HB 4001 2025
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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to Lee County; amending the Lee County 2
Home Rule Charter to require additional members for 3
the board of county commissioners under certain 4
circumstances; providing for a chair and vice chair; 5
revising circumstances under which district boundaries 6
are changed; providing requirements for redistricting 7
plans and districts; requiring a referendum; providing 8
effective dates. 9
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11
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Section 1. Subsections A. and B. of section 2.2 of Article 13
II of the Lee County Home Rule Charter are amended to read: 14
Section 2.2: Legislative Branch 15
A. The County Commission Composition, Election and Term s 16
of Members 17
(1) Composition and Election 18
(a) The governing body of the County shall be a Board of 19
County Commissioners composed of five (5) members serving 20
staggered terms of four (4) years. There shall be one 21
Commissioner for each of the five (5) Cou nty Commission 22
districts established pursuant to general law and they shall be 23
elected in a partisan election on a county -wide basis by the 24
electors of the County. Each County Commissioner during the term 25
HB 4001 2025
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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
of office shall reside in the district from which s uch County 26
Commissioner ran for office, provided that any County 27
Commissioner who is removed from a district by redistricting may 28
continue to serve during the balance of the term of office. 29
(b) Beginning with the 2028 general election: 30
1. The Board of County Commissioners shall be composed of 31
at least five (5) members elected in single -member districts 32
serving staggered terms of four (4) years. 33
2. Upon the county exceeding a population of 1 million in 34
a decennial census, the Board of County Commission ers shall have 35
an additional member elected in a single -member district such 36
that no district shall be composed of fewer than 100,000 nor 37
more than 200,000 persons. 38
3. The Board of County Commissioners shall elect a chair 39
and vice chair from among its m embership. 40
(2) Terms of County Commissioners 41
No Commissioner shall serve more than three (3) consecutive 42
terms on the Board. No previous term in office which is in 43
progress as of November 2014 shall be considered a term of 44
service for purposes of the li mitations contained herein. 45
B. Redistricting 46
(1) County Commission district boundaries shall be changed 47
only after the completion of a decennial census and a notice and 48
a public hearing as provided by general law. 49
(2) No redistricting plan or district boundaries shall be 50
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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
drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or 51
an incumbent. Districts shall not be drawn with the intent to 52
diminish the ability of the electors to elect representatives of 53
their choice, and, where feasible, districts shall consist of 54
contiguous and compact territories, nearly equal in population 55
as is practicable, and shall use existing political and 56
geographical boundaries. 57
Section 2. Referendum election. — 58
(1) A referendum on the adoption of section 1 of this act 59
shall be held on November 3, 2026, the 2026 general election. 60
(2) The ballot title for the referendum question shall be 61
in substantially the following form: "REFERENDUM PROVIDING FOR 62
THE STRUCTURE OF THE COUNTY LE GISLATIVE BRANCH." 63
(3) The referendum question shall be placed on the ballot 64
in substantially the following form: 65
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"Shall Chapter 2025- , Laws of Florida, which amends the Lee 67
County Home Rule Charter to provide standards of redistricting 68
and to provide that, beginning with the 2028 general election, 69
the Board of County Commissioners shall be composed of a minimum 70
of five members elected in single -member districts, become 71
effective? 72
( ) Yes. 73
( ) No." 74
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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
(4) The referendum shall be conducted by the Su pervisor of 76
Elections of Lee County in accordance with the Florida Election 77
Code. 78
Section 3. This act shall take effect only upon its 79
approval by a majority vote of those qualified electors of Lee 80
County voting in a referendum to be held in conjunction with the 81
2026 general election, except that this section and section 2 82
shall take effect upon becoming a law. 83