Florida city manager candidate arrested in sex offender registry violation roundup

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office conducted a "sex offender registry violation roundup" early Monday morning.

Multiple convicted offenders were arrested. This includes 50-year-old April Watson, who's in the running to be the Town of Jay's next manager.

The sheriff's office says they do these sweeps to find offenders who aren't updating their personal information.

In the state of Florida, convicted sex offenders and predators must make their local sheriff's office aware of any changes to their personal info or they could face felony charges.

On Monday, deputies arrested Watson and others for felony sex offender violations.

Watson -- the Town of Jay's current operations manager -- is a convicted sex offender who served 12 months in prison for having sex with students at Jay High School in 2007.

The sheriff's office say they do sex offender registry violation roundups several times a year.

They could not share details about Monday's arrests, specific charges, or how many people were arrested during the roundup.

Caption: 50-year-old April Watson, who's in the running to be the Town of Jay's next manager, was arrested during "sex offender registry violation roundup." (WEAR)

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement requires sex offenders to comply with multiple checks at their local sheriff's office.

For example, if a convicted sex offender changes their home address, purchases a new car, gets a new job or gets a new phone number, they must report that information.

"In the event that a child goes missing and you have a situation whereby there is a registered sex offender who is in that high risk category for again, making an attack on a child, then knowing the type of car and the pertinent information can help law enforcement and members of the community who are alerted through any system to be on the lookout and hopefully get there in time before the child suffers further abuse or even worse," said Mary Bush, president of "Child Guardians Inc."

Bush says she's thankful for registries like this that keep the public informed.

"So with this tracking system, law enforcement's able to keep tabs on the highest risk areas so that they can check in to see if those people are following their program or to see if they have just somehow absconded the entire system in an effort to become a predator again, in which case then they can be on the lookout for them," Bush said. "But also parents can find out, teachers can find out within their own area, within their own neighborhood, if they have a sex offender that's on the registry."

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In June, the Jay Town Council decided to delay a vote on Watson's selection for manager.

WEAR News reached out to Jay Mayor Shon Owens for comment on Watson's recent arrest.

WEAR News wanted to know how this will affect her hiring application. Owens sent a text, reading "not at this time. We are waiting for more information."

In an update Tuesday morning, the Town of Jay released a statement saying its council voted Monday night to suspend Watson from her current position with pay. Here is the full statement:

The Town of Jay is aware that April Watson was arrested on July 20, 2026. At this time , the Town has limited information about the charges against Ms. Watson or any of the facts and circumstances which led to this arrest. The Town recognizes that any information represents only one side of any story and does not necessarily indicate that the individual charged is guilty. As such, the Town of Jay owes it to all involved to act deliberately with full knowledge of the facts and with fairness towards all.

As such, at the regularly scheduled Town of Jay meeting held on July 20. 2026, the Town Council voted to suspend April Watson from her position with pay. The Town is currently working to gather information and will make a decision on how to proceed based on a thorough review of all the facts and circumstances. After a review is completed, the Council will determine what additional actions are needed.

Watson remains in Santa Rosa County Jail Tuesday morning. Her bond has still not been posted.