Anonymous complaints will go uninvestigated in Walton County

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS —Walton County’s code enforcement officers generally will no longer investigate anonymous complaints.

That’s in accordance with a revised policy county commissioners approved Thursday at their rescheduled meeting.

Gerry Demers, the county’s director of development services, told the board that the investigation policy needed to be revised in light of recent changes in the code enforcement department — most notably in staffing.

“We’ve got a reduced staff now because of the downsizing in our force, and also we’re transferring an officer to the Sheriff’s Office, so that leaves us with three code enforcement officers,” he said. “So what I’d like to do is set priorities. We can only take complaints that have complainants. In other words, we will not take anonymous complaints.”

Code enforcement officer Donna Shank will be deputized with the Sheriff’s Office to work on its new Environmental Enforcement Unit. She will investigate crimes that threaten the environment and natural resources, including illegal dumping, water pollution and damage to coastal and rural natural resources.

Effective immediately and in light of the reduced staff, code enforcement officers will enforce laws related to the scenic corridors and the Beaches of South Walton Tourist Development Council. But officers will respond to other complaints only when filed by named people.

J.C. Alford, the county’s lead code enforcement officer, said the office typically receives 60 to 70 complaints a month, although that number goes up during the summer. The most common complaints relate to illegal dumping and signs illegally placed on county rights of way. About 25 percent of the complaints are anonymous, he said.

Anonymous complaints generally will not be investigated, but the county attorney will advise how to proceed if several anonymous complaints come in about the same violation, the new policy states.

The County Commission’s regular meeting was scheduled for Tuesday in Santa Rosa Beach, but was canceled because of the uncertainty of Tropical Storm Ida. It was rescheduled for Thursday in DeFuniak Springs.