Jeff Tillman, the former Auburndale city manager, will not face trial on a battery charge that led to his departure from the city.
The State Attorney’s Office for the 10th Judicial Circuit filed a notice of “no bill” on July 7. Tillman has completed the terms of a deferred prosecution program, Assistant State Attorney Hunter Tufts wrote in the order.
Tillman, 42, was arrested in October 2025 and charged with battery over an incident that occurred at an Auburndale restaurant the previous December. An 18-year-old waitress alleged that an inebriated Tillman hugged and kissed her against her will while sitting at the bar.
The diversionary program required Tillman to submit to an alcohol/substance abuse evaluation, write a letter of apology to the accuser and pay the costs of an investigation to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Assistant State Attorney Jacob Orr said by email.
The Auburndale City Commission voted 5-0 on Oct. 31 to accept Tillman’s resignation offer. Commissioners granted his request for a separation agreement paying him about $156,000. That included 20 weeks of severance pay, nearly $77,000 for unused sick time, vacation time, holiday and compensatory time and about $4,500 for 20 weeks of medical and dental coverage.
The battery charge resulted from a visit Tillman made on Dec. 21, 2024, to the Brack Shack Bar & Grill in downtown Auburndale. Police Chief Terry Storie referred the case to the Sheriff’s Office to avoid any potential conflict of interest, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation into Tillman in April 2025. That led to the State Attorney’s Office filing an information report Oct. 20 charging him with battery, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The accuser told investigators that Tillman was “visibly intoxicated” and was “slurring his speech and nearly fell off his chair on several occasions,” SAO investigator Chad McConchie wrote in a report.
About 9:30 p.m., the waitress approached Tillman and suggested he eat some bread to help metabolize the alcohol he had consumed. Tillman smiled and placed his arm around her waist, pulling her toward him in a hug and kissing her forehead, McConchie wrote.
The woman “immediately said ‘nope’ and pulled away from Tillman,” he wrote. The waitress did not know Tillman and did not consent to his touching her, McConchie’s report said.
At some point after the incident, the waitress learned who Tillman was because her family had recently been involved in civil litigation with Auburndale that involved the family being relocated to temporary residence in a hotel, a Sheriff’s Office investigator reported.
By the time the woman filed her complaint, the surveillance video from the restaurant was no longer available, the PCSO investigator wrote.
Tillman pleaded not guilty to the charge, and after several delays, a trial in the case had been set for July 14.
Tillman had not responded by 5 p.m. on July 15 to a voicemail left earlier that afternoon.
Tillman, a 2003 graduate of Auburndale High School, began working for the city at age 16 after school and during summers, The Ledger has reported. He was hired as Auburndale’s assistant city manager in 2016 and rose to the city’s top role in 2021 upon the retirement of longtime City Manager Bobby Green.
Under his contract, Tillman would not have been entitled to severance pay if he were dismissed for misconduct as defined in state statutes. Before the commission vote in October, Auburndale City Attorney Frederick J. Murphy said that the circumstances did not meet that legal threshold. Tillman’s annual salary was $181,160.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Former Auburndale city manager Tillman avoids trial on battery charge
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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By Gary White, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
