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Alachua County special magistrate orders deadlines, liens and fines across multiple code‑enforcement cases
Summary
At a February 2026 Alachua County special‑magistrate hearing, the magistrate placed liens, assessed fines and granted compliance windows in several code‑enforcement cases, including debt collection actions and targeted inspections for landscaping and electrical safety.
The Alachua County Code Enforcement Special Magistrate convened a hearing in February 2026 and took formal action across a series of property‑maintenance cases, ordering liens, setting compliance deadlines and assessing prosecution costs and daily fines.
In summary: staff reported violations ranging from unauthorized tree clearing and junk accumulation to an unpermitted kennel operation and unsafe electrical wiring. The magistrate granted a 60‑day county review in one landscaping dispute, extended a kennel compliance deadline to 90 days, and approved placement of liens or continued fines in multiple cases where properties remained not in compliance.
County code officers presented evidence and photographs in several matters and asked the magistrate to impose costs and fines. For example, the magistrate granted a lien and ongoing fines for case 25‑008034 (Joel McMinn, prosecution cost $420, $75/day, total fines quoted at $6,570) and approved liens or continued collection for additional matters where property owners were found guilty and not in compliance.
Notable outcomes recorded in the hearing record include the magistrate's direction that Alachua County staff perform a Florida‑friendly landscaping review on Jacqueline Garvey's property and a 60‑day compliance window; a 90‑day extension for a property identified with an apparent kennel operation to allow the owner to reduce animal numbers; and a lien request approved in a case involving substantial unpaid fines for Perkins and Perkins (county reported prosecution costs of $350, daily fines $125, total fine cited at $22,475).
The hearing also recorded multiple cases in which staff reported partial compliance but sought recovery of prosecution costs; the magistrate routinely admitted photographic evidence and certified notices into the record and instructed respondents about the county's processes for later seeking fine reductions after coming into compliance.
The magistrate closed the hearing at 09:48. Respondents and the public were directed to follow up with county staff for next steps, and those whose properties qualified for mitigation under Florida‑friendly criteria were told the county would re‑inspect to determine whether citations could be withdrawn.
