Lawsikia J. Hodges

Lawsikia Hodges has over 20 years of private and public transactional experience, and she represents local government clients in all facets of government operations. As one of her peers stated regarding Lawsikia, “her research is exhaustive, her opinions are always fully supported, and her effort on behalf of her client is relentless. She is respected by her colleagues and a pleasure to work with.” As the former Deputy General Counsel of the Office of General Counsel, City of Jacksonville, she has previously offered invaluable counsel to a wide array of City of Jacksonville, Duval County, governmental entities, including the Jacksonville Mayor, 19-member Jacksonville City Council, special districts, independent authorities, and various local government boards and commissions. Her practice spans across a broad spectrum of local government law and transactional work, encompassing real estate and public finance transactions, government procurement, budget ordinances, economic development and incentives, community redevelopment, federal and local grants, land use and zoning, interlocal and interagency government agreements, quasi-judicial proceedings, sunshine law compliance, public records management, and state ethics laws governing public officials and employees.

Lawsikia has led legal initiatives for several municipalities and special district governmental entities in Duval, St. Johns, and Clay Counties including the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT), JEA, Jacksonville Housing Authority (JHA), Jacksonville Housing Finance Authority (JHFA), Police and Fire Pension Board of Trustees (PFPF), the Research Development Authority (RDA), the Duval County School Board, the Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County, and the Town of Orange Park. Lawsikia was instrumental in formulating policies and procedures for the City of Jacksonville’s Real Estate Code, Government Procurement Code, and Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business Program. She also formulated grant policies and procedures for the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA), Duval County Tourist Development Council (TDC), Public Service Grant Council, Kids Hope Alliance (KHA), and Jacksonville Housing and Community Development Commission (JHCDC).

Lawsikia is a member of several legal associations, including the Florida Bar Association, the Jacksonville Bar Association, the D.W. Perkins Bar Association, the Florida Association of County Attorneys, the Florida Municipal Lawyers Association, Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association, the Jacksonville Women’s Network, and the Catholic Lawyers Guild. Lawsikia is a Leadership Jacksonville and Leadership Clay graduate, and she currently serves on the nonprofit boards of the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Inc. (MOCA), WJCT Inc., , Young Catholic Professionals, Inc. (Jacksonville Chapter), the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, Inc., Pace Center for Girls Clay, and Challenge Enterprises of North Florida, Inc. Lawsikia is an active member of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church where she serves as a lector, adorer, eucharistic minister, and lay ecclesial minister. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading spiritual books, and attending the Jacksonville Symphony.

Lawsikia's Practice

Representative Matters

• Serves as the Town Attorney for the Town of Orange Park, Florida, overseeing all legal services for the town regarding parliamentary procedures, town council meetings, ordinance and statutory interpretations, contracts, procurement, collective bargaining, code enforcement hearings, red-light camera hearings, planning and zoning meetings, redevelopment agreements, real estate, home rule and police power, sunshine law, public records, ethics and financial disclosure
• Serves as the District Attorney for the Anastasia Mosquito Control District of St. Johns County, overseeing all legal services for the special district regarding parliamentary procedures, district meetings, statutory interpretations, sunshine law, public records, and ethics and financial disclosure
• Advised and represented clients on all facets of the local government legislative process, including filing legislation and attending public meetings
• Represented clients in all facets of local government economic incentives, including historic preservation grants, revenue enhancement grants, façade grants, and multi-million redevelopment incentives and economic development agreements
• Counseled public and private clients on government procurement contracts and matters, including government solicitation responses, bid protests proceedings, small business programs, engineering and design services contracts, energy efficiency and savings contracts, public private partnerships, and overhaul of procurement policies, procedures and contracts
• Represented and advocated for public and elected officials seeking favorable advisory ethics opinions before the State of Florida Commission on Ethics
• Served as issuer counsel on tax exempt conduit bond finance projects for housing finance authority and housing authorities for rehabilitation and new construction family development totaling over 150 million
• Led multiple substantial charter and ordinance code rewrites in the areas of procurement, community redevelopment, small businesses, state and local grants, and housing
• Counseled and represented private clients in code enforcement hearings regarding county and municipal code enforcement violations