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 one attorney serve as a code enforcement special magistrate for multiple Florida jurisdictions through an interlocal agreement or sequential contracts without violating the dual office-holding rule?
The opinion concluded sequential contracts as a code enforcement special magistrate for multiple jurisdictions appeared inconsistent with the sovereign-power test for office-holding, and § 162.07 does…
Can one person serve simultaneously on a Florida city planning and zoning board and a county historic preservation board?
The opinion concluded that simultaneously serving on the Lighthouse Point Planning and Zoning Board and the Broward County Historic Preservation Board violated Article II, § 5(a) because both boards e…
Can a Florida police officer also be a city commissioner for another city?
No. The AG advised that a police officer for one city holding a city commissioner seat in another city violates the dual office-holding prohibition in section 5(a), Article II of the Florida Constitut…
Can a Florida mayor and city commissioner sit on a municipal charter school's governing board without violating the dual office-holding ban?
The AG gave informal, general guidance because the city had not yet drafted the ordinance or defined the board's powers. As a rule, Florida's constitutional dual office-holding prohibition does not ba…
Can one municipal board take over another board's duties without violating Florida's dual office-holding ban?
The AG advised that a town cannot simply appoint the members of its planning board to serve concurrently as the zoning board of adjustment, because holding both quasi-judicial offices at once would vi…
Can one person in Florida sit on a county licensing board and two advisory boards at the same time without breaking the dual office-holding ban?
Yes. The AG concluded that serving on the Brevard County Contractors' Licensing Board is an 'office,' but the Port St. John Dependent Special District and the Public Library Advisory Board are purely …
Can one red-light-camera hearing officer serve multiple Florida cities or counties at the same time?
The AG concluded no. The ex officio exemption in section 316.003(91) lets a local government use its own existing code enforcement board or special magistrate as the local hearing officer for red-ligh…
Can one building official serve a city and a county at once under an interlocal agreement in Florida?
The AG concluded that an interlocal agreement under section 163.01 letting Lee County provide building code inspection and plan review for the Town of Fort Myers Beach would not violate Florida's cons…
Can a part-time police officer in Florida also work as a child protective investigator?
Offering general comments only, the AG noted that a paid police officer (full or part time) is an 'officer' for the constitutional dual office-holding ban, and that a child protective investigator who…
If a Florida county official is suspended by the Governor and the charges are later dropped, can the official collect back pay for the suspension?
No. The AG concluded that a county officer suspended by the Governor is not statutorily entitled to back salary or benefits for the suspension period unless the officer is reinstated by the Governor, …
Does sitting on a Florida city planning board count as holding an office under the state's dual office-holding ban?
Not in this case. The AG concluded that a member of the Fort Pierce Planning Board was not an 'officer' under Florida's dual office-holding prohibition because the board only made recommendations to t…
Can the same person be both a civil traffic infraction hearing officer and a 'local hearing officer' for red-light camera cases in Florida?
No. The AG concluded a 'local hearing officer' under section 316.003(91) is an office under Florida's dual office-holding ban. The statute lets a county or city use an existing code enforcement board …
Can a Florida county appoint a county administrator who is not a certified correctional officer as the jail's chief correctional officer?
In informal comments, the AG found no requirement that a county's chief correctional officer be a certified correctional officer when that person's primary duties do not include the direct supervision…
Can a Florida police officer temporarily fill in as acting city manager?
No, not when the city manager position is itself an 'office.' The AG concluded that the constitutional ban on dual office-holding in Article II, section 5(a) applies even to a short, unpaid, temporary…
Can a Florida city commissioner also sit on a regional transportation authority board?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a city commissioner may serve at the same time on the governing board of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority without violating the constitution…
Can one person serve on both a city housing authority and a county housing finance authority in Florida?
No. The Attorney General concluded that serving at the same time on the West Palm Beach Housing Authority and the Housing Finance Authority of Palm Beach County would violate Florida's constitutional …
Can a Florida city council member also serve as county emergency management director, or does the dual office-holding ban block it?
No. The AG concluded the county emergency management director holds an 'office,' not mere employment, so a sitting city council member could not hold both at once under Article II, section 5(a) of the…
Can a Florida value adjustment board member also serve on a city commission?
The AG concluded that a citizen member of a county value adjustment board cannot simultaneously be a member or employee of a municipality, because a city is a 'taxing authority' barred by section 194.…
Can one person be both a value adjustment board special magistrate and a city hearing officer in Florida?
The AG concluded that a value adjustment board special magistrate appointed for a calendar year cannot also serve as a city's hearing officer, even if the two sets of hearings happen in different mont…
Can a Florida city manager also serve as a reserve police officer in another county or city without breaking the dual office-holding ban?
Likely not. In an informal advisory letter, the Attorney General's Office indicated that both city manager and certified reserve police officer are 'offices' under Article II, section 5(a) of the Flor…
Can a Florida railroad 'special officer' also serve as an unpaid reserve deputy sheriff without violating the dual office-holding ban?
Yes. The AG concluded that a special officer for a carrier under Chapter 354 is an 'officer' for dual office-holding purposes (commissioned by the Governor, holding a term, with arrest powers and auth…
Can a county museum board member also serve as a special magistrate for the value adjustment board in Florida?
No. Attorney General Bondi concluded that members of the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust board are appointed officials of Miami-Dade County for purposes of section 194.035(1), so they are barred from…
Can the same attorney serve as a code-enforcement special magistrate for more than one Florida city at the same time?
No. The Attorney General's office held to its position that a special magistrate or code-enforcement hearing officer holds an 'office' under the Florida Constitution, so serving in that role for one l…
Can a Florida city appoint one of its own commissioners to serve on a special district's board of directors?
The Attorney General's office declined to rule for the Valparaiso commission, but offered general guidance: the Florida Supreme Court has held no Florida common-law rule bars a governmental body from …
Can a deputy clerk of court also serve as an elected county commissioner in Florida?
Yes, on these facts. A deputy clerk who only performs ministerial duties assigned by the clerk holds an 'employment,' not an 'office.' Florida's constitutional ban on holding two offices at once did n…
Is a county ethics commission hearing examiner an 'office' that triggers Florida's ban on holding two public offices at once?
The Attorney General's office declined to decide, because answering would mean commenting on two counties' actions. It offered only the general framework: whether a position is an 'office' (triggering…
Can someone be both a volunteer FWC reserve officer and a full-time city police officer without breaking Florida's dual office-holding ban?
It depends, and an agency policy also matters. Florida's constitution bars holding two public offices at once, but courts recognize a narrow exception (Vinales/Rampil) when both offices relate to crim…
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…
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 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…
Can a Florida city put its police chief on the police pension board by ordinance?
The office deferred to the Department of Management Services, which had objected that a city cannot change the composition of a Chapter 185 police pension board by local ordinance. On the dual office-…
Can one person serve at the same time on a county code enforcement board, a housing finance authority, and a city development board?
Attorney General Bill McCollum concluded that members of the Orange County Code Enforcement Board, the Orange County Housing Finance Authority Board, and the City of Orlando Downtown Development Board…
Can a Florida city charter bar the mayor from holding any other public office or job?
A town attorney asked whether a Kenneth City charter clause barring the mayor from holding any other public office or public employment was constitutional and valid. The AG explained that his office c…
Can a Florida general magistrate also serve as a civil traffic infraction hearing officer without breaking the dual office-holding ban?
In informal comments, the AG's office indicated there is likely no dual office-holding violation. Both a general magistrate and a civil traffic infraction hearing officer are 'offices' under Article I…
Can the same person sit on a Florida county's growth-management commission and hold another state, county, or city office at the same time?
The AG concluded that seats on the Volusia Growth Management Commission are county offices, because the commission is a dependent special district created by county charter and funded by the county. T…
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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.