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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA 

PENSACOLA DIVISION 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA, 

ex rel. ROBERT V. SMITH, 

Qui Tam Plaintiff, 

v. CASE NO.: 3:20-cv-03678/MCR/EMT 

JAY A. ODOM; OKALOOSA 

COUNTY, BOARD OF COUNTY 

COMMISSIONERS, 

 Defendants. 

__________________________________________________________________ 

RELATOR’S REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE IN SUPPORT 

OF OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS 

__________________________________________________________________ 

 Plaintiffs, United States of America and the State of Florida, ex rel. Robert V. 

Smith (“Relator”), by and through undersigned counsel, files this Request for 

Judicial Notice in Support of Relator’s Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss 

(the “Request”). In support of his Request, Relator states: 

ARGUMENT 

 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 201, Relator respectfully requests that 

this Court take judicial notice of the following documents, attached as exhibits to 

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this Request and in support of Relator’s Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to 

Dismiss: 

Exhibit A: Certified copy of Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the Circuit Court of 

the First Judicial Circuit in and for Okaloosa County, Florida, case No. 

2005-CA-4671, Okaloosa County and Destin Jet, LLC v. the City of 

Destin, Florida. Cited and relied on Amended Complaint at ¶ 51 & n.1. 

Exhibit B: Certified copy of Appendix I to Petition for Writ of Certiorari 

containing Quasi Judicial Transcript in the Circuit Court of the First 

Judicial Circuit in and for Okaloosa County, Florida, case No. 2005-

CA-4671, Okaloosa County and Destin Jet, LLC v. the City of Destin, 

Florida. Cited and relied on Amended Complaint at ¶ 51 & n.1. 

Exhibit C: May 3, 2019 Letter from Tracy Stage, A.A.E., Airports Director, 

Okaloosa County Airports to Relator, Robert Smith regarding denial of 

his request to lease an existing FBO or develop a new FBO at Destin 

Executive Airport (DTS). Cited and relied on in Amended Complaint 

at ¶¶ 91-94. 

Exhibit D: FAA, Order 5190.6B, Airport Compliance Manual (September 30, 

2009), Chapters 1, 2, 4, 8, Appendix C, available at 

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/d0ee93e5/BzJF6UO4UEaWufiY_YwiPA

?u=https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/order/5190_6b.pdf. 

Cited and relied on in Amended Complaint at ¶¶ 25, 38, 40. 

Exhibit E: FAA, Order 5190.6B, Change 1, Airport Compliance Manual

(November 22, 2021), Chapters 1, 2, 4, 8, Appendix C, available at 

https://link.edgepilot.com/s/15cc49d9/JXnp9bvET0u16zdg7yHg3A?u

=https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/Order-5190-6BChange1.pdf. Cited and relied on in Amended Complaint at ¶¶ 25, 38, 

40. 

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ARGUMENT 

Federal Rule of Evidence 201 provides that: 

A judicially noticed fact must be one not subject to reasonable dispute 

in that it is either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction 

of the trial court or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by 

resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. 

A district court may consider an extrinsic document on Rule 12(b)(6) review 

“if it is (1) central to the plaintiff's claim, and (2) its authenticity is not challenged[,]” 

U.S. ex rel. Osheroff v. Humana Inc., 776 F.3d 805, 811 (11th Cir. 2015). Hi-Tech 

Pharms., Inc. v. HBS Int'l Corp., 910 F.3d 1186, 1189 (11th Cir. 2018) (“Under the 

doctrine of incorporation by reference, the Court may also consider documents 

attached to the motion to dismiss if they are referred to in the complaint, central to 

the plaintiff's claim, and of undisputed authenticity.”). 

The documents to which Relator seeks judicial notice of documents referred 

to in the complaint, central to the plaintiff's claim, and of undisputed authenticity.1

Id.; see also Captain Jack's Crab Shack, Inc. v. Cooke, No. 21-11112, 2022 WL 

4375364, at *1 (11th Cir. Sept. 22, 2022) (“And we take judicial notice of the state 

1 Relator does not seek judicial notice of documents regarding the public disclosure 

bar. The amended False Claims Act (“FCA”) limits consideration of what 

allegations may constitute public disclosure to only those made in specific 

enumerated sources. Allegations are considered publicly disclosed only if made “in 

a Federal criminal, civil, or administrative hearing in which the Government or its 

agent is a party; in a congressional, Government Accountability Office, or other 

Federal report, hearing, audit or investigation; or from the news media.” 31 

U.S.C.A. §3730(e)(4)(A). 

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court's record . . . because those facts are “not subject to reasonable dispute because 

[they] ... can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy 

cannot reasonably be questioned.”). Relator respectfully requests that the court take 

judicial notice of the above-referenced documents “for the limited purpose of 

determining which statements the documents contain. Osheroff, 776 F.3d at 811 n.4. 

WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff, Robert Smith respectfully 

requests that this Court grant Relator’s Request for Judicial Notice. 

Respectfully submitted this 28th day of November 2022. 

/s/ Elizabeth C. Billhimer 

ELIZABETH C. BILLHIMER 

Florida Bar No. 0121986 

CLARK PARTINGTON

4100 Legendary Drive, Ste. 200. 

Destin, Florida 32541 

(850) 650-3304 telephone 

(850) 650-3305 facsimile 

ebillhimer@clarkpartington.com 

fkendall@clarkpartington.com 

bgilman@clarkpartington.com 

Attorney for Robert V. Smith 

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has been 

served by electronic mail via the Court’s transmission of the Notice of Electronic 

Filing to the following, this 28th day of November 2022: 

A. BENJAMIN GORDON, III 

Anchors Gordon, P.A. 

2113 Lewis Turner Blvd., Suite 100 

Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547 

bgordon@anchorsgordon.com 

aizzo@anchorsgordon.com 

cyndi@anchorsgordon.com 

mary@anchorsgordon.com 

SARAH WILBANKS 

NATHANIEL H. HUNT 

PETER J. KIRSCH 

Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP 

1675 Broadway, Suite 2300 

Denver, CO 80202 

swilbanks@kaplankirsch.com 

nhunt@kaplankirsch.com 

pkirsch@kaplankirsch.com 

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT 

JAY A. ODOM 

GREGORY T. STEWART 

LYNN M. HOSHIHARA 

KERRY A. PARSONS 

Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, P.A. 

1500 Mahan Drive, Suite 200 

Tallahassee, Florida 32308 

(850) 224-4070 

(850) 224-4073 Facsimile 

gstewart@ngnlaw.com 

lhoshihara@ngnlaw.com 

kparsons@ngnlaw.com 

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legal-admin@ngnlaw.com 

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT 

OKALOOSA COUNTY, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 

DAVID M. SOBOTKIN 

Trial Attorney 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Civil Division, Fraud Section 

Post Office Box 261 

Ben Franklin Station 

Washington, D.C. 20044 

(202) 353-1291 

David.m.sobotkin@usdoj.gov 

ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

And by regular U.S. mail to the State of Florida

ASHLEY MOODY, ATTORNEY GENERAL 

Office of the Attorney General 

State of Florida 

PL-01 The Capitol 

Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050 

and 

JIMMY PATRONIS, Chief Financial Officer 

Florida Department of Financial Services 

200 East Gaines Street 

Tallahassee, FL 32399 

/s/ Elizabeth C. Billhimer 

ELIZABETH C. BILLHIMER 

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