The JTA Investigation Explained: 3 State Subpoenas to the Agency, a Records Demand That Names a Council Member, and Ex-CEO Nat Ford's Testimony Expected in January

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Florida's statewide prosecutors have now sent at least three subpoenas to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, plus one to Mayor Donna Deegan's office, as they examine how the agency fell into a $39 million budget hole, according to local news reports. The latest demand, dated Oct. 28, asks for records on a paused autonomous vehicle program, ridership reports, payments to two contractors and a Southbank land lease. A City Council committee, the JTA board and the state are each looking into the same crisis on separate tracks.

No one has been charged with a crime, and none of the reports say who, if anyone, is a target. JTA has said it is cooperating. Here is what is known so far, drawn from the subpoenas as described by Jacksonville outlets that obtained them, and what comes next.

Who is investigating

The subpoenas come from the Office of Statewide Prosecution, which works under Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, according to Jacksonville Today. The Jacksonville Daily Record reported that the requests were issued by Richard Mantei, who leads the office's Public Corruption Unit. The attorney general's office has not publicly explained the focus of the inquiry.

Outlets count the subpoenas differently. Action News Jax and the Daily Record call the October demand the third sent to JTA, while News4JAX counts four overall because it includes the one sent to the mayor's office. Jacksonville Today described the Oct. 14 demand as the office's third overall in the inquiry. The table below lists all four in order.

Timeline of the subpoenas

Sources: Jacksonville Today, News4JAX, Jacksonville Daily Record, Action News Jax.

What the newest subpoena asks for

The Oct. 28 subpoena covers Oct. 1, 2023, through April 1, 2026, and it reaches texts and app messages on personal phones used for agency business, according to News4JAX. It asks for cost estimates for each phase of the Ultimate Urban Circulator, or U2C, the autonomous vehicle program that JTA has paused. It also seeks the ground lease with Corner Lot, JTA's partner on the Artea apartments next to the Kings Avenue Skyway station on the Southbank.

The subpoena asks for communications between Council member Rahman Johnson and former JTA Chief Development Officer Greer Gillis about U2C cost estimates, the Daily Record reported. It also seeks messages among JTA public affairs chief Jessica Shepler, former city Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury and Michael Junco about Bread & Board, a former restaurant in VyStar Credit Union's downtown headquarters. The subpoena does not explain why those messages are sought, and being named in a records request is not an accusation of wrongdoing.

The original deadline was Nov. 5, and JTA told Action News Jax it was granted an extension. The length of that extension was not reported. In a statement to News4JAX, JTA said it "is committed to transparency and is cooperating fully throughout this process."

The mayor's office subpoena

The Oct. 6 subpoena asked for a city staffer's notes from Deegan's March 2025 meeting with Hayward, according to News4JAX and Jacksonville Today. Hayward has said she warned the mayor that JTA's finances could become "your JEA scandal." Deegan's office said the administration did not know about the financial trouble until JTA announced planned cuts, and the mayor said she was happy to cooperate.

The City Council's inquiry

Council President Nick Howland set up the Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee, chaired by Council member Chris Miller, to examine the deficit. At an Oct. 15 meeting, council auditors said JTA ended fiscal 2025 with a deficit of about $18.9 million, according to News4JAX. The auditors also said some budget projections were inappropriate, though the committee has not found that statements were intentionally falsified.

The council's Finance Committee voted Oct. 20 to subpoena Ford, who resigned in July and now leads Dallas Area Rapid Transit, according to Action News Jax. He did not appear on Oct. 23, and the select committee turned down a request from Johnson to withdraw the subpoena. On Nov. 2, Council member Rory Diamond told the committee Ford had agreed to comply and said he expects testimony in January, Jacksonville Today reported, but no date has been set.

The board's outside review

At its Oct. 28 meeting, the JTA board voted unanimously to start hiring an independent firm for a financial assessment, a governance review and financial recovery consulting, according to Jacksonville Today. No firm, cost or timeline had been announced as of Nov. 7. Two days earlier, board member Daniel Vallencourt said JTA owed vendors $24.9 million when it sought a line of credit in July, with $5.5 million more than 120 days past due, News4JAX reported.

What comes next

JTA still has to turn over the records sought in the Oct. 28 subpoena under its extended deadline. The board must choose its outside firm, and the council committee is waiting on Ford's testimony in January. Meanwhile, the agency is operating with about 200 fewer employees, reduced bus service and a paused Skyway.