RLI Live Oak, LLC v. South Florida Water Management District

141 So. 3d 1276, 2014 WL 3534451

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: July 14, 2014
• Docket: 5D11-2329
• Status: Published

Opinion

ON CERTIFIED QUESTION TO THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT

PER CURIAM.

We consider this case on remand from the Florida Supreme Court after it reversed our decision in RLI Live Oak, LLC v. South Florida Water Management District, 99 So.3d 560 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012). S. Fla. Water Mgmt. Dist. v. RLI Live Oak, LLC, 139 So.3d 869 (Fla.2014) (holding that when “the Legislature statutorily authorizes a state governmental agency to recover a ‘civil penalty’ in a ‘court of com petent jurisdiction’ but does not specify the agency’s burden of proof, the agency is not required under [Dep’t of Banking & Fin. Div. of Sec. & Investor Prot. v. Osborne Stem & Co., 670 So.2d 932, 935 (Fla.1996) ], to prove the alleged violation by clear and convincing evidence, but rather by a preponderance of the evidence”). Because the trial court correctly applied the preponderance of the evidence standard, we now affirm the trial court’s judgment imposing civil penalties.

AFFIRMED.

PALMER, LAWSON, and WALLIS, JJ., concur.