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 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…
If a Florida special district is dissolved, who is responsible for its pension liabilities?
Responding informally, the AG explained that under section 189.4045(2), unless a law or ordinance says otherwise, dissolving a special district transfers its property to the local general-purpose gove…
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 company be a building-code 'private provider' just by hiring a licensed architect or engineer?
A business entity could qualify as a 'private provider' for building plan review and inspections only if the business itself is licensed or certified under Chapter 471 (engineering) or Chapter 481 (ar…
Does a Florida development permit get extended automatically after a state of emergency?
The AG concluded that section 252.363 tolls and extends development permits after the Governor declares a state of emergency, but the city has no duty to act to grant the extension. The burden is on t…
Can a Florida newspaper that only recently switched to weekly publication run legal notices, even if it published twice a month for over a year?
No. The AG concluded that a newspaper must have been published on a weekly-or-more-often schedule for one full year before the first publication of a legal notice to qualify under Chapter 50. A paper …
Can a Florida town council fill its own vacancies by appointment under the town charter?
The AG declined to give a formal answer, because the question turned on interpreting the town charter rather than state law. As informal guidance, the office noted that section 166.031(6) requires eac…
Can a Florida local agency pay an official's legal fees for defending an ethics complaint that was dismissed?
Maybe. Under Florida common law a local board can pay an official's legal fees for defending an ethics complaint only if the agency's governing body finds the conduct both arose from the official's du…
Does a Florida neighborhood improvement district always need 75% of property owners to approve it before it can be created?
Not in every case. The Safe Neighborhoods Act provides several different methods to create a neighborhood improvement district. The 75% written-consent requirement applies only to the property owners'…
If a local board member's term expires and nobody runs for the seat, is there a vacancy the county has to fill?
No. The expiration of a term of office is not on Florida's list of things that create a vacancy, so the sitting member holds over and keeps serving until a successor is elected and qualified. A true v…
Can a county inspector general share a whistle-blower's confidential complaint with the county ethics commission?
Only for the limited purpose of carrying out a whistle-blower investigation. Because Palm Beach County designated both its inspector general and its ethics commission as officials authorized to receiv…
Does Florida's home-address exemption for police protect a former officer's old addresses, and must he request it?
Two points. First, a former law enforcement officer now working for a town in a non-police job had to ask in writing to keep the public-records exemption for his home address, because the town was a r…
When a soil and water conservation district seat goes vacant in Florida, how long does the board's appointee serve?
Until the next scheduled general election. When a soil and water conservation district seat became vacant, the remaining supervisors could appoint a successor, but only through the next general electi…
Is a voluntary, employee-paid AFLAC plan a 'group insurance plan' a Florida city must extend to retirees?
The Attorney General's office declined to give a binding answer, explaining that whether a specific AFLAC plan is a 'group insurance plan' under section 112.0801 is a mixed question of law and fact it…
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…
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 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 city charge a code violator with a repeat violation when they never fixed the original one?
Attorney General Bill McCollum concluded that a city may not cite and prosecute someone for a repeat code violation under section 162.06(3) based on a prior adjudication of the same violation that has…
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.