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🔍 Weeks Responds: Former Okaloosa County Corrections Director Nolan Weeks disputes findings from an internal investigation, calling the inquiry biased and incomplete.
📧 Conflict Allegations: Weeks admits to some improper emails promoting his brother’s company but claims the county’s HR investigator was compromised by personal motives.
📋 Hiring Scrutiny: Records show Weeks had the least relevant experience of four candidates but had strong political references, raising questions about the hiring process.
Mid Bay News has obtained Nolan Weeks’ responses to the allegations levied against him in an internal investigation that led to his resignation from his job as the Director of the Okaloosa County Department of Corrections late last year.
Mid Bay News published a story about a report by Attorney Greg Stewart of Nabors Giblin and Nickerson, the law firm that serves as the County’s legal representation, which investigated Weeks, his brother, and his brother’s company.
The report said Weeks violated Okaloosa County Human Resources Policy in connection to dealings with his brother’s company, HealthCred Care – where he is listed on their website as Vice-President and Co-Founder.
The responses refute most of the allegations made by Stewart in his report – though Weeks does grant that several of the emails he wrote to the leadership of the Walton and Pasco County Jails, which included a link to a YouTube video about HealthCred Care were inappropriate.
The rebuttals fall roughly into three groups:
The investigation resulted in Weeks’ resignation, and his signature of an agreement would bar him from suing the country over the circumstances of his resignation. In exchange for his promise not to sue, he got 21 days of pay and healthcare coverage.
At the same time, we have continued to investigate the process that led to Weeks’ hiring at the County and learned about the decision to bring him on board in the first place. Law Enforcement, Corrections, and other Public Safety Officials with far more qualifications and experience were passed over in favor of those with less experience.
Let’s examine the accusations, and then we will look at the candidates who, on paper, were more qualified but were passed over by the County in favor of Weeks for the Major of Jail Operations position. Weeks applied for and was hired into the position before being promoted to jail director.
The most shocking accusation from Weeks’ statement: Okaloosa County’s Human Resources Representative investigating him allegedly told him she wanted to get to work for HealthCred Care because she felt she was covering for her boss while she had an affair.
Weeks wrote:
“Mr. Stewart indicated that I told Kelly Bird HealthCred offered me a $15,000 monthly retainer and that I was currently earning a $90,000 monthly commission. I did tell Mrs. Bird that I had been “offered” a $15,000 monthly retainer if I were to leave the County and come on full-time with HealthCred. I explained that down the road, if things progressed well, the potential was there to bring in upwards of $90,000 monthly in commissions. I never told Mrs. Bird that I was currently making any profit from HealthCred. In fact, during this same conversation, Mrs. Bird expressed interest in the company offering her services and asked if
there would be a need for an HR Director. Mrs. Bird went on to explain how she felt she would be perfect for a company like that because she holds multiple insurance licenses and is extremely familiar with that world. Mrs. Bird expressed that she had already been searching for other employment opportunities due to all of the extra weight of responsibilities that had recently fallen on her shoulders from her direct supervisor shirking the responsibilities of a DCA [Deputy County Administrator] onto her. She went on to explain that she believed her supervisor was involved in an extramarital affair, and that had caused her supervisor to become extremely depressed to the point they were unable to perform many functions of their job. Mrs. Bird said she was done carrying the weight of both positions and requested that I please look into employment opportunities for her with HealthCred. I will tell you that knowing this information, I was extremely shocked to find that Mrs. Bird was being utilized as an investigator in this case to ask questions and conduct interviews and that she didn’t recuse herself.”
We’ve reached out to Okaloosa County for a response to these accusations concerning Mrs. Bird. Nick Tomecek, Public Information Officer for Okaloosa County, noted that these accusations are unsubstantiated and that Mrs. Bird continues to serve as the Director of Human Resources at Okaloosa County.
Weeks argued in his response to the report compiled by Greg Stewart at Nabors Giblin and Nickerson that it did not meet the level of thoroughness that, in his opinion, would lend it credibility.
He also pointed out that he was not served with notice of an investigation by the County – and failure to notify him was another example of shoddy investigation.
Weeks argued that Stewart failed to interview several key witnesses, including his brother – Chad LeBoy.
Finally, he pointed out that while he was accused of colluding with his brother with evidence of email traffic from his brother or other people allegedly associated with HealthCred Care – he noted he did not respond to those emails.
“About the emails that Mr. Stewart is referring to in paragraph 1, he fails to mention that I was cc’d on those emails and did not respond or engage at all,” Weeks wrote.
In his investigative report on the case, Greg Stewart made a point to note that Weeks was given the opportunity to have a representative from the Police Benevolent Association present during his interrogation about the situation. Stewart asserts this was not necessary, as Weeks was not acting in the position of a law enforcement officer – but as the Director of the Okaloosa County Corrections Department. Either way, Stewart adds, the County delayed the interview with Weeks three days so that his representative could attend the meeting with Human Resources Director Kelly Bird.
Weeks responded to Stewart’s mention of this with several comments. Weeks asserted he worked as the Corrections Director in a law enforcement capacity, as he was
“As Mr. Stewart is already aware, I am not a Correctional Officer. I am a sworn law enforcement officer and hold an active law enforcement certificate that is current and active with the FDLE [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] ATMS [Automated Training Management System] database,” Weeks wrote. Weeks argued that he does not meet the state definition of ‘Warden’ and, therefore, does not lose his right to police protection.
As Weeks said in his rebuttal to some of Greg Stewart’s findings in his investigation, he isn’t a certified corrections officer.
So, how did he get the job as the top authority at the Okaloosa County Department of Corrections?
We pulled the applications for the Major of Jail Operations job posting from Okaloosa County’s Board of County Commissioners.
The posting states that applicants should possess the following. Items marked with an asterisk are required for the job.
Ultimately, four people applied for the job: Stacy Harris, Nolan Weeks, April McDaniel and Artie Crying Wolf Rodriguez.
Or, at least, those were the applications provided to us when we requested the applications of everyone who applied to fill an open spot as Major of Jail Operations at the Okaloosa County Jail in 2022.
Below, you can see their experience, both in written and graphic form.
We can go through them in Alphabetical Order:
Stacy Harris was a member of the Inspector General’s team at the Florida Department of Corrections at the time she applied for the Major of Jail Operations Job. Harris had a bachelor’s degree and expected to complete her master’s degree in less than six months after she applied for the job as the Major of Jail Operations.
In addition to her academic accomplishments, Harris had a quarter-century of experience in law enforcement and corrections, combined with eight years of management experience, during which she managed eight employees.
She has, obviously, worked in a corrections environment before she applied to Okaloosa County for the job and was not a veteran.
Her references included the Chief of Police for the United States Federal Reserve Bank, her supervisor at the Florida Department of Corrections, and the Inspector General for the Florida Department of Corrections.
At the time she applied for the job, April McDaniel was a Captain at the Okaloosa County Jail. She had worked in corrections for almost 20 years and had worked as a manager for 12 years. When she was a captain, she managed more than 120 corrections officers, meaning she was in charge of the vast majority of Okaloosa County employees at the jail, which typically has about 140 corrections officer billets.
She is now the Major in charge of jail operations and was promoted when Weeks promoted to Director. She served in the interim position after Weeks resigned.
Her references included a Major of the Fort Walton Beach Police, a retired school principal, and the former Undersheriff of Okaloosa County.
Artie Crying Wolf Rodriguez was the only candidate who could have benefitted from veterans’ preference in the hiring process. He served as a Marine Infantryman.
He holds a high school diploma and has 22 years of experience in law enforcement, including 11 years as a supervisor, where he oversaw a team of 20 people.
Rodriguez had not worked in a corrections environement at any time before applying for the job.
The only experience he seems to have with a corrections facility comes from his time currently in the Walton County Jail – where he was held until he was adjudicated guilty of engaging in sexual conduct with a student – among other charges.
Rodriguez’s references included a former Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office Major, Superintendent of Walton County Schools Russell Martin and a retired law enforcement officer he served with.
Finally, we get to Nolan Weeks.
Weeks, Like Rodriguez, finished High School and managed about 20 employees.
In total, Weeks also has the least amoutn of law enforcement or corrections experience and the least amount of management experience. He’s not a veteran, and he’d never worked in a corrections facility before he applied for the Major of Jail Operations Job.
But, he had the references.
Current Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden, County Commissioner Paul Mixon and Former Okaloosa County Commissioner Graham Fountain signed off on Weeks.
Weeks also had the benefit of Escambia County, Alabama Sheriff Heath Jackson’s endorsement.
So, should Okaloosa County have hired Weeks in the first place? That’s not for us to say – it’s for the graph to say.
Let us know what you think in the comments section, news@midbaynews.com, or any of the other ways to get in touch with us.
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