FL
Florida House Bill H1189

Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1189 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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1010 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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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to elections of county commissioners, 2
1616 district school board members, and district school 3
1717 superintendents; amending s. 124.01, F.S.; 4
1818 establishing county commissioner districts based on 5
1919 the population of the county; requiring county 6
2020 commissioners to be nominated and elected by qualified 7
2121 electors who reside in the same county commissioner 8
2222 district as the commissioner; requiring membership of 9
2323 a board of county commissioners to be based on certain 10
2424 population criteria for each county; requiring 11
2525 commissioners to be elected at a specified time and 12
2626 terms to be staggered; providing applicability; 13
2727 repealing s. 124.011, F.S., relating to an alternate 14
2828 procedure for the election of county commissioners to 15
2929 provide for single-member representation; amending s. 16
3030 100.041, F.S.; conforming a provision to changes made 17
3131 by the act; amending s. 1001.34, F.S.; revising the 18
3232 membership of district school boards; requiring 19
3333 membership to be based on certain population criteria 20
3434 for each county; requiring membership to be i dentical 21
3535 to that of the board of county commissioners; 22
3636 authorizing a specified change to such membership if 23
3737 certain conditions are met; removing provisions 24
3838 relating to modification of the number of district 25
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4747 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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5151 school board members; repealing s. 1001.36, F.S., 26
5252 relating to district school board member residence 27
5353 areas; amending s. 1001.361, F.S.; requiring members 28
5454 of the district school board to be elected by the 29
5555 qualified electors who reside in the same school 30
5656 district as the member; repealing s. 1001.362, F.S., 31
5757 relating to an alternate procedure for the election of 32
5858 district school board members to provide for single -33
5959 member representation; amending s. 1001.46, F.S.; 34
6060 revising provisions relating to the election and term 35
6161 of office for district school superintendent s; 36
6262 repealing s. 1001.461, F.S., relating to procedures 37
6363 for making the office of district school 38
6464 superintendent an appointive office; amending ss. 39
6565 1001.38, 1001.50, and 1011.10, F.S.; conforming 40
6666 provisions to changes made by the act; amending s. 41
6767 1002.32, F.S.; conforming cross -references; providing 42
6868 an effective date. 43
6969 44
7070 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 45
7171 46
7272 Section 1. Section 124.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to 47
7373 read: 48
7474 124.01 Division of counties into districts; election of 49
7575 county commissioners to provide for single -member 50
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8484 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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8888 representation; applicability .— 51
8989 (1) There shall be five county commissioners' districts in 52
9090 each county, which shall be numbered one to five, inclusive, and 53
9191 shall be as nearly equal in proportion to populatio n as 54
9292 possible. 55
9393 (1)(2) County commissioner districts shall be established 56
9494 in each county, the number of which shall be based on the 57
9595 population of the county. There shall be one county commissioner 58
9696 for each of such county commissioners' districts, who shal l be 59
9797 nominated and elected by the qualified electors who reside in 60
9898 the same county commissioner district as the county commissioner 61
9999 of the county, as provided by s. 1(e), Art. VIII of the State 62
100100 Constitution. The membership of a board of county commissioner s 63
101101 shall be based on the population of each county, according to 64
102102 the last state census, as follows: 65
103103 (a) In each county having a population of 2.5 million or 66
104104 more: 13 members. 67
105105 (b) In each county having a population of 1.25 -2.499 68
106106 million: nine members. 69
107107 (c) In each county having a population of 750,000 -1.249 70
108108 million: seven members. 71
109109 (d) In each county having a population of 749,000 or less: 72
110110 five members. 73
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112112 However, a board of county commissioners may have more 75
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121121 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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125125 commissioners and districts than those prescr ibed based on 76
126126 population. 77
127127 (2) At the general election immediately following 78
128128 redistricting directed by s. 1(e), Art. VIII of the State 79
129129 Constitution, each commissioner must be elected and terms 80
130130 thereafter shall be staggered as provided in s. 100.041. 81
131131 (3)(a) The board of county commissioners shall, from time 82
132132 to time, fix the boundaries of the county commissioners' 83
133133 districts so as to keep them as nearly equal in proportion to 84
134134 population as practicable, provided that changes made in the 85
135135 boundaries of county commissioner districts pursuant to this 86
136136 section may not be made in the 270 days before a regular general 87
137137 election for the board of county commissioners. 88
138138 (b) Districts may not be drawn with the intent to favor or 89
139139 disfavor a candidate for county commission or an incumbent 90
140140 county commissioner based on the candidate's or incumbent's 91
141141 residential address. 92
142142 (c) Any ordinance enacted or adopted by a county on or 93
143143 after July 1, 2025 2023, which is in conflict with this 94
144144 subsection is void. 95
145145 (4)(5) This section applies to all counties in this state, 96
146146 including charter counties shall not apply to Miami-Dade County. 97
147147 (5) This section applies to a county with a system of 98
148148 local government under which the mayor serves as the chair of 99
149149 the board of county commissioners and is the executive head of 100
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158158 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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162162 the county. 101
163163 Section 2. Section 124.011, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 102
164164 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 103
165165 100.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 104
166166 100.041 Officers chosen at general election. — 105
167167 (2)(a) Except as provided in s. 124.011 relating to single 106
168168 member districts after decennial redistricting, Each county 107
169169 commissioner from an odd -numbered district shall be elected at 108
170170 the general election in each year the number of which is a 109
171171 multiple of 4, for a 4-year term commencing on the second 110
172172 Tuesday following such election, and each county commissioner 111
173173 from an even-numbered district shall be elected at the general 112
174174 election in each even -numbered year the number of which is not a 113
175175 multiple of 4, for a 4-year term commencing on the second 114
176176 Tuesday following such election. A county commissioner is 115
177177 "elected" for purposes of this paragraph on the date that the 116
178178 county canvassing board certifies the results of the election 117
179179 pursuant to s. 102.151. 118
180180 Section 4. Section 1001.34, Florida Statutes, is amended 119
181181 to read: 120
182182 1001.34 Membership of district school board. — 121
183183 (1) Each district school board shall be composed of not 122
184184 less than five members. The membership of a district school 123
185185 board shall be based on the popu lation of the county, according 124
186186 to the last state census, as follows: 125
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195195 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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199199 (a) In each county having a population of 2.5 million or 126
200200 more: 13 members. 127
201201 (b) In each county having a population of 1.25 -2.499 128
202202 million: nine members. 129
203203 (c) In each county having a p opulation of 750,000 -1.249 130
204204 million: seven members. 131
205205 (d) In each county having a population of 749,000 or less: 132
206206 five members. 133
207207 134
208208 Membership of the district school board shall be identical to 135
209209 membership of the board of county commissioners and may only 136
210210 have more members and districts than those prescribed based on 137
211211 the population which are identical to any such change in the 138
212212 membership of the board of county commissioners or the county 139
213213 commissioners' districts. 140
214214 (2) Each member of the district school board sh all be a 141
215215 qualified elector of the school district in which she or he 142
216216 serves, shall be a resident of the school district school board 143
217217 member residence area from which she or he is elected, and shall 144
218218 maintain said residency throughout her or his term of offi ce. 145
219219 (2) A district school board may modify the number of 146
220220 members on its board by adopting a resolution that establishes 147
221221 the total number of members on the board, which may not be less 148
222222 than five, and the number of members who shall be elected by 149
223223 residence areas or elected at large. The resolution must specify 150
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232232 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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236236 an orderly method and procedure for modifying the membership of 151
237237 the board, including staggering terms of additional members as 152
238238 necessary. If the resolution is adopted, the district school 153
239239 board shall submit to the electors for approval at a referendum 154
240240 held at the next primary or general election the question of 155
241241 whether the number of board members should be modified in 156
242242 accordance with the resolution adopted by the district school 157
243243 board. If the referendu m is approved, election of additional 158
244244 school board members may occur at any primary, general, or 159
245245 otherwise-called special election. 160
246246 Section 5. Section 1001.36, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 161
247247 Section 6. Section 1001.361, Florida Statutes, is amended 162
248248 to read: 163
249249 1001.361 Election of district school board members to 164
250250 provide for single-member representation by districtwide vote .—165
251251 Notwithstanding any provision of local law , or any county 166
252252 charter, the election of members of the district school board 167
253253 shall be elected by must be by vote of the qualified electors 168
254254 who reside in the same school district area as the member of the 169
255255 entire district in a nonpartisan election as provided in chapter 170
256256 105. Each elected candidate for district school board member 171
257257 must, by the date she or he assumes office, be a resident of the 172
258258 school district school board member residence area from which 173
259259 she or he was elected. Each candidate who qualifies to have her 174
260260 or his name placed on the ballot must be listed according to the 175
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269269 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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273273 school district school board member residence area in which she 176
274274 or he is a candidate. Each qualified elector of the district is 177
275275 entitled to vote for one candidate from each district school 178
276276 board member residence area. The candidate from each school 179
277277 district school board member residence area who receives the 180
278278 highest number of votes in the general election shall be elected 181
279279 to the district school board. 182
280280 Section 7. Section 1001.362, Florida Statutes, is 183
281281 repealed. 184
282282 Section 8. Section 1001.46, Florida Statutes, is amended 185
283283 to read: 186
284284 1001.46 District school superintendent; election and term 187
285285 of office.—The district school superintendent shall be elected 188
286286 for a term of 4 years or until the election or appointment and 189
287287 qualification of his or her successor. 190
288288 Section 9. Section 1001.461, Florida Statutes, is 191
289289 repealed. 192
290290 Section 10. Section 1001.38, Florida Statutes, is amended 193
291291 to read: 194
292292 1001.38 Vacancies; how filled. —The office of any district 195
293293 school board member shall be vacant when the member removes his 196
294294 or her residence from the school district school board member 197
295295 residence area from which he or she was elected. All vacancies 198
296296 on the district school board shall be filled by appointment by 199
297297 the Governor. 200
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306306 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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310310 Section 11. Subsection (2) of section 1001.50, Florida 201
311311 Statutes, is amended to read: 202
312312 1001.50 Superintendents employed under Art. IX of the 203
313313 State Constitution.— 204
314314 (2) Each district school board shall enter into an 205
315315 employment contract with the district school superintendent and 206
316316 shall adopt rules relating to his or her appointment; however, 207
317317 if the employment contract contains a provision for severance 208
318318 pay, it must include the provisions required by s. 215.425. 209
319319 Section 12. Subsection (3) of section 1011.10, Florida 210
320320 Statutes, is amended to read: 211
321321 1011.10 Penalty.— 212
322322 (3) If any of the conditions identified in s. 218.503(1) 213
323323 exist within a school district, the salary of each district 214
324324 school board member and district superintendent, calculated 215
325325 pursuant to ss. 1001.395 and 1001.47, shall be withheld until 216
326326 the conditions are corrected. This subsection does not apply to 217
327327 a district school board member or district superintendent 218
328328 elected or appointed within 1 year after the identification of 219
329329 the conditions in s. 218.503(1) if he or she did not participate 220
330330 in the approval or p reparation of the final school district 221
331331 budget adopted before the identification of such conditions. 222
332332 Section 13. Paragraph (a) of subsection (10) of section 223
333333 1002.32, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 224
334334 1002.32 Developmental research (laboratory) sc hools.— 225
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343343 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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347347 (10) EXCEPTIONS TO LAW. —To encourage innovative practices 226
348348 and facilitate the mission of the lab schools, in addition to 227
349349 the exceptions to law specified in s. 1001.23(1), the following 228
350350 exceptions shall be permitted for lab schools: 229
351351 (a) The methods and requirements of the following statutes 230
352352 shall be held in abeyance: ss. 316.75; 1001.30; 1001.31; 231
353353 1001.32; 1001.33; 1001.34; 1001.35; 1001.36; 1001.361; 1001.362; 232
354354 1001.363; 1001.37; 1001.371; 1001.372; 1001.38; 1001.39; 233
355355 1001.395; 1001.40; 1001.41; 100 1.44; 1001.453; 1001.46; 234
356356 1001.461; 1001.462; 1001.463; 1001.464; 1001.47; 1001.48; 235
357357 1001.49; 1001.50; 1001.51; 1006.12(2); 1006.21(3), (4); 1006.23; 236
358358 1010.07(2); 1010.40; 1010.41; 1010.42; 1010.43; 1010.44; 237
359359 1010.45; 1010.46; 1010.47; 1010.48; 1010.49; 1010.5 0; 1010.51; 238
360360 1010.52; 1010.53; 1010.54; 1010.55; 1011.02(1) -(3), (5); 239
361361 1011.04; 1011.20; 1011.21; 1011.22; 1011.23; 1011.71; 1011.72; 240
362362 1011.73; and 1011.74. 241
363363 Section 14. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 242