Jacksonville attorney Stephanie J. Hartley has been suspended following an Oct. 26 Florida Supreme Court order following a no-contest plea to an alcohol-related breach of peace/disorderly conduct charge.
Hartley originally had been taken into custody for belligerent behavior prior to her guilty plea, according to the Nov. 21 Florida State Bar announcement of the discipline and the supreme court's order. "According to bar records, it is the third negative police interaction Hartley has had involving alcohol," the state bar's announcement said. "In two prior incidents, she was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence or intoxicated."
The state supreme court suspended Hartley for 60 days, effective 30 days from the date of the court's two-page order, and ordered her to pay about $1,290 in costs. In Florida, court orders are not final until after time to file a rehearing motion expires.
Hartley was admitted to the bar in Florida on March 30, 1994, according to her profile at the state bar website.
Allegations against Hartley that led to her suspension stemmed from an incident in August 2016 in which she was accused of becoming belligerent with a Jacksonville sheriff's officer, according to the consent judgment filed with the court. The consent judgment also includes Hartley's conditional guilty plea.
The following April, Hartley entered a nolo contendere plea in Duval County Court to the lesser charge, and the court withheld an adjudication of guilt but did order her to pay costs, according to the consent judgment. In the two prior alcohol related police interactions, one in Florida in 2014 and the other in North Carolina in 2013, Hartley was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence or intoxicated, , according to the consent judgment.
In a previous discipline, Hartley was publicly reprimanded following a November 2016 state high court order after she allegedly failed to report a conviction for driving while impaired within 10 days as required by the state bar. That conviction stemmed from her 2013 arrest in arrested in North Carolina, according to the consent judgment filed with the court prior to its November 2016 order. That consent judgment also includes Hartley's conditional guilty plea.
The high court also ordered Hartley to pay $1,405 in costs, according to the November 2016 order.