STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
WILLIAM S. GRASSI, APPELLEE
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The court held that section 99.032, Florida Statutes, is unconstitutional because it imposes additional qualifications for county commissioner beyond those set by the Florida Constitution.
[1] A statute imposing additional qualifications for a county commissioner is unconstitutional if the Florida Constitution already sets forth the qualifications for that offi…
[2] The Florida Constitution requires a candidate for county commissioner to be a resident of the district at the time of election.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDefendant Grassi was charged with violating a statute requiring residency in a district at the time of qualifying for office. The trial and appellate …
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EHRLICH, Chief Justice.
We have for review the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in State v. Grassi, 492 So. 2d 474 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), which declared section 99.032, Florida Statutes (1983), unconstitutional under the Florida Constitution. We have jurisdiction, article V, section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution, and approve the decision of the district court.
On July 20, 1984, defendant Grassi presented his qualifying papers to the office of the Supervisor of Elections of Bro-ward County. He intended to run for the office of county commissioner in Broward County, District #4, but upon learning that the seat for District # 4 was not open, he changed his papers to run for District #3, even though he was a resident of District # 4 at that time. He was charged by information on February 14, 1985, with knowingly and unlawfully qualifying as a candidate for Broward County Commissioner, District #3, without being a resident thereof, in violation of section 99.032, Florida Statutes (1983). Section 99.032 requires that “[a] candidate for the office of county commissioner shall, at the time he qualifies, be a resident of the district from which he qualifies,” (emphasis added), violation of which is a first-degree misdemean-or, section 104.41, Florida Statutes (1983).
The trial court granted Grassi’s motion to dismiss, holding that section 99.032, Florida Statutes, is inconsistent with article VIII, section 1(e), of the Florida Constitution, and therefore unconstitutional. The district court affirmed the trial court’s order to dismiss. The State seeks review.
As we stated in State ex rel. Askew v. Thomas, 293 So. 2d 40, 42 (Fla.1974):
We have consistently held that statutes imposing additional qualifications for office are unconstitutional where the basic document of the constitution itself has already undertaken to set forth those requirements.
Therefore, if article VIII, section 1(e), of the Florida Constitution, provides qualifications for the office of county commissioner, the legislature is prohibited from imposing any additional qualifications.
Article VIII, section 1(e), Florida Constitution (1968), provides:
(e) Commissioners. Except when otherwise provided by county charter, the governing body of each county shall be a board of county commissioners composed of five members serving staggered terms of four years. After each decennial census the board of county commissioners shall divide the county into districts of contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable. One commissioner residing in each district shall he elected by the electors of the county.
(Emphasis added). We construe this provision as requiring residency at the time of election.
In November 1984, the voters of the State of Florida amended article VIII, section 1(e), of the Florida Constitution to read in pertinent part:
(Emphasis added). The state argues that the 1984 amendment of this section of the Florida Constitution “is not substantive but rather merely an interpretation” of the 1968 constitution, and thus “may be considered ... in arriving at a proper constitutional interpretation of Article VIII § 1(e).” Brief for Appellant at 7-8. The state contends that the 1984 amendment makes it clear that article VIII, section 1(e), “delegates the establishment of specific county commissioner qualifications to the legislature.” Id. at 8-9. We disagree. This new language modifies “shall be elected,” not the residency requirement. Further, House Joint Resolution 452, which proposed the amendment, provided that the following title and substance of the proposed amendment was to appear on the ballot:
Provides that county commissioners shall be elected as provided by law, thereby removing the constitutional restriction that county commissioners must be elected at large by the electors of the county, and allows the board of county commissioners to be composed of either five or seven members.
Therefore, this is a substantive amendment delegating to the legislature the task of establishing procedures for election of county commissioners, not the power to set qualifications for that office.
Because article VIII, section 1(e) provides requirements for office of county commissioner, the legislature may not impose additional requirements. The Florida Constitution requires residency at the time of election. Therefore, section 99.032, Florida Statutes, is unconstitutional, as it imposes the additional qualification for the office of county commissioner of residency at the time of qualifying for election.
We therefore approve the decision of the district court, and hold that section 99.032 is unconstitutional.
It is so ordered. OVERTON, McDONALD, SHAW, BARKETT, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Norman v. Ambler, 46 So. 3d 178 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)…o or take from the qualifications for office set forth in the Constitution, the constitutional criteria that determine eligibility within the meaning of section 102.168(3)(b), Florida Statutes (2010). See Miller, 804 So. 2d at 1246; State v. Grassi, 532 So. 2d 1055, 1056 (Fla.1988). Statutory provisions governing financial disclosure (or other aspects of qualifying to run for office) cannot impose additional eligibility requirements beyond those set forth in the constitution. Id. That grounds for an election…
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Cook v. City OF Jacksonville, 823 So. 2d 86 (Fla. 2002)…s is unconstitutional where the constitution has already set forth the qualifications. See Cook, 765 So. 2d at 292. But the First District reasoned that our later cases of State ex rel. Askew v. Thomas, 293 So. 2d 40 (Fla.1974), and State v. Grassi, 532 So. 2d 1055 (Fla.1988), established that where the constitution establishes no qualifications, the Legislature may impose additional qualifications. See Cook, 765 So. 2d at 292. The First District concluded that neither article VIII, section 1(d), nor article V…
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Brinkmann v. Tyron Francois, 184 So. 3d 504 (Fla. 2016)…tes conflicts with the timing of the. residency requirement for county commission .candidates as established by Article VIII, section 1(e) of the Florida Constitution.” Id. at 616. In support of its holding, the district court cited State v. Grassi, 532 So. 2d 1055, 1056 (Fla.1988), in which this “[C]ourt construed the constitutional provision [in article VIII, section 1(e), Florida Constitution,] regarding the residency requirement for county commissioners and stated that [t]he Florida - Constitution requires…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- The State of Fla. ex rel. Reubin O'D. Askew v. Thomas, 293 So. 2d 40 (Fla. 1974)
- State v. Grassi, 492 So. 2d 474 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)