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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