[Cl3] E4 // Fl(Cl) Lg

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Florida Constitutional Law

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

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[CL3] E4 // FL(CL) F12

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Local Government (Generally):

Two-Tiered Form of Govt/ Home Rule Powers

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- Counties and Municipalities are the two most important units of local government in FL.
- They overlap each other geographically in what is called a "two-tiered form of government."
- Both counties and municipalities have "Home Rule" powers - Meaning they may govern themselves by their own ordinances.

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Local Government - COUNTY(Generally):

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COUNTIES are "political subdivision of the state."

- May be CHARTERED or NONCHARTERED.

- Chartering broadens the scope of local govt power.

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Local Government - Municipalities (Generally):

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MUNICIPALITIES are "creatures of the state."

Municipalities perform traditional functions to protect the health, welfare, safety and morals of citizens.

- Threshold determination of the validity of an ordinances whether it is valid for a municipal purpose.

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Local Government - CHARTER Counties:

Chartering a county broadens the scope of local government power - COUNTIES operating under a CHARTER may have: (2)

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CHARTER Counties:

(i) May have ALL POWERS NOT INCONSISTENT with GENERAL Law OR with SPECIAL Law approved by vote of the electors, and

(ii) May ENACT ANY ORDINANCE that is not inconsistent with General Law.


[Exception: Dade County charter supersedes Special Law.]

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Local Government - NONCHARTER Counties:

What is the authority of a NONCHARTER County to enact Ordinances?

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NONCHARTER Counties:

The County Commissioner of a NONCHARTER county may enact ordinances ONLY as provided by General or Special law.

Thus, the authority for noncharter county ordinances is general and special law.

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Local Government - Conflict of Laws:

County-Municipality Conflict: If there is a conflict between a County ordinance and a Municipal ordinance, who will prevail?

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County-Municipality Conflict:

If there is a conflict between a County ordinance and a Municipal ordinance, the MUNICIPALITY ALWAYS PREVAILS in the conflict IF THE COUNTY IS NONCHARTERED.

IF THE COUNTY IS CHARTERED, the charter will contain a SUPREMACY CLAUSE to settle the conflict between ordinances dealing with the PROVISION of SERVICES (e.g., Police, fire, housing, etc.).

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Local Government:

County + Municipality Consolidation:

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County and municipal government may be consolidated by special law approved by the electors.

• Or a Municipality may transfer individual functions to the county by vote or contract.

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Local Government - Counties and Municipalities (Generally)

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➢ COUNTIES: A county is a political subdivision of the state. A County may be CHARTERED or NON-CHARTERED. Chartering a county significantly broadens the scope of local government power.

* CHARTER Counties - Have all powers not inconsistent w/ general law or special law. (Exception: Dade Co. charter supersedes special law)

* NON-CHARTERED - May enact ordinances only as provided by general law or special law.

➢ MUNICIPALITIES: Municipality is creature of state. Perform traditional functions to protect the health, welfare, safety and morals of citizens. The threshold determination of the validity of an ordinances whether it is valid for a municipal purpose.

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Local Government: Conflicts of Law - Preemption:

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STATE law always preempts conflicting county law (either charter or non-charter) or conflicting municipal ordinance.

COUNTY / MUNICIPALITY CONFLICTS:

➢ If county is NON-CHARTERED: Municipality law will always preempt a nonchartered county ordinance.

➢ If county is a CHARTERED: Resolving the conflict depends upon whether the conflict is related to the provision of "services," or whether the conflicting county and municipal are "regulatory" in nature...

- SERVICES: If the conflict is related to "Services" - look to the county's charter for a Supremacy Clause to resolve the conflict.

- REGULATORY: If the conflict is "Regulatory" in nature - the Charter county ordinance preempts the municipal ordinance.

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Categories of Law:

GENERAL LAW

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General Laws apply UNIFORMLY STATEWIDE to ALL PERSONS and CIRCUMSTANCES.

- A statute is a general law if it operates uniformly throughout the state, even though it applies to only one classified group, as long as it is a reaosnable classification based on some difference reasonably related to the subject matter regulated.

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Categories of Law:

Special Laws

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SPECIAL LAWS are laws that relate to, or designated to operate on, KNOWN specific persons or things in a specifically indicated part of the state.

To pass a Special Law: (i) NOTICE of intention to seek its enactment must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in each affected county; or (ii) approved by REFERRENUM VOTE of electors of the area affected.


A special law is NOT converted into a general law by the legislature's tresting and passing it as a general law.

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Categories of Law:

General Law of Local Application (GLLA)

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A General Law of Local Application is one that is LIMITED to a GEOGRAPHIC AREA established by POPULATION.

- GLLA applies to a part of the state RESTRICTED by MIN or MAX POP figures.

-REFERENDUM vote or NOTICE is NOT REQUIRED

General law of local application = Law has population reference (i.e., counties more than 20,000 residents and less than 100,000 residents). Cannot pertain to anything that requires statewide uniformity (i.e., punishment of crimes, petit juries).

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Categories of Law:

What GENERAL LAWS are subject to attack?

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Categories of Law:

GENERAL LAWS that clearly apply only to known, specific individuals or geographic areas and that exclude others are subject to attack both as equal protection violations and as improperly enacted special laws.

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Florida Con Law - Local Government

"Home Rule" Powers

[Canned Paragraph]

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In Florida, there is a TWO-TIERED form of local government, with COUNTIES and MUNICIPALITIES overlapping each other geographically and each having "HOME RULE" POWERS.

A COUNTY may be either CHARTERED or NON-CHARTERED.

- CHARTERING a County broadens the scope of local government power. A CHARTERED county (i) may have all powers not inconsistent with General Law or Special Law (approved by a vote of electors), and (ii) may enact any Ordinance that's not inconsistent with General Law.

- The County Commissioner of a NON-CHARTERED County may enact Ordinances as provided by General or Special Law.

[Conflicts]

1) If there's a conflict between a County and Municipal Ordinance, the MUNICIPALITY *always prevails* IF the county is NON-Chartered.

2) If the County is CHARTERED, the charter will contain a *Supremacy Clause* to settle the conflict between the ordinances dealing with the provision of [[SERVICES]] (e.g., police, fire, housing, etc.).

3) However, if the subject matter of the conflicting ordinances is [[REGULATORY]] in nature, the CHARTER County ordinance *will preempt* the Municipal ordinance.