Investigators have seized former House Speaker Ray Sansom’s legislative computer in their attempt to prove that the Destin Republican illegally hid money in the state budget to build a benefactor an airplane hangar, Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs said Tuesday.

Meggs shrugged when asked when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would finish a forensic exam.

“Since the legislature is building airport hangars instead of funding FDLE, they’re a little behind,” Meggs said.

Sansom was indicted in April after a grand jury agreed that he had disguised a hangar as a $6 million college building in the budget. That item also led to indictments of former Northwest Florida State College President Bob Richburg and Destin Jet owner Jay Odom, who has given millions to Sansom and the state GOP.

Sansom has maintained his innocence. He resigned as speaker but remains a powerful member of the House leadership.

Meggs seized the computer in search of documents not already revealed by public records requests. State legislators are not bound by the same strict “sunshine” laws they impose on other officials. For example, House members don’t have to hand over emails older than 30 days.

But even that time frame does not guarantee records. The Palm Beach Post requested all of Sansom’s e-mails within one 30-day period, but the records showed an 11-day gap for which no e-mails were provided.

Public records and access has remained an ongoing issue in Sansom’s indictment. Some of the grand jury’s most penetrating remarks were saved for the state budget process. Jurors criticized the legislature for allowing the state’s operating document to be crafted by as few as two legislators behind closed doors.

Despite that criticism, Republican leaders in the House and Senate spent 10 days behind closed doors this spring hashing out details of the state’s $66.5 billion budget.

Attorneys for both Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul have determined that documents created in those legislative meetings are not public record, spokeswomen for the two Republicans have told the Post.

Sansom, who remains in House Republican leadership, is facing five years in prison since he was indicted in April for a single line item in the state’s $65 billion budget. A grand jury has accused Sansom of official misconduct for his role in allegedly spending $6 million in state money for a Northwest Florida State College building that was actually an airport hanger for his political benefactor.

Sansom has maintained his innocence. He resigned the speaker’s office in February after ethics complaints mounted and a grand jury was formed to investigate Sansom’s work as budget chairman. Sansom remains chairman of the House Policy Council.

Tags: emails, indictments, public records, Ray Sansom, Willie Meggs

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