SWEETWATER, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier was in Sweetwater on Thursday to announce a new “Public Integrity Unit” focused on fighting corruption, but his news conference was overshadowed by questions about his part-time teaching job at the University of Florida’s law school.
The Miami Herald reports that Uthmeier is being paid $100,000 per year to teach two hours per week, making him “the highest-paid adjunct professor at UF’s Levin College of Law in at least a quarter century.”
That’s sparking questions and criticism, including from a fellow Republican.
State Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, who has publicly sparred with Uthmeier in the past, said in a post on social media platform X, “The unelected AG, @JamesUthmeierFL, says his overpaid, taxpayer(-)funded side gig is justified because his $150,000 salary as AG simply ‘isn’t enough to keep the lights on(.)’ What world is he living in?”
Uthmeier cut short the Sweetwater news conference, held at an office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, shortly after getting questions about the job.
“I’m not just some guest lecturer. I am part of the faculty. I do teach a couple classes; some professors, I think, teach more. Some teach less. I think I make well below the average salary for a law professor,” he said. “Like I said, I’m committed. I want to see UF go up in the rankings. I think it’s an outstanding school with outstanding students, and hopefully I’ll be able to, convince a couple of the bright ones to come into the AG’s office or work for our great U.S. attorney or prosecutors and give back to the state.”
Uthmeier was asked, “And you said you drive there. Are you able to say if that’s state-funded or personally funded?”
He wouldn’t answer and ended the event.
“It seems like this is what the left news media wants to talk about,” he said. “I’m focused on fighting crime and public corruption. All right. Thanks, everybody.”
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