The Florida Senate

105.031  Qualification; filing fee; candidate's oath; items required to be filed.--

(1)  TIME OF QUALIFYING.--Candidates for judicial office other than the office of county court judge shall qualify with the Division of Elections of the Department of State, and candidates for the office of county court judge shall qualify with the supervisor of elections of the county, no earlier than noon of the 50th day, and no later than noon of the 46th day, before the first primary election. Filing shall be on forms provided for that purpose by the Division of Elections and furnished by the appropriate qualifying officer. Any person seeking to qualify as a candidate for circuit judge or county court judge by the alternative method, if the person has submitted the necessary petitions by the required deadline and is notified after the fifth day prior to the last day for qualifying that the required number of signatures has been obtained, shall be entitled to subscribe to the candidate's oath and file the qualifying papers at any time within 5 days from the date he or she is notified that the necessary number of signatures has been obtained. Any person other than a write-in candidate who qualifies within the time prescribed in this subsection shall be entitled to have his or her name printed on the ballot.

(2)  FILING IN GROUPS.--Candidates shall qualify in groups where multiple judicial offices are to be filled.

(3)  QUALIFYING FEE.--Each candidate qualifying for election to judicial office, except write-in judicial candidates, shall, during the time for qualifying, pay to the officer with whom he or she qualifies a qualifying fee, which shall consist of a filing fee and an election assessment, or qualify by the alternative method. The amount of the filing fee is 3 percent of the annual salary of the office sought. The amount of the election assessment is 1 percent of the annual salary of the office sought. The qualifying officer shall forward all filing fees to the Department of Revenue for deposit in the General Revenue Fund. The election assessment shall be deposited into the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The annual salary of the office for purposes of computing the qualifying fee shall be computed by multiplying 12 times the monthly salary authorized for such office as of July 1 immediately preceding the first day of qualifying. This subsection shall not apply to candidates qualifying for retention to judicial office.

(4)  CANDIDATE'S OATH.--All candidates for judicial office shall subscribe to an oath or affirmation in writing to be filed with the appropriate qualifying officer upon qualifying. A printed copy of the oath or affirmation shall be furnished to the candidate by the qualifying officer and shall be in substantially the following form:

State of Florida
County of _____

Before me, an officer authorized to administer oaths, personally appeared  (please print name as you wish it to appear on the ballot) , to me well known, who, being sworn, says he or she: is a candidate for the judicial office of _____; that his or her legal residence is _____ County, Florida; that he or she is a qualified elector of the state and of the territorial jurisdiction of the court to which he or she seeks election; that he or she is qualified under the constitution and laws of Florida to hold the judicial office to which he or she desires to be elected or in which he or she desires to be retained; that he or she has taken the oath required by ss. 876.05-876.10, Florida Statutes; that he or she has qualified for no other public office in the state, the term of which office or any part thereof runs concurrent to the office he or she seeks; and that he or she has resigned from any office which he or she is required to resign pursuant to s. 99.012, Florida Statutes.

 (Signature of candidate) 

 (Address) 

 (Signature and title of officer administering oath) 

(5)  ITEMS REQUIRED TO BE FILED.--

(a)  In order for a candidate for judicial office to be qualified, the following items must be received by the filing officer by the end of the qualifying period:

1.  For each candidate qualifying for the office of circuit judge or county court judge, a properly executed check drawn upon the candidate's campaign account in an amount not less than the fee required by subsection (3) or, in lieu thereof, the copy of the notice of obtaining ballot position pursuant to s. 105.035. If a candidate's check is returned by the bank for any reason, the filing officer shall immediately notify the candidate and the candidate shall, the end of qualifying notwithstanding, have 48 hours from the time such notification is received, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, to pay the fee with a cashier's check purchased from funds of the campaign account. Failure to pay the fee as provided in this subparagraph shall disqualify the candidate.

2.  The candidate's oath required by subsection (4), which must contain the name of the candidate as it is to appear on the ballot; the office sought, including the district or group number if applicable; and the signature of the candidate, duly acknowledged.

3.  The loyalty oath required by s. 876.05, signed by the candidate and duly acknowledged.

4.  The completed form for the appointment of campaign treasurer and designation of campaign depository, as required by s. 106.021.

5.  The full and public disclosure of financial interests required by s. 8, Art. II of the State Constitution.

(b)  If the filing officer receives qualifying papers that do not include all items as required by paragraph (a) prior to the last day of qualifying, the filing officer shall make a reasonable effort to notify the candidate of the missing or incomplete items and shall inform the candidate that all required items must be received by the close of qualifying. A candidate's name as it is to appear on the ballot may not be changed after the end of qualifying.

History.--s. 3, ch. 71-49; s. 36, ch. 77-175; s. 1, ch. 78-260; s. 5, ch. 79-365; s. 54, ch. 79-400; s. 17, ch. 81-105; s. 10, ch. 83-251; s. 1, ch. 89-152; s. 34, ch. 89-338; s. 5, ch. 91-107; s. 630, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 95-156; s. 13, ch. 97-13.