Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann Has Been Ordered to Serve 10 Days in Jail. She Must Report by August 10.

Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann has been ordered to serve 10 days in the Collier County Jail after a judge found she violated her probation, a ruling that sets a deadline of August 10 for the sitting mayor of Naples to begin serving a jail sentence.

Collier County Judge Rob Crown issued the ruling Monday, modifying Heitmann's probation to include the 10-day jail term while allowing her to serve it on weekends rather than consecutively. Her probation was also extended to May 16, 2027, and she was ordered to pay $50 in prosecution costs.

Heitmann has been on probation since February 2026, when she pleaded no contest to a DUI charge stemming from her August 2024 arrest. Naples police stopped her after receiving a call from a couple who reported a silver vehicle following them from the 12th Avenue South and 3rd Street South restaurant corridor to their home. A breathalyzer test at the Naples Jail Center recorded blood-alcohol levels of 0.155 and 0.169, more than double Florida's 0.08 legal limit.

Under that plea agreement, Heitmann was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 12 months of probation, a $1,000 fine, random drug testing, substance abuse evaluation, DUI school, a six-month driver's license revocation, an ignition interlock device, and 50 hours of community service. Her attorneys had spent more than a year challenging evidence before she entered the no-contest plea on the day her trial was scheduled to begin.

The probation violation was triggered by a March 2026 drug test administered by her probation officer that came back positive for cannabinoids, THC. Heitmann denied using marijuana and submitted two additional tests taken the same day that came back negative. Her attorneys argued those negative tests cast doubt on the probation officer's positive result.

Judge Crown rejected that argument. He ruled from the bench that the two negative tests looked at more long-term use patterns while the state's random test captured more recent consumption. He found her guilty of the probation violation and imposed the 10-day sentence.

As Heitmann left the courtroom, she continued arguing her innocence.

The community reaction reflects the complexity of a situation that involves both legal accountability and the functioning of city government.

Some residents said the sentence seemed light relative to what an ordinary person would face. Others expressed support for rehabilitation over punishment.

Collier County Republican Executive Chair Joe Meo told WINK News it's unfortunate when people have substance use problems but described Heitmann as a good person who needs to get some things under control.

Fred Lepore, a longtime Republican leader in Collier County and chair of Naples Better Government, has previously called Gov. DeSantis' office about the situation and said publicly that the mayor's office cannot be run from a jail cell.

Heitmann must begin serving the 10-day jail sentence no later than August 10, one day before Collier County Public Schools opens for the new school year. The weekend-only format means she will serve the sentence in five two-day increments rather than 10 consecutive days.

Her probation now runs through May 16, 2027. All other conditions of her original probation that were not specifically modified by Monday's ruling remain in effect — including the prohibition on alcohol consumption outside her home and continued random drug testing.

Whether Heitmann will serve out her mayoral term while fulfilling a jail sentence is a question Naples residents and city officials are now actively discussing. No recall petition or removal proceeding has been formally initiated as of this writing.

Naples News Network will continue to cover this story as it develops.

Information sourced from FL Voice News, WINK News, Naples Daily News/AOL, and Collier County court records.