JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office accused of soliciting prostitution has been told he will be fired by Sheriff Mike Williams.
It's unclear why the officer wasn't arrested.
Officer Joseph Legard has been the subject of a yearlong investigation. Records show Internal Affairs sustained in-house complaints against Legard of soliciting prostitution, departure from the truth, falsifying records, misuse of computer software, failure to conform to work standards and failure to take action.
Internal Affairs recommended that Legard be fired and Williams agreed.
Legard is currently on desk duty, mulling a decision whether to appeal the firing to the Sheriff's Office's disciplinary board or to Civil Service.
"The officer has a bill of rights, that the department has to abide by, and he has a right to appeal -- all of the same rights that anyone else being investigated has," said News4Jax crime and safety analyst Ken Jefferson.
News4Jax has requested the Internal Affairs report, which is in the process of being redacted for release.
It's not the first time Legard has been found to have violated departmental procedures. He has prior Internal Affairs findings of improper action (2009) and failure to conform to work standards (2016). Both times, he was given formal counseling.
Clarification: Due to a source error, an update was made to this article to correct the current status of Legard's case.