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Governor Ron DeSantis appoints Jason Welty as new Jefferson County Clerk of the Court

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a podium at the annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Nov. 19, 2022, in Las Vegas.
John Locher
/
AP
Gov. Ron DeSantis is seen speaking at an annual leadership meeting on Nov. 19, 2022, in Las Vegas.

Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Jason Welty as the new Jefferson County Clerk of Court.

Welty stepped into the role on Monday. In addition to that job, he’ll continue serving as the Deputy Executive Director for Florida’s Clerks of Court Operations Corporation. Welty first joined the agency in 2018. Before that, he was Chief of Staff for the Department of Juvenile Justice and worked alongside state lawmakers in the Florida House and Senate as a budget analyst and legislative assistant.

Welty takes over a job previously held for 16 years by Kirk Reams. He was suspended by DeSantis in September, following his arrest on felony charges involving improper use of county money.

A state investigation found that Ream and two other county employees defrauded the county out of more than $800,000.

Adrian Andrews is a multimedia journalist with WFSU Public Media. He is a Gadsden County native and a first-generation college graduate from Florida A&M University. Adrian is also a military veteran, ending his career as a Florida Army National Guard Non-Comissioned Officer.

Adrian has experience in print writing, digital content creation, documentary, and film production. He has spent the last four years on the staff of several award-winning publications such as The Famuan, Gadsden County News Corp, and Cumulus Media before joining the WFSU news team.