Florida Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Florida, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Can a Florida school district hand out its student code of conduct online instead of on paper?
Mostly yes, with a catch. The AG concluded that because section 1006.07(2) does not specify how to distribute the student code of conduct, the Broward County School Board had discretion to choose the …
Can a Florida notary notarize a signature over live video instead of in person?
In informal comments, the AG's office read section 117.107(9) to require the signer's actual physical presence before the notary, so a live video teleconference would not satisfy the 'presence' requir…
Are the meetings of a private economic-development council's committees open to the public under Florida's Sunshine Law?
Yes. The AG concluded that the subcommittees of the Lake County Economic Development Advisory Council, though run by a private nonprofit, had to follow the Government in the Sunshine Law. The county h…
Can Florida cities use local option fuel tax money to pay electric and water bills for street lights and traffic signals?
No. The AG concluded that local option fuel tax (LOFT) revenue under section 336.025 could not be used to pay the operational costs (electricity and water) of running street lights, traffic signals, a…
Do city zoning and land use rules apply to a county fair association's grounds inside the city?
Yes. The AG concluded that the City of Brooksville's land use and zoning ordinances applied to property inside the city occupied and operated by the Hernando County Fair Association. Chapter 616, whic…
Do Florida police officers who work 911 dispatch have to be certified as public safety telecommunicators?
Yes, if their duties fit the definition. The AG concluded that under section 401.465(2)(a), as amended by Chapter 2010-188, any public agency employee whose duties include answering, receiving, transf…
What counts as a 'subcounty special district' for Florida's local tourist development tax?
The AG said the phrase 'subcounty special district' in section 125.0104(3)(b) is not defined, so it appears to mean any special district that meets the statute's requirement of embracing all or a sign…
Can a Florida county require a public hearing before a farmer digs an aquaculture pond on agricultural land?
The office declined to comment directly, citing pending Miami-Dade litigation and the rule against opining on another government's actions. As general guidance, it explained that the Florida Right to …
Can a Florida fire district link its official website to its chaplain's religious webpage?
It depends on the content. The office advised that a fire district may run a website, including a fire-chaplain page, but only if the page relates to the chaplain's core crisis-support functions and n…
Can a Florida city council member temporarily serve as acting city manager without violating the dual office-holding ban?
Yes, under these facts. The office concluded that the Polk City Charter designated the duties of acting town manager as an ex officio function of city council members, so the vice mayor's temporary se…
How should a Florida property appraiser assess a home damaged by defective Chinese drywall under the 2010 law?
The office offered informal comments rather than a binding opinion. Chapter 2010-170 (section 193.1552, Florida Statutes) requires a property appraiser to lower the assessed value of a single-family h…
What happens when a Florida city commissioner keeps serving after the term expired and no election was held?
The office declined to resolve it, calling these mixed questions of law and fact about local ordinances and recommending the city seek a court ruling. As general guidance, it suggested the city's four…
Does Florida's Sunshine Law apply to a fact-finding committee that only gathers information for a city council?
It depends on what the committee actually does. The Attorney General's office advised that a body created and used strictly for fact-finding, gathering and reporting information with no decision-makin…
Does serving on the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority count as a public 'office' under Florida's dual office-holding ban?
The office would not give a clean answer. An Ethics Commission member asked whether also sitting on the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority would violate Article II, section 5(a). Because the Authority…
Can a Florida water control district claim roads it maintained under the statutory presumption of dedication?
No. The AG concluded that section 95.361, Florida Statutes, which presumes a road dedicated to the public after four years of continuous government maintenance, applies only to counties, municipalitie…
Can a Florida town dissolve itself through a charter amendment, or only by the statutory dissolution process?
No. The AG concluded that section 165.051, Florida Statutes, sets the exclusive ways to dissolve a Florida municipality: a special act of the Legislature or an ordinance of the governing body approved…
Can a Florida city pause or cut its local business tax outside the every-other-year review?
No. The AG concluded the City of Titusville could not revisit its business-tax reclassification ordinance before the scheduled biennial review or cut individual classifications by more than 5 percent,…
How does a Florida tax collector refund a tax-deed buyer when the property was taxed in error?
The AG concluded that section 197.432(10), Florida Statutes, and Rule 12D-13.057, Florida Administrative Code, govern how a tax collector refunds a tax-deed purchaser when the deed was sold on an impr…
Can a Florida county add its own conditions before a mobile home park is rezoned or redeveloped?
No. Chapter 723, Florida Statutes, preempts local regulation of mobile home parks. The AG concluded a county could not adopt an ordinance imposing extra conditions on redeveloping or rezoning a park o…
Can a Florida county score price along with qualifications when picking an engineering firm under the CCNA?
No, on the first question. The AG concluded the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act (section 287.055) is a qualifications-based selection process, and nothing in it lets an agency weigh compensat…
Can a Florida city commissioner or code-enforcement board member also serve as a special magistrate?
No. The AG concluded that a city commissioner, a planning and zoning commission member, a code enforcement hearing officer, or a regional planning commission member with final-action authority all hol…
Must every Florida tax collector offer the state's electronic vehicle title and registration filing system?
Yes. The AG concluded that section 320.03(10), Florida Statutes, which says the electronic filing system is approved for use in all counties and shall apply uniformly to all tax collectors of the stat…
Are red-light and speed-camera infraction notices public records in Florida, or confidential under driver-privacy law?
Yes. The office advised that section 119.0712(2), Florida Statutes, and the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act protect personal information held by the state motor vehicle department, but once a …
Can a Florida county require its own contractor license from a road contractor already prequalified by the state DOT?
Partly. The AG concluded that Bay County may require bidders on county bridge, road, street, highway, or railroad projects over $250,000 to be qualified, and may set its own prequalification criteria …
Can a Florida regional workforce development board take votes by proxy?
Probably not. The office gave informal comments because a majority of the board had not joined the request. It noted that special districts have only the powers expressly granted or necessarily implie…
Do my confidential tax returns stay private if I use them to appeal my property assessment to a value adjustment board?
Not once you submit them as evidence. In informal comments, the office explained that tax returns are confidential in the hands of the property appraiser under section 193.074, but its prior opinion (…
Can a Florida county spend building inspection fees on general county overhead through a cost allocation plan?
Only for code-enforcement costs. In informal comments, the office explained that building inspection fees collected under section 125.56 must be used solely for enforcing the Florida Building Code, me…
Can an independent fire control district in Florida charge a first responder fee that counties and cities can't?
Yes. The AG concluded that the 2009 ban on first responder fees in sections 125.01045 and 166.0446 applies only to counties and municipalities, not to an independent special district created by the Le…
Do Florida's open-meeting laws apply to special magistrates who hear property tax appeals for a value adjustment board?
Yes. The Florida AG concluded that when special magistrates exercise the value adjustment board's delegated authority (taking testimony and making recommendations the board can adopt without a further…
Can a Florida charter school avoid nepotism rules by having a committee make hiring decisions, and are that committee's meetings public?
Partly. The AG concluded that creating a three-member team to make hiring, promotion, and discipline decisions would not by itself violate the charter school nepotism statute, section 1002.33(24), bec…
Can an off-duty Florida police officer volunteer to serve or sell drinks at a bar or charity event?
Only partly. Section 561.25(1) bars a municipal law enforcement officer from selling alcoholic beverages, even as an unpaid volunteer, at a licensed establishment, and from being employed by an alcoho…
Can a Florida clerk of court charge the county a fee to record a judgment for court costs as a lien?
No. The AG concluded that section 939.185 directs the clerk to cause a certified copy of a cost judgment to be recorded (creating a lien), but the statute does not make the county responsible for a fe…
Can a Florida city use police contraband forfeiture trust funds to build or renovate a police station?
Generally no for the building itself. The office gave only informal comments because the spending had already happened, but it explained that law enforcement trust funds from forfeitures may be used o…
Does a federal HUD conflict-of-interest waiver override Florida's housing authority conflict rules?
The office did not decide that. Because the Attorney General may opine only on questions of state law (section 16.01(3)), the office declined to interpret the federal regulation (24 C.F.R. 982.161) an…
Is a letter sent to a Florida agency by mistake a public record that anyone can request?
Maybe, and the agency decides. The office gave informal comments explaining that whether a document is a public record is controlled by the statutory definition in section 119.011(12), not by the send…
Can a Florida value adjustment board hear a property tax appeal filed after the deadline?
Yes, for good cause. The AG concluded that section 194.011 is not a statute of non-claim, so the filing deadline for petitioning a value adjustment board is not an absolute bar. A board may not extend…
Is a driver's license number in a Florida police report public, and what motor vehicle records are confidential?
A driver's license number that appears in a law enforcement officer's report is not confidential and is subject to public disclosure, no matter how the officer obtained it. Separately, 'personal infor…
Does a Florida clerk of court have to record a document someone claims is an 'agreement'?
It depends, and the clerk decides. The office gave informal comments noting that a clerk may not record a document the law does not authorize or require to be recorded, and that section 28.222(3)(a) l…
Must a Florida school district remove portable classrooms over 20 years old even if they meet state standards?
Not necessarily. The office gave general comments noting it cannot direct an agency to ignore the Legislature, but explained that section 1013.21(1)(a) frames reducing old relocatables as a legislativ…
Are government text messages and BlackBerry PIN messages public records that must be kept in Florida?
This was a policy letter, not a legal opinion answering a question. Attorney General Bill McCollum wrote to the Secretary of State after a Public Service Commission controversy over BlackBerry PIN mes…
Who keeps the records when a county supervisor of elections runs a city's election under contract?
The city, in the office's general view, but the contract and charter control. The office could not resolve the custodian question because it turns on a mixed question of fact and law (the terms of the…
Can a Florida county use tourist development tax money to stock public lakes with game fish?
Probably not. The AG concluded that any tourist development tax spending under section 125.0104 requires the county commission to find the activity directly and primarily promotes tourism, but the rel…
Can a Florida public hospital district lease its property to a partnership it forms with a private for-profit company?
No. The AG concluded that a 51/49 partnership between the North Broward Hospital District's nonprofit subsidiary and a private oncology provider amounted to a 'joint ownership' barred by Article VII, …
When does a tenant-commissioner on a Florida housing authority lose their seat for falling behind on rent?
The AG concluded that under section 421.05(1), Florida Statutes, a tenant-commissioner who is no longer 'current in rent' creates a vacancy in office, and a qualified replacement must be appointed for…
When must a Florida agency release social security numbers to a commercial company that asks for them?
The AG concluded the two statutory subsections on releasing agency-held social security numbers do not conflict and must be read together: an agency may not deny a qualifying commercial entity that su…
Does a Florida county need a supermajority vote to buy waterfront land over $500,000 through a state grant program?
Yes, to the extent the county must vote to approve the purchase. Under section 125.355, Florida Statutes, when a county buys real property for more than $500,000 and the agreed price exceeds the avera…
Can a Florida school board close a meeting to the public when it will discuss confidential student records?
No. The AG concluded that section 1002.22(2)(d), Florida Statutes, does not create an exemption to the Government in the Sunshine Law. A school board meeting to consider a discrimination complaint sta…
What is 'noncancelable' auto insurance coverage in Florida and what proof must a driver keep?
According to this informal opinion from the Attorney General's office, 'noncancelable coverage' under section 324.0221(3), Florida Statutes, means a prepaid policy that cannot be canceled for the peri…
Can a value adjustment board's private lawyer also represent the property appraiser or tax collector in Florida?
No. The AG concluded that under section 194.015, Florida Statutes, the private counsel a value adjustment board hires cannot represent the property appraiser, the tax collector, or any taxing authorit…
Can a Florida city amend its charter to cap its own operating expenditures by referendum?
Yes. The AG concluded that, absent a general law to the contrary, a Florida city may amend its charter, subject to Chapter 166, to impose limits on the city's own operating expenditures. The opinion d…
Can a Florida court clerk index a 'Notice of Federal Tax Lien' as a lien in the county's official records?
Yes. The AG concluded that a clerk of the circuit court, acting as county recorder, may index a document styled 'Notice of Federal Tax Lien' as a 'lien.' The clerk's role is to record and index instru…
Can a Florida city require a council member to sit on its police and firefighter pension boards?
The Attorney General's office declined to issue a formal opinion, because Chapters 175 and 185 are administered by the Division of Retirement and that agency would not join the request. As informal gu…
Is a private economic-development nonprofit subject to Florida's Sunshine and public records laws?
This informal letter declined to issue a formal opinion (the office could only address the legislators' own official duties). On the facts provided, it concluded that Florida's Great Northwest, Inc., …
Can a Florida public board count members joining by phone or video toward its quorum?
No. The AG concluded that the City of Coral Gables retirement board could not adopt a rule treating a member's electronic participation as physical presence for a quorum. A quorum, by its nature, requ…
Can a Florida county pass stricter rules for scrap metal recyclers than state law requires?
Yes. The AG concluded that section 538.17, Florida Statutes, expressly allows local governments to adopt regulations of secondary metals recyclers more restrictive than Chapter 538. The Legislature di…
Is it illegal in Florida to flash your high beams at an oncoming car?
This informal letter from the Attorney General's office explains that section 316.238, Florida Statutes, requires a driver approaching an oncoming vehicle within 500 feet to dim the high beams so the …
Did Florida's 2009 two-year building permit extension happen automatically, or did you have to notify the agency?
Attorney General Bill McCollum concluded that the 2009 amendment to section 380.06, which extended building permits and development orders by two years because of the real estate downturn, did not app…
Can a Florida mosquito control district fine property owners for standing water on their land?
No. The AG concluded that the Anastasia Mosquito Control District has no power to fine property owners who let standing water accumulate, because neither Chapter 388 nor its charter authorizes a fine,…
Who can attend a Florida public board's closed attorney-client settlement meeting under the Sunshine Law?
No. The AG concluded that the closed-meeting exception in section 286.011(8), Florida Statutes, applies only to a board that is a party to litigation meeting with its own attorney. The Monroe County S…
Can a Florida school district use its capital outlay millage money to pay workers' compensation insurance premiums?
Attorney General Bill McCollum concluded that 'premium' means the consideration paid for insurance, borrowing the Florida Insurance Code definition. But a Santa Rosa County School District could not u…
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Attorney general opinions in Florida are written by the Florida Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.