Fort White Recall of Lonnie Harrell on the Court Docket This Afternoon at 4 PM – Former Town Attorney Judge Fred Koberlein, Jr., Presiding
April 13, 2026 9:45 am | 7 min read
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in a minute
Photo during Mr. Koberlein's time as City Atty.
Columbia County Observer photo and graphic
FORT WHITE, FL – The helter-skelter world of Fort White, FL moves into a virtual courtroom this afternoon at 4 pm for an accelerated hearing regarding the recall election of Town Councilman Lonnie Harrell.
Fort White has been almost completely dysfunctional since the departure in January 2025 of Town Clerk Connie Brecheen, her assistant, and the town attorney (Lindsey Lander). All the Town’s institutional knowledge walked out the door concurrent with the election of George Jacob Thomas, a man with absolutely no prior local government experience.
See: Fort White In Turmoil: Mayor & Temp Agency Clerks Jettison Rule of Law To Fill Vacated Council Seat
Mayor Thomas has no governmental experience. His
inexperience has been evident.
Mayor Thomas’ inability to run the Town’s meetings, which devolved into complete chaos at times, had Councilman Harrell move to replace the Mayor as the presiding officer (the person who runs the meetings). The Council voted to have Vice Mayor Kathryn Terry become the presiding officer. During that meeting, the Mayor walked out, and the Town Attorney (Rhett Bullard) quit.
Then, sometime in January 2026, a plot was hatched in the Town to get rid of Councilman Harrel by doing a recall petition. At that time, Mayor Thomas’ involvement was unclear.
One can watch the hearing on Zoom this afternoon at 4 pm:
https://zoom.us/j/94439480476
Meeting ID: 944 3948 0476
mobile number 786-635-1003
(court provided link)
It was clear that in the last week of January 2026, Diana Frazier Cook, the wife of former long-time Councilman Donald Cook, was the Chairperson of the Committee to Recall Councilman Harrell. Ms. Cook is also related to the ex-mayor, Ronnie Frazier.
On Monday, February 9, 2026, Ms. Cook resigned her position as Chair of the Recall Committee. A public record request to the acting clerk, Kelly MacPherson, and Mayor Thomas for Ms. Cook’s resignation was ignored.
Ms. Cook, in relevant part, stated in her resignation: “I hereby resign from my position as the Chairperson for the Committee of the Recall of Lonnie Harrell, effective immediately.” She added, “I also formally retract my previous remarks stating that he is incompetent and neglectful of his duties.”
Sometime between Feb. 9 and Feb. 10, the Mayor’s brother, Giorgio Thomas, became the Chairperson of the Recall Committee. A request for that record was also ignored by the Mayor and the Clerk.
To recall an elected official, two rounds of petitions are required. One qualifies the petition, and the other can also include a defensive statement by the person being recalled.
Councilman Harrell provided a defensive statement. The petition was assembled by Mayor Thomas and was provided to the Clerk with the names and addresses of 100% of the voters in Councilman Harrell’s district. Mr. Harrell’s defensive statement, for the most part, was unreadable.
The Florida Recall Statute requires the Clerk to prepare petition forms (blank) for 30% of the voters.
Both rounds of the completed Recall Petition were submitted to and approved by the Supervisor of Elections for sufficiency.
The Chief Judge scheduled the recall election for April 14.
Off to the Court
On March 30, 2026, fifteen days before the election, Councilman Harrell filed his third motion for an emergency injunction. Mr. Harrell is represented by an attorney. The attorney is the one who prepares and files the legal papers.
An emergency injunction (or a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO)) is an expedited motion to have a matter heard quickly by the court.
Judge Fred Koberlein, Jr., was assigned the case. Before becoming a judge, Mr. Koberlein was the Town of Fort White Attorney for just under nine years. His bosses were the Town of Fort White Council.
Diana Cook, the first Chair of the Recall Committee, is the wife of former long-time Town Councilman Donald Cook. She is also related to the former Mayor, Ronnie Frazier. Both Councilman Cook and Mayor Frazier were the bosses of Judge Koberlein while he was the Town’s attorney, and were ultimately responsible for assigning tasks and his being paid.
Judge/Attorney Fred Koberlein, Jr.
Should he have recused himself from hearing the recall?
To research this matter, we used the following facts:
1. A private attorney served as contract attorney for a small Florida town for 10 years (rounded up from 8 years and 9 months).
2. Town council members directed the attorney's work and approved his invoices.
3. The attorney resigned and became a county judge in the same county.
4. A town council member's wife became a defendant in a lawsuit against the town.
5. The former town attorney (now judge) was assigned the case.
The short answer conclusion: Yes – recusal is strongly warranted.
Additionally, considering the facts, Judge Koberlein should have recused himself on his own accord, which he has still not done.
Neither Councilman Harrell’s attorney nor the recently installed Mr. Harrell could have known all the facts surrounding Fred Koberlein’s long-term relationship with the Town of Fort White.
Judge Koberlein’s “Notice of Court Disclosure,” where he acknowledged that he previously represented the Town, was not a substitute for recusal. It is another in the line of questionable actions Fred Koberlein, Jr., has made throughout the years.
Rule 2.11 (Disqualification)of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct(often adopted in state-specific Codes of Judicial Conduct) mandates that judges disclose information they believe parties might find relevant to disqualification, even if the judge believes there is no actual basis for it.
It appears that Judge Koberlein believed there was “no actual basis” for his recusal.
However, Rule 2.11(A) maintains that a judge must disqualify themselves when their impartiality might be reasonably be questioned.
The appearance of impropriety under Canon 2, which states that “judges must avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” has also entered Judge Koberlein’s blind spot.
The Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee has opined, “Recusal is warranted when a judge’s prior role as counsel creates an obligation that could cloud impartiality in a related matter."
The fact that Judge Koberlein is now presiding over a case involving both the Town and a former councilmember’s wife could certainly harbor doubts about Judge Koberlein’s impartiality.
The Federal Standard (28 U.S.C. § 455(a)) is similar to Florida's, requiring recusal if impartiality might reasonably be questioned, even without actual bias.
On the other hand,
Judge Koberlein could claim that the lawsuit is entirely unrelated to his time as Town Attorney (e.g., no overlapping facts, events, or witnesses), and he has no personal knowledge or bias.
Robbing the public of seeing justice first hand
Judge Koberlein could have scheduled the injunction hearing in the courtroom. He didn’t.
One can watch the hearing on Zoom this afternoon at 4 pm: https://zoom.us/j/94439480476
Meeting ID: 944 3948 0476
mobile number 786-635-1003
Correction: Zoom link address updated at 3:21 pm