ENROLLED
       2018 Legislature                           SB 186, 1st Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                                              2018186er
    1  
    2         An act relating to the resign-to-run law; amending s.
    3         99.012, F.S.; requiring an officer who qualifies for
    4         federal public office to resign from the office he or
    5         she presently holds if the terms, or any part thereof,
    6         run concurrently; prescribing requirements for the
    7         written resignation; providing for an automatic
    8         irrevocable resignation in the event of noncompliance;
    9         specifying that a resignation creates a vacancy in
   10         office; revising an exception to the resign-to-run
   11         law; amending s. 121.121, F.S.; conforming a cross
   12         reference; providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Present subsections (4) through (7) of section
   17  99.012, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (5)
   18  through (8), respectively, a new subsection (4) is added to that
   19  section, and present subsection (7) of that section is amended,
   20  to read:
   21         99.012 Restrictions on individuals qualifying for public
   22  office.—
   23         (4)(a) Any officer who qualifies for federal public office
   24  must resign from the office he or she presently holds if the
   25  terms, or any part thereof, run concurrently with each other.
   26         (b) The resignation is irrevocable.
   27         (c) The resignation must be submitted at least 10 days
   28  before the first day of qualifying for the office he or she
   29  intends to seek.
   30         (d) The written resignation must be effective no later than
   31  the earlier of the following dates:
   32         1. The date the officer would take office, if elected; or
   33         2. The date the officer’s successor is required to take
   34  office.
   35         (e)1. An elected district, county, or municipal officer
   36  shall submit his or her resignation to the officer before whom
   37  he or she qualified for the office he or she holds, with a copy
   38  to the Governor and the Department of State.
   39         2. An appointed district, county, or municipal officer
   40  shall submit his or her resignation to the officer or authority
   41  which appointed him or her to the office he or she holds, with a
   42  copy to the Governor and the Department of State.
   43         3. All other officers shall submit their resignations to
   44  the Governor with a copy to the Department of State.
   45         (f)1. The failure of an officer who qualifies for federal
   46  public office to submit a resignation pursuant to this
   47  subsection constitutes an automatic irrevocable resignation,
   48  effective immediately, from the office he or she presently
   49  holds.
   50         2. The Department of State shall send a notice of the
   51  automatic resignation to the Governor, and in the case of a
   52  district, county, or municipal officer, a copy to:
   53         a. The officer before whom he or she qualified if the
   54  officer held an elective office; or
   55         b. The officer or authority who appointed him or her if the
   56  officer held an appointive office.
   57         (g) Notwithstanding the provisions of any special act to
   58  the contrary, with regard to an elective office, the resignation
   59  creates a vacancy in office to be filled by election, thereby
   60  authorizing persons to qualify as candidates for nomination and
   61  election as if the officer’s term were otherwise scheduled to
   62  expire. With regard to an elective charter county office or
   63  elective municipal office, the vacancy created by the officer’s
   64  resignation may be filled for that portion of the officer’s
   65  unexpired term in a manner provided by the respective charter.
   66  The office is deemed vacant upon the effective date of the
   67  resignation submitted by the official in his or her letter of
   68  resignation.
   69         (8)(7)Subsections Nothing contained in subsection (3) and
   70  (4) do not apply relates to persons holding any federal office
   71  or seeking the office of President or Vice President. Subsection
   72  (4) does not apply to an elected officer if the term of the
   73  office that he or she presently holds is scheduled to expire and
   74  be filled by election in the same primary and general election
   75  period as the federal office he or she is seeking.
   76         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 121.121, Florida
   77  Statutes, is amended to read:
   78         121.121 Authorized leaves of absence.—
   79         (2) A member who is required to resign his or her office as
   80  a subordinate officer, deputy sheriff, or police officer because
   81  he or she is a candidate for a public office which is currently
   82  held by his or her superior officer who is also a candidate for
   83  reelection to the same office, in accordance with s. 99.012(5)
   84  s. 99.012(4), shall, upon return to covered employment, be
   85  eligible to purchase retirement credit for the period between
   86  his or her date of resignation and the beginning of the term of
   87  office for which he or she was a candidate as a leave of absence
   88  without pay, as provided in subsection (1).
   89         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.