James W. Vance Attorney for Lake Worth Utilities Authority Palm Beach QUESTION: Is the Lake Worth Utilities Authority an independent or dependent special district SUMMARY: The Lake Worth Utilities Authority is a part and unit of the government of the City of Lake Worth and is therefore an agency or unit of the city government; it is not a `special district' as that term is defined in s. 218.31 (5), F. S. The financial report or statement of the operations and financial condition of the...
William J. Roberts General Counsel State Association of County Commissioners Tallahassee QUESTION: May a county commissioner serve, by appointment of the county commission, as a member of the board of trustees of an independent special taxing district SUMMARY: An appointment by a board of county commissioners of one of its own members as a member of the governing board of an independent special taxing district created by county ordinance is contrary to the common-law rule that all officers who...
George Firestone Secretary, Department of State Tallahassee QUESTIONS: 1. Under the reporting requirements of s. 106.07 (4), F. S., does an individual contributor to a campaign have to report his principal place of business 2. If the answer to question 1 is in the affirmative, what does the term `principal place of business' mean as applied to an individual SUMMARY: Under the reporting requirements of s. 106.07 (4)(a), F. S., the principal place of business, if any, of the individual...
Alvin Taylor Secretary, Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services Tallahassee QUESTION: What is the responsibility of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services pursuant to s. 827.09, F. S., in reporting and investigating corporal punishment of a developmentally disabled person in a public education program SUMMARY: Until judicially or legislatively determined to the contrary, the conditions set forth in s. 827.09(4), F. S., which include corporal punishment and which are...
Ray W. Pennebaker Assistant County Attorney Deland Robert M. Carr City Attorney Port Orange QUESTIONS: 1. Is the City of Port Orange authorized to levy taxes for the 1979-1980 fiscal year on land annexed to the city on June 22, 1979 2. Is the city of Port Orange entitled, by virtue of having provided municipal services within the annexed area after annexation, to receive a share of the taxes levied by the county municipal service district or other dependent districts on the annexed area for...
Fred Lippman Representative 94th District Hollywood QUESTIONS: 1. In light of the provisions of part III of ch. 401, F. S., is a municipality authorized to adopt its own ordinance regulating emergency and nonemergency medical transportation services within the corporate limits of the municipality 2. In light of part III, ch. 401, does the adoption by the county of an ordinance regulating emergency and nonemergency medical transportation services within the county render municipal ordinances...
Nancy Kelley Wittenberg Secretary, Department of Professional Regulation Tallahassee QUESTION: Under the provisions of s. 455.11 , F. S., who is entitled to take a professional or occupational licensure examination in a foreign language, and what qualifications must an individual meet in order to take such a foreign language examination SUMMARY: Only those individuals who have successfully completed or graduated from an approved course of study established under ch. 74-105, Laws of Florida, as...
James Nursey Chief of Police Orlando QUESTION: Are the interception and recording of incoming telephone calls to a municipal police department on telephone lines equipped with an audible and operating `beep' tone device authorized under the provisions of ch. 934, F. S. SUMMARY: The statutory exceptions set forth in the Security of Communications Act, ch. 934, F. S., do not authorize the blanket recording of all incoming wire communications or telephone calls; therefore, a municipal police...
W. Arvel Drury Attorney for Hamilton County School Board Jasper QUESTION: What is the meaning of the term `unfunded indebtedness,' as used in s. 5(2), ch. 31459, 1956, Laws of Florida SUMMARY: The term `unfunded indebtedness' as used in ch. 31459, 1956, Laws of Florida, refers to any debt or indebtedness of the Hamilton County School Board for which no specific taxes or revenues have been provided to pay the interest on and principal of such debt. Section 5(2), ch. 31459, 1956, Laws of Florida,...
Nancy Kelley Wittenberg Secretary, Department of Professional Regulation Tallahassee QUESTION: Do persons licensed to practice chiropractic in this state under ch. 460, F. S., have the statutory authority to treat by the administration of injectible vitamins SUMMARY: Chiropractic physicians are not authorized by law to treat the human body by the administration of `injectible vitamins.' Your question is answered in the negative. This office has been confronted with this issue upon two...
Joan M. Heggen Secretary, Department of Community Affairs Tallahassee QUESTION: Do the provisions of part V, ch. 553, F. S., apply to residential condominiums SUMMARY: Until legislatively or judicially determined otherwise, the provisions of part V of ch. 553, F. S., relating to accessibility by handicapped persons, and particularly the provisions of s. 553.48, are not applicable to residential condominiums or residential condominium units, no part or unit of which is intended to be used for...
Chester F. Blakemore Executive Director, Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Tallahassee QUESTION: Does s. 8, ch. 79-359, Laws of Florida, requiring the sales price to be properly indicated by the seller on the labeled place on a certificate of title and thereafter notarized, apply to motor vehicle certificates of title governed by ch. 319, F. S. SUMMARY: Section 8, ch. 79-359, Laws of Florida, is applicable to motor vehicle certificates of title as well as boat certificates of...
Bill Gunter Insurance Commissioner and Treasurer Tallahassee QUESTIONS: 1. May fire protection system contractors holding valid certificates of competency install fire protection systems that do not meet the applicable standards of the National Fire Protection Association in facilities where a fire protection system is not required by statute or the State Fire Marshal's rules and regulations 2. May disciplinary action be taken by the State Fire Marshal against a fire protection system...
Alvin J. Taylor Secretary, Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services Tallahassee QUESTION: Is an administrator of a Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services-approved or D.H.R.S.-designated private mental health facility required by law to make the clinical records of an allegedly abused patient available to a department abuse investigator for his examination during the course of an abuse investigation pursuant to s. 827.09(6), F. S. SUMMARY: Sections 394.459 (9) and 827.09(6), F....
James H. Siesky Attorney for Collier County District School Board Naples QUESTION: May the Collier County District School Board make salary payments to its employees prior to services being rendered or before determining that such services have, in fact, been performed SUMMARY: Until judicially or legislatively determined to the contrary, no salary payments may be made to the personnel of a school district which is participating in the state appropriations for the Florida Education Finance...
Andrew B. Thomas Attorney for Orange County School Board Orlando QUESTION: What is the proper criterion for apportioning or reapportioning district school board member residence areas for the purpose of nominating and electing school board members in the Orange County School Distrlct SUMMARY: Until legislatively or judicially determined otherwise, ch. 77-276, Laws of Florida, codified as s. 230.061(1), F. S., which mandates apportionment on an equality of population basis, may well be held by...
Don J. Caton City Attorney Pensacola QUESTION: Does s. 5(a), Art. II, State Const., prohibit certain members of the appointed staff of a municipality from serving on a semiautonomous board created by city ordinance to grant building permits and issue necessary variances from local architectural and building codes SUMMARY: Based on the provision of ch. 15425, 1931, Laws of Florida, as amended, the City Manager and the Chief of the Fire Department of the City of Pensacola are municipal officers;...
Samuel T. Adams Callaway City Attorney Apalachicola QESTIONS: 1. May a municipality legally expend public funds to institute and prosecute an action to test the legal sufficiency of allegations contained in a recall petition brought against an individual city commissioner pursuant to s. 100.361 , F.S., whether or not the subject allegations refer to acts or omissions committed in the performance of the commissioner's official duties 2. If the answer to question 1 is in the negative, would a...
R. H. Hackney, Jr. Clerk Circuit Court Sarasota QUESTION: May the clerk of a circuit court enter into an agreement with a private corporation whereby certain employees of the clerk's office would work for the private corporation after normal working hours, retrieving information from the clerk's files SUMMARY: The clerk of the circuit court is not authorized to enter into an agreement with a private corporation whereby the facilities of the clerk's office would be used by the corporation for...
Nancy Kelley Wittenberg Secretary, Department of Professional Regulation Tallahassee QUESTION: Does the Government in the Sunshine Law apply to meetings held between the Office of examination Services of the Department of Professional Regulation and committees of regulatory boards or entire boards, established within the department, when discussions of specific examination items are to occur SUMMARY: Meetings held between the Office of Examination Services of the Department of Professional...
