Florida Senate - 2013                        CS for CS for SB 50
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Rules; and Governmental Oversight and
       Accountability; and Senators Negron and Evers
       
       
       
       595-02001-13                                            201350c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public meetings; creating s.
    3         286.0114, F.S.; defining “board or commission”;
    4         requiring that a member of the public be given a
    5         reasonable opportunity to be heard by a board or
    6         commission before it takes official action on a
    7         proposition; providing exceptions; establishing
    8         requirements for rules or policies adopted by the
    9         board or commission; providing that compliance with
   10         the requirements of this section is deemed to have
   11         occurred under certain circumstances; providing that a
   12         circuit court has jurisdiction to issue an injunction
   13         under certain circumstances; authorizing a court to
   14         assess reasonable attorney fees in actions filed
   15         against a board or commission; providing that an
   16         action taken by a board or commission which is found
   17         in violation of this section is not void; providing
   18         that the act fulfills an important state interest;
   19         providing an effective date.
   20  
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Section 286.0114, Florida Statutes, is created
   24  to read:
   25         286.0114Public meetings; reasonable opportunity to be
   26  heard; attorney fees.—
   27         (1) For purposes of this section, “board or commission”
   28  means a board or commission of any state agency or authority or
   29  of any agency or authority of a county, municipal corporation,
   30  or political subdivision.
   31         (2) Members of the public shall be given a reasonable
   32  opportunity to be heard on a proposition before a board or
   33  commission. The opportunity to be heard need not occur at the
   34  same meeting at which the board or commission takes official
   35  action on the proposition if the opportunity occurs at a meeting
   36  that is during the decisionmaking process and is within
   37  reasonable proximity in time before the meeting at which the
   38  board or commission takes the official action. This section does
   39  not prohibit a board or commission from maintaining orderly
   40  conduct or proper decorum in a public meeting. The opportunity
   41  to be heard is subject to rules or policies adopted by the board
   42  or commission, as provided in subsection (4).
   43         (3) The requirements in subsection (2) do not apply to:
   44         (a) An official act that must be taken to deal with an
   45  emergency situation affecting the public health, welfare, or
   46  safety, if compliance with the requirements would cause an
   47  unreasonable delay in the ability of the board or commission to
   48  act;
   49         (b) An official act involving no more than a ministerial
   50  act, including, but not limited to, approval of minutes and
   51  ceremonial proclamations;
   52         (c) A meeting that is exempt from s. 286.011; or
   53         (d) A meeting during which the board or commission is
   54  acting in a quasi-judicial capacity. This paragraph does not
   55  affect the right of a person to be heard as otherwise provided
   56  by law.
   57         (4) Rules or policies of a board or commission which govern
   58  the opportunity to be heard are limited to those that:
   59         (a) Provide guidelines regarding the amount of time an
   60  individual has to address the board or commission;
   61         (b) Prescribe procedures for allowing representatives of
   62  groups or factions on a proposition to address the board or
   63  commission, rather than all members of such groups or factions,
   64  at meetings in which a large number of individuals wish to be
   65  heard;
   66         (c) Prescribe procedures or forms for an individual to use
   67  in order to inform the board or commission of a desire to be
   68  heard; to indicate his or her support, opposition, or neutrality
   69  on a proposition; and to indicate his or her designation of a
   70  representative to speak for him or her or his or her group on a
   71  proposition if he or she so chooses; or
   72         (d) Designate a specified period of time for public
   73  comment.
   74         (5) If a board or commission adopts rules or policies in
   75  compliance with this section and follows such rules or policies
   76  when providing an opportunity for members of the public to be
   77  heard, the board or commission is deemed to be acting in
   78  compliance with this section.
   79         (6) A circuit court has jurisdiction to issue an injunction
   80  for the purpose of enforcing this section upon the filing of an
   81  application for such injunction by a citizen of this state.
   82         (7)(a) Whenever an action is filed against a board or
   83  commission to enforce this section, the court shall assess
   84  reasonable attorney fees against such board or commission if the
   85  court determines that the defendant to such action acted in
   86  violation of this section. The court may assess reasonable
   87  attorney fees against the individual filing such an action if
   88  the court finds that the action was filed in bad faith or was
   89  frivolous. This paragraph does not apply to a state attorney or
   90  his or her duly authorized assistants or an officer charged with
   91  enforcing this section.
   92         (b) Whenever a board or commission appeals a court order
   93  that has found the board or commission to have violated this
   94  section, and such order is affirmed, the court shall assess
   95  reasonable attorney fees for the appeal against such board or
   96  commission.
   97         (8) An action taken by a board or commission which is found
   98  to be in violation of this section is not void as a result of
   99  that violation.
  100         Section 2. The Legislature finds that a proper and
  101  legitimate state purpose is served when members of the public
  102  have been given a reasonable opportunity to be heard on a
  103  proposition before a board or commission of a state agency or
  104  authority, or of an agency or authority of a county, municipal
  105  corporation, or political subdivision. Therefore, the
  106  Legislature determines and declares that this act fulfills an
  107  important state interest.
  108         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2013.