House Candidate Jamie Watts responds as felony arrest and other accusations emerge

WALEKA, Fla. – Waleka Mayor and House candidate Jamie Watts responded after records accused him of stalking and harassment, as well as a felony arrest and Baker Act record.

Watts, a 45-year-old Republican, is running to take over Rep. Bobby Payne’s House District 20 seat against Republican Judson Sapp.

“I have never been arrested or charged for harassment, stalking, or personal violence. The dumping charge against me was dropped by the state attorney. I’ve never been convicted of any crime in my life,” Watts told Florida’s Voice in a statement.

Records obtained by Florida’s Voice revealed Watts’ ex-wife filed a restraining order against him in 2021 after her previous restraining order against him from 2012 expired. His ex-wife also filed an incident report against Watts in 2021 with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

Florida’s Voice asked Watts about reports filed against him by his ex-wife. Watts said that he and his former spouse are “in a good place now” as the incidents that occurred between them were “over a decade ago.”

“Definitely the thing I would say to you on that, we’re in a really good place, our family’s in a really good place and I don’t want to do anything that would cause any hard feelings or upset the balance of that,” Watts said.

In 2011, a harassment and “stalking” complaint was filed against Watts by his ex-wife, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. The report said his ex-wife was “scared for her safety and the safety of her children.”

In 2019, Watts’ former girlfriend also filed a report with the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office against Watts. The police report states that Watts’ ex-girlfriend said he was “harassing her by phone from numerous different numbers” and in the report, she explained that Watts “threatened to expose pictures of her” on the internet.

In 2017, St. Johns County records show a call history record with another ex-girlfriend who reported that Watts had been harassing and threatening them. The call history record said that both parties were advised to stop communication with each other.

Brian Graham, a political consultant for Watts’ opponent, Sapp, told Florida’s Voice that Watts has a “very troubling past.”

“Sadly, the more you look, the more disturbing things you find,” Graham said. “Several news outlets have already reached out regarding Mr. Watts’ problems, and quite frankly, I am shocked he would even consider running for higher office.”

Watts told Florida’s Voice that he “knew [his] opponent would go negative” regarding his 2012 divorce and the allegations against him.

Sapp told Florida’s Voice that he is focused on his own campaign and not his opponent’s.

“I’m sure the folks in the media will hold Mr. Watts accountable for his actions,” Sapp said.

In Watts’ ex-wife’s petition for injunction against him in 2021, she checked off that Watts had a history of mental health issues and that he had been a subject of a Baker Act proceeding.

In 2011, records show Watts’ ex-wife contacted the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office regarding Watts’ “possible suicide attempt.” The police report said Watts was taken to Flagler Hospital for evaluation following investigation.

Watts told Florida’s Voice that when his 13-year marriage ended, he was “devastated” and his family was concerned about him.

“And so, you know, they did send me to Flagler hospital to be checked out and to make sure that I wasn’t a danger to myself,” Watts said. “And the doctor saw me and the doctor released me and that was the end of it.”

Watts also said he developed post-traumatic stress disorder after being sent as a “first responder” to the 2016 Pulse Nightclub Orlando shooting where he said he said he “removed the bodies” and then “went to counseling for that.”

“You know, I don’t try to hide stuff about that because I believe that mental health is not talked about enough and we need to talk about it more,” Watts said.

Watts is also a licensed funeral director and embalmer who operates several funeral homes including his family’s business, Watts Funeral Home, according to his website.

According to a Clay County Sheriff’s arrest report of Watts from 2008, Director of Environmental Health at Putnam County Health Department John Holmes inspected Watts Funeral Home for a sanitary nuisance complaint and “caught them pumping contents of their septic tank onto their own property” in 2005, allegedly violating the Florida Litter Law.

Watts was arrested two years after the incident in 2008 and was charged with one count of felony dumping.

Watts explained he received pretrial intervention due to not having a criminal history prior to the 2008 arrest and the charge was dropped after a year.

He told Florida’s Voice that he felt the charge was “kind of a miscarriage of justice.”

Watts explained that following his father’s death, his mother “basically took the business over.” He said after a heavy rainfall, his family’s funeral home had raw sewage overflowing into the building.

Watts said in a “desperate attempt to do something,” his mother put a pump in their sewage tank and pumped the raw sewage onto their property.

“And then two years later, I find out that the state attorneys decided they want to prosecute and so they issued a warrant for my arrest,” Watts said. “Which took me aback a little bit because I’m like, I’m just some spokesman here. I wasn’t the one that did anything.”

Watts said he was “disappointed” in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection because they “waited two years to do anything.”

“And what was even more disappointing was they never even called and said, ‘hey, did you fix this problem? What’s going on?’ Or anything. It just kind of came out of the blue,” Watts said.

Watts said he was “concerned” that Sapp, his opponent, would use his 2008 mugshot and try to “paint [him] as some kind of criminal.”

“I’m not a criminal, but they’re gonna try to paint me like that is what they’re gonna try and do, and it’s very unfortunate,” Watts said.

Records also revealed Watts had eight federal tax liens from the Internal Revenue Service, which were all directed to Watts Funeral Home.

Watts told Florida’s Voice that upon his father’s death, his father had an unpaid tax liability and the IRS took Watts’ payroll taxes, which he said he paid on time, and applied them to his father’s “old debit,” which he said was “not associated” with Watts.

“I have been fighting it for several years,” Watts said. “It is very frustrating because every time I get an agent assigned to me, and it looks like it can be corrected, they get reassigned. I am continuing to work on it with them.”

Watts previously served on Waleka Town Council from 2011-2021 before being elected as mayor.

Watts said that being the mayor of a small town of 717 people, he is the city manager, utility director, and handles planning and zoning.

“I’m what they call a strong mayor,” Watts said.