In a pair of separate incidents, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has reported the arrests of two former law enforcement officers, with charges including battery and theft. The former corrections officer, 25-year-old Taaron Clayton, was arrested on December 30 by the JSO’s Integrity Unit for allegedly exposing himself to a victim and grabbing their hips, details shared in a social media post by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Due to the ongoing investigation and to protect the individual involved in the incident, the JSO has withheld further identifying information about the victim, Clayton, who was still on probation at the time of the incident, was promptly fired following his arrest which was the seventh such arrest of a JSO employee in 2025. In a separate investigation, the JSO’s Integrity Unit arrested Nicholas Hicks, 46, a former police officer, on January 6, for grand theft and official misconduct, after it was discovered that he had been paid for secondary employment at a hospital from which he was frequently absent, the absences totaled more than 52 hours with Hicks receiving over $2,600 for work he did not perform between June 12 and December 30, 2025, Hicks chose to resign immediately following his arrest marking the first for a JSO employee in the new year.
The office of Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey announced these incidents, conveying the message that the law applies to everyone equally, stating, “Nobody, including our officers and employees, is above the law.” Jacksonville’s community looks on as the sheriff’s office continues to hold its own accountable, presenting another layer to the conversation around police integrity and professional standards, as per the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office…