HB 1011

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the City of Jacksonville, Duval County;
3	amending chapter 92-341, Laws of Florida, as amended;
4	revising provisions of the charter of the City of
5	Jacksonville relating to ethics; providing a declaration
6	of ethics policy; authorizing the establishment of an
7	ethics code and ethics commission; providing duties of the
8	ethics commission; requiring the ethics code to include a
9	citywide ethics oversight and compliance office; providing
10	administrative support for the commission and office;
11	requiring certain elected officials to complete certain
12	ethics training; repealing s. 18.10 of chapter 92-341,
13	Laws of Florida, as amended, relating to ethics education
14	and the application of ethics laws; providing an effective
15	date.
16
17	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	Section 1.  Sections 1.01 and 1.02 of Article 1 of section
20	1 of chapter 92-341, Laws of Florida, as amended, are renumbered
21	as sections 1.101 and 1.102, respectively, and designated as
22	chapter 1 of that article, and chapter 2 is added to that
23	article, to read:
24	ARTICLE 1.  GOVERNMENT AND ETHICS
25	CHAPTER 1.  CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT
26	Section 1.101. 1.01.  Consolidated government.-
27	(a)  The county government of Duval County, the municipal
28	government of the City of Jacksonville, the Duval County Air
29	Improvement Authority, the east Duval County Mosquito Control
30	District, the northeast Duval County Mosquito Control District,
31	and all boards, bodies, and officers thereof were and are
32	consolidated into a single body politic and corporate pursuant
33	to the power granted by former s. 9 of Article VIII of the
34	Constitution of 1885, as amended, of the State of Florida, which
35	section was continued by and remains in full force and effect
36	under s. 6(e) of Article VIII of the Constitution of the State
37	of Florida. The name of the consolidated government is City of
38	Jacksonville (herein called "city" or "consolidated
39	government"). The consolidated government succeeds to and
40	possesses all the properties (of whatever nature), rights,
41	capacities, privileges, powers, franchises, immunities,
42	liabilities, obligations, and duties of the former governments
43	and former special districts named in the first sentence of this
44	subsection, without including or affecting the existence,
45	properties, rights, capacities, privileges, powers, franchises,
46	immunities, liabilities, obligations, and duties of the Cities
47	of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach and the
48	Town of Baldwin. The consolidated government shall have
49	perpetual existence and shall have only such officers,
50	departments, and other agencies as are provided in this charter
51	or as may be established by the council.
52	(b)  The consolidated government has and shall have
53	jurisdiction as a chartered county government and extend
54	territorially throughout Duval County, and has and shall have
55	jurisdiction as a municipality throughout Duval County except in
56	the Cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune
57	Beach and the Town of Baldwin.
58	Section 1.102. 1.02.  Cities of Jacksonville Beach,
59	Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach and Town of Baldwin.-
60	(a)  The territories of the Cities of Jacksonville Beach,
61	Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach and the Town of Baldwin were
62	and are also consolidated into the territory of the consolidated
63	government. The Cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach,
64	and Neptune Beach and the Town of Baldwin shall each continue to
65	exist and have and retain the same local governmental structure,
66	boards, bodies, officers, laws, municipal charters, and special
67	acts which existed in those areas on September 30, 1968, unless
68	changed in accordance with law. The persons who were officers
69	and members of boards and bodies of the Cities of Jacksonville
70	Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach and the Town of Baldwin
71	on September 30, 1968, continued after that date to occupy the
72	same position and were entitled to the same compensation
73	therefor, unless changed in accordance with law. All such
74	boards, bodies, and officers continue since October 1, 1968, to
75	be elected at the times, in the manner, and for the terms which
76	were provided under their respective municipal charters and
77	continue to have the same powers and duties which they had under
78	those charters, unless changed in accordance with law. All
79	municipal charters and special and general laws which applied to
80	the Cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune
81	Beach and the Town of Baldwin on September 30, 1968, continue to
82	apply to the respective governments, boards, bodies, and
83	officers unless changed in accordance with law. These Cities of
84	Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach and the
85	Town of Baldwin each continue to be entitled to own, acquire,
86	encumber, and transfer property in its own name, by the duly
87	authorized action of its boards, bodies, and officers. The
88	Cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach
89	and the Town of Baldwin are continued as municipalities having
90	all governmental, corporate, and proprietary powers to enable
91	them to conduct municipal government, perform municipal
92	functions, and render municipal services, and shall be treated,
93	considered, and dealt with as municipalities under the
94	Constitution and laws of the State of Florida and shall be
95	entitled to exercise the same functions, powers, and duties
96	granted to municipalities under the general laws and
97	Constitution of the State of Florida.
98	(b)  The Cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and
99	Neptune Beach and the Town of Baldwin shall not be subject to
100	the provisions of s. 5.11, article 14, article 16, article 17,
101	or article 19. The council may provide for management or fiscal
102	audits by the council auditor of the second, third, fourth, and
103	fifth urban services districts or their boards, bodies, or
104	officers.
105	CHAPTER 2.  ETHICS
106	Section 1.201.  Declaration of ethics policy.-The proper
107	operation of responsible government requires that public
108	officials and employees be independent, impartial, and
109	responsible to the people; that government decisions and policy
110	be made in the best interests of the people, the community, and
111	the government; that public office not be used for personal
112	gain; and that the public have confidence in the integrity of
113	its government.
114	Section 1.202.  Ethics code; ethics commission.-The City of
115	Jacksonville, acting in its capacity as a county, shall enact an
116	ethics code with jurisdiction over the officers and employees of
117	the consolidated government of the City of Jacksonville; its
118	constitutional officers; independent agencies and districts,
119	whether elected or appointed, paid or unpaid; and officers and
120	employees of the school district. However, such jurisdiction
121	shall be limited to the General Services District, less Urban
122	Services Districts 2, 3, 4, and 5, being the Cities of Neptune
123	Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Jacksonville Beach and the Town of
124	Baldwin. The ethics code may, as allowed by law, supplement
125	state ethics codes. The ethics code shall provide for an
126	independent ethics commission, whose membership shall have
127	appropriate subject matter expertise, which shall:
128	(a)  Manage a citywide ethics hotline for receiving
129	allegations of ethics code violations.
130	(b)  Manage and coordinate the training and education of
131	local officers and state employees in the state and local ethics
132	code.
133	(c)  Have the authority to refer ethics matters to
134	appropriate enforcement agencies.
135	(d)  Recommend changes in legislation to city councils in
136	the areas of ethics laws and administration, conflicts of
137	interests, hotline policies, ethics education, ethics in
138	procurement, campaign ethics, and lobbying.
139	(e)  Have jurisdiction to levy civil fines or penalties
140	authorized by the city council for violations of the city's
141	ethics code.
142	(f)  Act as the hiring committee for the administrative
143	staff of the ethics oversight and compliance office, whose
144	enforcement power is limited to the ethics code authorized by
145	this section and enacted by the city council. A structure shall
146	be established for the ethics commission that ensures
147	independence and impartiality.
148	Section 1.203.  Ethics oversight and compliance office.-The
149	ethics code shall include the establishment of an independent
150	citywide ethics oversight and compliance office to coordinate
151	ethics training, ethics compliance, and ethics oversight issues
152	and to staff the ethics commission. The ethics code, ethics
153	commission, and ethics oversight and compliance office in place
154	at the time of enactment of this section shall continue until
155	amended or altered by the city council.
156	Section 1.204.  Administrative support.-Appropriate
157	support, as determined by the city council, shall be provided to
158	the ethics commission and to the citywide ethics oversight and
159	compliance office to carry out their duties and
160	responsibilities. This support shall include a process to obtain
161	documents and testimony in connection with violations of the
162	city's ethics code.
163	Section 1.205.  Ethics education and application of ethics
164	laws.-Within 90 days after taking office, every elected official
165	within the consolidated government shall complete such ethics
166	training as may be required by the ethics code. This requirement
167	shall apply to all elected officials within the consolidated
168	government, including, but not limited to, the Mayor, all city
169	council Members, all Duval County School Board Members, the
170	Sheriff, the Supervisor of Elections, the Property Appraiser,
171	the Tax Collector, and the Clerk of the Circuit and County
172	Court. Additionally, all elected officials shall be included in
173	the definition of the term "officer" regarding any ethics code
174	definition referring to officers as any person elected to any
175	city office, and all elected officials shall comply with all
176	laws applicable to officers in the city's ethics code.
177	Section 2.  Section 18.10 of Article 18 of chapter 92-341,
178	Laws of Florida, as amended by chapter 2003-340, Laws of
179	Florida, is repealed.
180	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.