State v. Avatar Development Corp.

697 So. 2d 561, 1997 WL 394482
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 16, 1997
Docket96-1639
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 697 So. 2d 561 (State v. Avatar Development Corp.) 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
State v. Avatar Development Corp., 697 So. 2d 561, 1997 WL 394482 (Fla. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

697 So.2d 561 (1997)

STATE of Florida, Appellant,
v.
AVATAR DEVELOPMENT CORP. and Amikam Tanel, Appellees.

No. 96-1639.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

July 16, 1997.
Rehearing Denied August 19, 1997.

*562 Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Jonathan A. Glogau, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for appellant.

John H. Pelzer, Samuel S. Fields and Daniella Friedman of Ruden, McClosky, Smith, Schuster & Russell, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellees.

David K. Thulman, Assistant General Counsel, State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tallahassee, for Amicus Curiae-State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

PER CURIAM.

We have accepted jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 9.160, Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, of the following certified question from the county court:

Are Florida Statutes § 403.161(1)(b) or § 403.161(5) unconsitutional as charged in the information?

Based on the certified question, the State of Florida appeals the dismissal of its criminal misdemeanor information against appellees Avatar Development Corp. ("Avatar") and Avatar's vice president, Amikam Tanel. We answer the certified question in the negative and we reverse the order dismissing the information.

The challenged statute subsections[1] provide:

*563 403.161 Prohibitions, violation, penalty, intent.—

(1) It shall be a violation of this chapter, and it shall be prohibited for any person:
....
(b) ... to violate or fail to comply with any ... permit ... issued by the department pursuant to its lawful authority.
....
(5) Any person who willfully commits a violation specified in paragraph (1)(b) ... is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree punishable as provided in ss. 775.082(4)(a) and 775.083(1)(g) by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by 6 months in jail, or by both for each offense.

Fla. Stat. § 403.161 (1995).

On January 18, 1994, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a permit authorizing Avatar to conduct dredge and fill operations in class III waters, for the purpose of stabilizing the banks of certain existing man-made canals tributary to the Intracoastal Waterway in Broward County and also authorizing it to lengthen an existing canal. The permit contained a number of conditions, including specific condition 3:

At least 48 hours prior to commencement of work authorized by this permit, the permittee shall notify the Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Wetland Resource Management in Tallahassee, and the Southeast District District [sic] office in West Palm Beach, in writing of this commencement.

It also included specific condition 5:

Prior to the commencement of any construction authorized by this permit, floating turbidity curtains with weighted skirts extending to the bottom of the man-made canals shall be properly installed around the shoreline stabilization areas and all areas to be dredged and filled, to isolate adjacent waters from the work area.... The floating turbidity curtains shall remain in place, be inspected daily and be maintained in good working order until all of the authorized work is complete, and turbidity levels in the project area are within 29 NTUs of background levels.

On November 28, 1995, the State charged Avatar and Tanel by information with two misdemeanors. Count I charged that appellees violated Section 403.161(1)(b) by willfully failing to provide written notice to the Department of Environmental Protection at least 48 hours before beginning the work authorized by the permit. Count II charged that appellees violated Section 403.161(1)(b) by willfully failing to employ turbidity curtains before beginning work authorized by the permit. Both counts also charge that these acts are first degree misdemeanors pursuant to Section 403.161(5), Florida Statutes.

The trial court dismissed the information, finding these statutory sections unconstitutional on three grounds: first, that they violate Article 1, Section 18 of the Florida Constitution; second, that they violate Article II, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution; and third, that they violate due process.

First, Article 1, Section 18 of the Florida Constitution provides:

No administrative agency shall impose a sentence of imprisonment, nor shall it impose any other penalty except as provided by law.

The trial court relied on B.H. v. State, 645 So.2d 987 (Fla.1994), in concluding that to allow an administrative agency to seek to impose imprisonment, even through its police powers, violated this section of the Florida Constitution. B.H. recognized, however, that Article 1, Section 18 "speaks only to the quasi-adjudicatory powers of some administrative agencies, [and] embodies an overall constitutional policy that administrative agencies may not create a criminal statute or its equivalent and prescribe the penalty." Id. at 993.

In this case, the State Attorney filed the information in county court, and the complaining *564 party is the State of Florida. The Department of Environmental Protection did not conduct an administrative hearing, nor has it imposed any penalty upon the appellees. Thus, the Department of Environmental Protection has exercised no quasi-adjudicatory powers with respect to Avatar or Tanel.

Second, Article II, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution provides:

The powers of the state government shall be divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches. No person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to either of the other branches unless expressly provided herein.

(Emphasis added).

The trial court also relied on B.H., 645 So.2d at 987, when it concluded that Sections 403.161(1)(b) and 403.161(5) were unconstitutional under Article II, Section 3. In B.H., the supreme court considered the validity of Section 39.061, Florida Statutes (Supp.1990). Id. Section 39.061 provided that an escape by a juvenile from a secure detention facility or a residential commitment facility of restrictiveness level VI(6) or above was a felony of the third degree. The statute also defined "restrictiveness level" as the identification of broad custody categories, to be established by the Department of Human and Rehabilitative Services ("HRS"). Id. The statute provided that these categories should include non-residential, residential and secure residential categories, and that there could not be more than eight levels. B.H. involved a question of whether the statutory enactment improperly delegated to HRS the legislative authority to determine what constitutes the crime of juvenile escape. In concluding that the statute did improperly delegate legislative authority to an administrative agency, the supreme court said:

This Court has stated repeatedly and without exception that Florida's Constitution absolutely requires a "strict" separation of powers.

Id. at 991 (emphasis added).

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697 So. 2d 561, 1997 WL 394482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-avatar-development-corp-fladistctapp-1997.