Lawsuits

December 11, 2018

Walton County sued under section 163.035. Case style used in the settlement: In re: Affirming Existence of Recreational Customary Use on 1,194 Private Properties, Case No. 2018-CA-000547. Minutes say 2018-CA-547. The October 15, 2020 amended complaint sought declarations on 1,194 privately owned Gulf parcels. The settlement says about 8 of roughly 26 miles is county-owned or state-owned. The First DCA later confirmed the county filed in December 2018 under section 163.035.

This record does not link a complaint file.

December 11, 2018 on the Timeline
February 18, 2026 opinion

May and June 2023

The board met on the settlement in May and June 2023. Present at the May meetings: Danny Glidewell (District 2, Chairman), Boots McCormick, Donna Johns, and Tony Anderson. No fifth commissioner is named. On May 11, no district is stated for Boots McCormick, Donna Johns, or Tony Anderson. On May 15, no district is stated for Boots McCormick, Donna Johns, or Tony Anderson. The June 13 regular minutes call Donna Johns District Four, in a deletion heading.

May 11, both motions 4-0, those four Aye, no Nay. One motion accepted the settlement, with a voluntary dismissal without prejudice for owners not in the settlement who drop their claims and pay their own costs. Those dismissals would become with prejudice one year after the settlement date unless litigation was commenced. The other dismissed with prejudice all Zone 1 parcels already dismissed without prejudice, and parcels not yet dismissed. This record does not identify which parcels were in Zone 1.

May 15, same four, Boots McCormick as Vice-Chairman. A 4-0 vote approved the executive-session settlement text, with two edits, and authorized the chairman's signature once signatures are received. A separate 4-0 vote authorized the 7X Holdings, LLC dismissal, also called Flock of Seagirls. The minutes say counsel recommended a prejudicial dismissal. The motion text itself does not say "with prejudice."

May 23 was a customary-use executive session. The minutes say: "No action was taken by the board."

May 31, same four, each vote 4-0. The board authorized execution of the May 15 settlement, execution of dismissals intervening parties had already signed, transmission of the settlement to non-intervenors from whom the county wished to acquire a transitory zone, and mutual dismissals with prejudice for Watercolor parcels situated like Flock of Sea Girls.

June 13 executive session: Donna Johns was absent. Counsel said no additional action was necessary and to continue settlements and dismissals as previously directed. Adjourned 3-0.

May 11
May 15
May 23
May 31
June 13

What the agreement itself does

Only for owners who signed. The Courthouse News PDF is the framework text. It is not proof of who executed it. Exhibit A is the participating-parcel list. This record does not have a verified executed copy of who signed.

With-prejudice dismissal in the agreement is for parties who enter it. There is a separate with-prejudice path for parcels between Topsail and the Okaloosa line that may have an erosion control line, if counterclaims are mutually dismissed. Other intervenors were on a without-prejudice dismissal that became with prejudice only if the county filed no new customary-use suit by May 31, 2024. The agreement does not, by itself, dismiss all 1,194 parcels with prejudice. This record does not say whether that later suit was filed.

Settlement terms, including the 20-foot zone

February 2024

The circuit court entered a final judgment under section 163.035. It affirmed a limited customary-use right on the dry sand of the parcels still in the case. This page does not state that judgment as still in effect.

The county filed nine summary-judgment motions, split by beach area. The circuit court granted them. By the time of that stage, the 2026 opinion says every claim brought by represented intervening parties had been either dismissed or settled. The February 2024 judgment covered the remaining parcels.

A Florida Senate staff analysis, not the opinion, dates a "Final Summary Judgment on Remaining Parcels" at February 14, 2024, and says about 95 unrepresented properties remained. The count and the February 14 date are the staff analysis, not the opinion. This record does not have that judgment PDF.

Senate staff analysis of SB 1622 (a staff analysis, not a court holding)

February 18, 2026

T. Michael Glenn Trust, Bruce Healy, and Lake Partners, LLC v. Walton County. Case numbers 1D2024-0682, 1D2024-0720, and 1D2024-0748. Judges Roberts, Ray, and Kelsey. Per curiam.

The case was filed as a direct appeal and was treated as certiorari. The parties conceded, and the court agreed, that the final judgment is a nullity and has no more legal effect. The court cited State ex rel. Arnold v. Revels, 109 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1959): jurisdiction that depends on a repealed statute falls even in pending cases when there is no savings clause. The petitioners' worries (that the sheriff might not enforce trespass, and that the recorded judgment clouds title) were called abstract and hypothetical. They did not show the substantial and immediate harm certiorari requires. The petition was dismissed. The court did not quash the judgment on the merits.

The county said at oral argument that its posture was "square one," and that it could not say whether the 2017 ordinance was revived. That comment is the county's comment. It is not the holding.

The opinion says it is not final until any timely motion under the appellate rules. This record has not checked the docket for a rehearing or for further review.

Opinion, February 18, 2026