Snipes v. Telli

67 So. 3d 415, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 12504, 2011 WL 3477086
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 10, 2011
Docket4D10-4687
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 67 So. 3d 415 (Snipes v. Telli) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Snipes v. Telli, 67 So. 3d 415, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 12504, 2011 WL 3477086 (Fla. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

GROSS, J.

We reverse the circuit court’s judgment holding that the Florida Constitution prohibited Broward County voters from amending the county charter to impose term limits upon Broward County Commissioners.

In 2000, Broward County voters approved an amendment to the county charter that limited Broward County Commissioners to no more than three consecutive four year terms. William Telli challenged the term limit provision on the ground that it conflicts with the Florida Constitution. Agreeing that the case presented a question of law, both sides moved for summary judgment. The circuit court declared that the term limit provision was invalid, based on Cook v. City of Jacksonville, 823 So.2d 86 (Fla.2002). The standard of review applicable to the circuit court’s granting of summary final judgment is de novo. E.g., Volusia County v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So.2d 126, 130 (Fla.2000).

*416 Cook governs our analysis. The holding in Cook, by its express language, applies only to the county officers specified in article VIII, section 1(d) of the Florida Constitution — “a sheriff, a tax collector, a property appraiser, a supervisor of elections, and a clerk of the circuit court.” Art. VIII, § 1(d), Fla. Const.; Cook, 823 So.2d at 90, 94-95. The issue here is whether Cook’s reasoning and the language of article VIII, section 1 support the extension of Cook’s holding to the voters’ adoption of term limits on county commissioners in a charter county. We conclude that such an expansion of Cook is inappropriate when the case is read in light of the broad powers accorded charter counties by sections 1(e) and 1(g) of article VIII.

Cook consolidated two appeals: City of Jacksonville v. Cook, 765 So.2d 289 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000), and Pinellas County v. Eight is Enough in Pinellas, 775 So.2d 317 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). The first case involved a 1992 amendment to the Jacksonville Charter, which imposed a two-term limit on, among other offices, the clerk of the circuit court. Cook, 823 So.2d at 87-88. The trial court ruled that the amendment was an unconstitutional attempt to impose new disqualifications on a state office, and ordered the supervisor of elections to accept the clerk’s filing to run for another term. Id. at 88. The first district reversed, and held that because the Florida Constitution did not establish any qualifications or disqualifications for the office of clerk of the circuit court, the power to impose disqualifications in the form of term limits was within Jacksonville’s broad home-rule powers. Id.

The second appeal in Cook involved a 1996 amendment to the Pinellas County Charter that imposed term limits on county officers, including the board of county commissioners, sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of elections, and clerk of the circuit court. Id. at 88-89. The trial court upheld the limits as within the county’s home rule powers. Id. at 89. The second district affirmed, holding that no constitutional provision prevented the county from imposing term limits on county officers. Id. at 89-90. The incumbent clerk of the circuit court, tax collector, and sheriff petitioned for review, but the board of county commissioners did not. Id. at 90. The failure of the county commissioners to seek review is significant to this case because it had the effect of removing that office from the holding of Cook.

The Supreme Court reversed the district court decisions. The reasoning in Cook may be briefly summarized. First, the Supreme Court held that “a term limit provision is a disqualification from election to office.” Id. at 92 (citing Advisory Opinion to the Attorney Gen.—Limited Political T erms in Certain Elective Offices, 592 So.2d 225 (Fla.1991)). Next, the Court held that “article VI, section 4, Florida Constitution, imposes those disqualifications which may be validly imposed upon offices authorized by the Constitution.” Id. at 92-93. The Court relied on the canon of construction expressio unius est exclusio altenus, and held that the imposition of term limits by article VI, section 4(b), Florida Constitution, on certain constitutionally authorized offices necessarily excluded their imposition on other offices, except by constitutional amendment. “By the constitution identifying the offices to which a term limit disqualification applies, we find that it necessarily follows that the constitutionally authorized offices not included in article VI, section 4(b), may not have a term limit disqualification imposed.” Cook, 823 So.2d at 93-94 (Italics supplied). Crucial to this case is what the Supreme Court meant by its use of the term “constitutionally authorized offices” *417 and the other variations of that phrase in Cook. 1

Cook explicitly held that a county may not amend its charter to impose term limits on section 1(d) county officers: sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of elections, and clerk of the circuit court. 2 Applying this express holding, we conclude that Cook used the term “constitutionally authorized offices” to refer to those offices enumerated in section 1(d).

Cook did not deal with term limits for the board of county commissioners, and nowhere discusses the scope or impact of sections 1(e) and (g) as they pertain to the voters’ ability to limit the terms of county commissioners in a charter county. In order to determine whether Cook’s holding should be extended to apply to county commissioners, or other members of a county’s governing body under article VIII, section 1(e), Florida Constitution, we must decide whether county commissioners should be characterized as “officers authorized by the constitution” within the meaning of that phrase as used in Cook.

Technically, all officers of the state, however minor or important, are “authorized by the constitution,” because their powers flow in some way from the Florida Constitution. There is a crucial difference, however, between the offices described in sections 1(d) and 1(e). The section 1(d) officers are established with precise language; by contrast, the section 1(e) “commissioners” are described as a default option when a county charter does not provide otherwise. Section 1(d) establishes that a county government shall have certain named officers, and grants the county limited powers to change the manner of electing those officers, or to abolish an office altogether and transfer its duties to another county office. Section 1(e), on the other hand, does not unalterably establish the office of “county commissioner;” rather, that subsection provides for county commissioners only as a fallback option.

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Related

Telli v. Broward County
94 So. 3d 504 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 So. 3d 415, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 12504, 2011 WL 3477086, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snipes-v-telli-fladistctapp-2011.