Central Florida Rep. Carolina Amesty resigned her notary commission last month, blocking a probe by the governor’s office into whether she violated the state’s notary laws.
The notary division of the governor’s office began an investigation of the freshman lawmaker’s conduct, one of two initiated by a state agency , after the Orlando Sentinel published an investigation in March revealing the Orlando-area Republican notarized an employment form for a man who said he never signed the document . A Sentinel reader filed a complaint based on that article.
But the office determined it no longer had jurisdiction over the matter after Amesty resigned her notary commission on June 10, according to a letter from Notary Coordinator Diedre Leaks to the Sentinel reader, Dennis Warren. Leaks also wrote that the governor’s office is unable to file criminal charges or declare a notarized document null and void.
Amesty’s notary commission was due to expire in December 2026, according to the Division of Corporations, which oversees Florida notaries. Florida notary publics are state-appointed officials who can certify the authenticity of signatures on important documents.
Amesty wrote in an email to the Sentinel that she resigned her notary commission because she no longer uses it and it “made no sense” for her to keep it active.
“Delivering for my community as a state legislator is my top priority,” Amesty wrote.
Amesty, 29, has repeatedly declined to be interviewed by Sentinel reporters.
The questioned signature appears on an employment document for Robert Shaffer, a veteran educator who said he never signed the form nor worked for Central Christian University, a small school run by Amesty’s family on North Hiawassee Road in Orange County. Amesty, who previously served as Central Christian’s vice president, notarized the form while working at the college. She said earlier this year she is no longer employed by the university.
Though he says he never worked at the university, Shaffer was the principal of the Amesty family’s adjacent K-12 school for two years and worked last year as a teacher at an A-rated charter school in Orange County.
Through her attorney, Amesty sent an affidavit to the paper earlier this year swearing that she saw Shaffer, 87, sign the form the day she notarized it.
But three handwriting experts consulted by the Sentinel said the signature likely wasn’t his, with one saying there was “no chance” Shaffer had signed the document. Two of the experts said the Shaffer signature might have been written by Amesty. The third agreed Amesty’s penmanship resembled the handwriting on the signature line of Shaffer’s personnel form but didn’t weigh in on whether she wrote his name.
The notary division of the governor’s office confirmed it was investigating the matter in May when it sent a letter to Warren, a retired law enforcement officer who lives in Seminole County.
As part of the investigation opened by the governor’s office, Amesty would have been required to submit sworn written responses to each of the matters under investigation, according to the letter Leaks sent to Warren last month.
The probe by the governor’s office is separate from one underway by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which told the Sentinel last week it has an active investigation involving Amesty and Central Christian University .
An agency spokesman declined to provide further details about the law enforcement probe.
Under Florida law, using a notary commission to “falsely or fraudulently” certify a signature is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Amesty was elected to the Florida House in 2022 to represent a district that takes in much of southwest Orange, including Walt Disney World, and part of northwest Osceola County. She is seeking re-election this year and faces one opponent: Democrat Leonard Spencer, a first-time candidate for public office and former Disney executive who now works for Amazon.
anmartin@orlandosentinel.com
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