREST AND CONVICTION

     Investigators working to solve a recent rash of false bomb threats in Okaloosa County want the public to be aware of a state reward. By state law, a $5,000 reward is available for information given to a law enforcement agency which leads to the arrest and conviction of a person who makes a false bomb report against a property “OWNED BY THE STATE OF FLORIDA OR ONE OF ITS POLITICAL SUBDIVISONS.”   The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office documented false bomb threats to the Shalimar Courthouse Annex on both February 14th and March 14th, 2008.

     Under Section 790.164 Florida Statutes, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement can give one reward only per case “involving a governmental facility”, regardless of how many defendants are convicted and how many persons claim the reward.

     The first step in claiming the reward from the FDLE is to secure a law enforcement endorsement from the arresting agency and a prosecutor’s endorsement from the prosecuting office. The FDLE has samples of forms that can be used for these endorsements. The applicant then petitions the circuit court in which the conviction occurred. When a final order’s obtained, the paperwork should be forwarded to FDLE for processing.

      In addition, Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris is already offering a reward of up to $4,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in connection with numerous bomb threats made in the county, including those at the Shalimar Courthouse Annex.

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