Orange County, Florida v. Rick Singh, etc.

268 So. 3d 668
Supreme Court of Florida·Decided April 18, 2019·No. SC18-79·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

*669Respondents' Joint Motion to Recall Mandate is hereby granted. The opinion of this Court dated January 4, 2019, is hereby withdrawn, and this opinion is substituted in its place. See § 43.44, Fla. Stat. (2018) ("An appellate court may, as the circumstances and justice of the case may require, reconsider, revise, reform, or modify its own opinions and orders for the purpose of making the same accord with law and justice."); Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.205(b)(5). In light of the substituted opinion, we hereby deny Respondents' Joint Motion for Clarification.

We have for review the Fifth District Court of Appeal's decision in Orange County v. Singh , 230 So.3d 639 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017), which affirmed a trial court judgment invalidating an Orange County ordinance.1 Because home-rule counties may not enact ordinances on subjects preempted to the State and inconsistent with general law,2 we approve the decision of the Fifth District.

I. Background

The underlying background was discussed in the Fifth District's opinion as follows:

On August 19, 2014, the Orange County Board of Commissioners enacted an ordinance proposing an amendment to the Orange County Charter to provide for term limits and nonpartisan elections for six county constitutional officers-clerk of the circuit court, comptroller, property appraiser, sheriff, supervisor of elections, and tax collector. The ordinance provided for the following ballot question to be presented for further approval:
CHARTER AMENDMENT PROVIDING FOR TERM LIMITS AND NON-PARTISAN ELECTIONS FOR COUNTY CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS For the purpose of establishing term limits and nonpartisan elections for the Orange County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Comptroller, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections and Tax Collector, this amendment provides for county constitutional officers to be elected on a non-partisan basis and subject to term limits of four consecutive full 4-year terms.
_____ Yes
_____ No
The ballot question appeared on the November 4, 2014[,] ballot and was approved by the majority of Orange County voters. As a result, the relevant portions of section 703 of the Orange County Charter were amended (as underlined) to read:
B. Except as may be specifically set forth in the Charter, the county officers referenced under Article VIII, Section 1(d) of the Florida Constitution and Chapter 72-461, Laws of Florida, shall not be governed by the Charter but instead governed by the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida. The establishment of nonpartisan elections and term limits for county constitutional officers shall in no way affect or impugn their status as independent constitutional officers, and shall in no way imply any authority by the board whatsoever over such independent constitutional officers.
*670C. Elections for all county constitutional offices shall be non-partisan. No county constitutional office candidate shall be required to pay any party assessment or be required to state the party of which the candidate is a member. All county constitutional office candidates' names shall be placed on the ballot without reference to political party affiliation.
In the event that more than two (2) candidates have qualified for any single county constitutional office, an election shall be held at the time of the first primary election and, providing no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the two (2) candidates receiving the most votes shall be placed on the ballot for the general election.
D. Any county constitutional officer who has held the same county constitutional office for the preceding four (4) full consecutive terms is prohibited from appearing on the ballot for reelection to that office; provided, however, that the terms of office beginning before January 1, 2015 shall not be counted.
Prior to the November 4, 2014 election, three Orange County constitutional officers-the sheriff, property appraiser, and tax collector (collectively "Appellees")-filed a suit for declaratory and injunctive relief against Orange County, challenging the underlying county ordinance as well as the ballot title and summary. After the election, in ruling on competing summary judgment motions, the trial court upheld the portion of the charter amendment providing for term limits, but struck down that portion providing for nonpartisan elections. The trial court concluded that Orange County was prohibited from regulating nonpartisan elections for county constitutional officers because that subject matter was preempted to the Legislature.

Singh , 230 So.3d at 640-41 (footnote omitted).

On appeal, the Fifth District affirmed the trial court's judgment. Id. at 640. The Fifth District held that section 97.0115, Florida Statutes, expressly preempts the Orange County ordinance requiring nonpartisan elections for county constitutional officers. Id. at 641-42. The Fifth District reasoned that the Legislature regulates elections generally through the Florida Election Code and "enacted section 97.0115, which expressly provides that all matters set forth in the Florida Election Code were preempted" to the Legislature. Id. at 642. The Fifth District further reasoned that chapter 105, Florida Statutes, "set forth provisions and procedures specific to nonpartisan elections," and "chapter 105 did not authorize counties to hold nonpartisan elections for the county constitutional officers that are the subject of the charter amendment at issue." Id.

II. The Florida Election Code

Article VI, section 1 of the Florida Constitution provides that "[r]egistration and elections shall, and political party functions may, be regulated by law[.]" See Grapeland Heights Civic Ass'n v. City of Miami , 267 So.2d 321, 324 (Fla. 1972) ("[I]t necessarily follows that 'law' in our constitution

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Orange County, Florida v. Rick Singh, etc., 268 So. 3d 668 (Fla. 2019).

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