| 15 | 15 | | An act relating to county constitutional officers; 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | creating s. 125.691, F.S.; prohibiting a county from 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | creating any office, special district, or governmental 4 |
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| 18 | 18 | | unit, or expanding the powers or authority of such 5 |
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| 19 | 19 | | office, district, or unit, under certain conditions; 6 |
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| 20 | 20 | | providing that a county commissioner is guilty of 7 |
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| 21 | 21 | | misfeasance or malfeasance in office under certain 8 |
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| 22 | 22 | | conditions; authorizing the state to withhold certa in 9 |
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| 23 | 23 | | county funding under certain conditions; authorizing 10 |
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| 24 | 24 | | certain county constitutional officers and residents 11 |
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| 25 | 25 | | to bring an action in circuit court under certain 12 |
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| 26 | 26 | | conditions; authorizing and prohibiting certain 13 |
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| 27 | 27 | | remedies; amending s. 129.01, F.S.; prohibiting a 14 |
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| 28 | 28 | | board of county commissioners' budget from providing 15 |
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| 29 | 29 | | funding to such offices, districts, and units under 16 |
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| 30 | 30 | | certain conditions; amending s. 129.021, F.S.; 17 |
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| 31 | 31 | | conforming a cross-reference; providing an effective 18 |
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| 32 | 32 | | date. 19 |
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| 33 | 33 | | 20 |
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| 34 | 34 | | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21 |
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| 35 | 35 | | 22 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Section 1. Section 125.691, Florida Statutes, is created 23 |
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| 37 | 37 | | to read: 24 |
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| 38 | 38 | | 125.691 Prohibition against duplicating county 25 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Page 2 of 4 |
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| 47 | 47 | | F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S |
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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | |
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| 50 | 50 | | |
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| 51 | 51 | | constitutional office powers or authority; penalties; remedies. — 26 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (1) A county may not create any office, special di strict, 27 |
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| 53 | 53 | | or governmental unit, or expand the powers or authority of any 28 |
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| 54 | 54 | | existing office, special district, or governmental unit, for the 29 |
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| 55 | 55 | | purpose of exercising any power or authority allocated 30 |
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| 56 | 56 | | exclusively to a sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, 31 |
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| 57 | 57 | | supervisor of elections, or clerk of the court by the State 32 |
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| 58 | 58 | | Constitution or general law. 33 |
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| 59 | 59 | | (2) A county commissioner who votes in favor of a proposed 34 |
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| 60 | 60 | | ordinance to create an office, special district, or governmental 35 |
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| 61 | 61 | | unit, or expand the powers or authority of an existing office, 36 |
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| 62 | 62 | | special district, or governmental unit, for the purpose of 37 |
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| 63 | 63 | | exercising any power or authority allocated exclusively to a 38 |
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| 64 | 64 | | sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of 39 |
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| 65 | 65 | | elections, or clerk of the court by the State Constitution o r 40 |
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| 66 | 66 | | general law is guilty of misfeasance or malfeasance in office. 41 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (3) If a county adopts an ordinance pursuant to subsection 42 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (2), the state may withhold all or part of any distribution 43 |
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| 69 | 69 | | under part II of chapter 218 which is otherwise allocable to the 44 |
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| 70 | 70 | | county, other than any distribution exclusively for school 45 |
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| 71 | 71 | | purposes or required for existing bond debt service, during the 46 |
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| 72 | 72 | | period such ordinance is in force. 47 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (4) A sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, 48 |
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| 74 | 74 | | supervisor of elections, clerk of the court, or any resident of 49 |
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| 75 | 75 | | a county may bring an action in circuit court against a county 50 |
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| 83 | 83 | | Page 3 of 4 |
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| 84 | 84 | | F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S |
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| 85 | 85 | | |
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| 86 | 86 | | |
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| 87 | 87 | | |
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| 88 | 88 | | that violates this section. The court may enter a judgment 51 |
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| 89 | 89 | | awarding declaratory and injunctive relief, damages, and costs. 52 |
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| 90 | 90 | | The court may also award reasonable attorney fees to the 53 |
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| 91 | 91 | | prevailing party; however, the court may not award reasonable 54 |
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| 92 | 92 | | attorney fees to a county as the prevailing party. 55 |
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| 93 | 93 | | Section 2. Paragraphs (b) through (e) of subsection (2) of 56 |
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| 94 | 94 | | section 129.01, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs 57 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (c) through (f), respectively, and a new paragraph (b) is added 58 |
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| 96 | 96 | | to that subsection to read: 59 |
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| 97 | 97 | | 129.01 Budget system established. —A budget system for the 60 |
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| 98 | 98 | | control of the finances of the boards of county commissioners of 61 |
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| 99 | 99 | | the several counties of the state is established as fo llows: 62 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (2) The budget must conform to the following general 63 |
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| 101 | 101 | | directions and requirements: 64 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (b) The budget may not provide funding to any office, 65 |
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| 103 | 103 | | special district, or governmental unit exercising any power or 66 |
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| 104 | 104 | | authority allocated exclusively to a sheriff, tax collector, 67 |
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| 105 | 105 | | property appraiser, supervisor of elections, or clerk of the 68 |
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| 106 | 106 | | court by the State Constitution or general law. 69 |
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| 107 | 107 | | Section 3. Section 129.021, Florida Statutes, is amended 70 |
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| 108 | 108 | | to read: 71 |
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| 109 | 109 | | 129.021 County officer budget information. —Notwithstanding 72 |
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| 110 | 110 | | other provisions of law, the budgets of all county officers, as 73 |
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| 111 | 111 | | submitted to the board of county commissioners, must be in 74 |
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| 112 | 112 | | sufficient detail and contain such information as the board of 75 |
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