The Florida Senate

124.011  Alternate procedure for the election of county commissioners to provide for single-member representation.--

(1)  County commissioners shall be nominated and elected to office in accordance with the provisions of s. 124.01, or as otherwise provided by law, unless a proposition calling for single-member representation within the county commission districts is submitted to and approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting on such proposition in the manner provided in this section. Such proposition shall provide that:

(a)  Five county commissioners shall reside one in each of five county commission districts, the districts together covering the entire county and as nearly equal in population as practicable; and each commissioner shall be nominated and elected only by the qualified electors who reside in the same county commission district as the commissioner; or

(b)  The board of county commissioners shall be increased from five commissioners to seven commissioners, with five of the seven commissioners residing one in each of five county commission districts, the districts together covering the entire county and as nearly equal in population as practicable, and each commissioner being nominated and elected only by the qualified electors who reside in the same county commission district as the commissioner, and with two of the seven commissioners being nominated and elected at large.

(2)  All commissioners shall be elected for 4-year terms which shall be staggered so that, alternately, one more or one less than half of the commissioners elected from residence areas and, if applicable, one of the commissioners elected at large from the entire county are elected every 2 years, except that any commissioner may be elected to an initial term of less than 4 years if necessary to achieve or maintain such system of staggered terms.

(3)  A proposition calling for single-member representation within the county commission districts of the county shall be submitted to the electors of the county at any primary, general, or otherwise-called special election, in either manner following:

(a)  The board of county commissioners may adopt a formal resolution directing an election to be held to place the proposition on the ballot.

(b)  The electors of the county may petition to have the proposition placed on the ballot by presenting to the board of county commissioners petitions signed by not less than 10 percent of the duly qualified electors of the county. The number of signatures required shall be determined by the supervisor of elections according to the number of registered electors in the county as of the date the petitioning electors register as a political committee pursuant to subsection (4).

(4)  The electors petitioning to have the proposition placed on the ballot shall register as a political committee pursuant to s. 106.03, and a specific person shall be designated therein as chair of the committee to act for the committee.

(5)  Each petition form circulated for single-member county commissioner representation within the county shall include space for the printed name, signature, and address of the elector and shall include the wording set forth in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b):

(a)  "As a registered elector of _____ County, Florida, I am petitioning for a referendum election to determine whether the five county commissioners of said county shall be elected from single-member districts by electors residing in each of those districts only."

(b)  "As a registered elector of _____ County, Florida, I am petitioning for a referendum election to determine whether the board of county commissioners shall be increased from five to seven members, with five of the county commissioners of said county being elected from single-member districts by electors residing in each of those districts only, and the remaining two being elected at large."

(6)  Upon the filing of the petitions with the board of county commissioners by the chair of the committee, the board of county commissioners shall submit the petitions to the supervisor of elections for verification of the signatures. Within a period of not more than 60 days, the supervisor of elections shall determine whether the petitions contain the required number of valid signatures. The supervisor of elections shall be paid by the committee seeking verification the sum of 10 cents for each name checked.

(7)  If it is determined that the petitions have the required signatures, the supervisor of elections shall certify the petitions to the board of county commissioners, which shall adopt a resolution requesting that an election date be set to conform to the earliest primary, general, or otherwise-called special election that occurs not less than 30 days after certification of the petitions. If it is determined that the petitions do not contain the required signatures, the supervisor of elections shall so notify the board of county commissioners, which shall file the petitions without taking further action; and the matter shall be at an end. No additional names may be added to the petitions, and the petitions may not be used in any other proceeding.

(8)  No special election may be called for the sole purpose of presenting the proposition to the vote of the electors.

(9)(a)  In a county in which the board of county commissioners is composed of five members, each to be elected from single-member districts, the wording of the proposition on the ballot shall be as follows:

Shall the five members of the board of county commissioners of _____ County, Florida, be elected to office from single-member districts by electors residing in each of those districts only?

_____ Yes

_____ No

(b)  In a county in which the board of county commissioners is to be increased from five to seven members, with two of the seven members to be elected at large, the wording on the ballot shall be as follows:

Shall the board of county commissioners of _____ County, Florida, be increased from five to seven members, with five of the seven members to be elected to office from single-member districts by electors residing in each of those districts only, and with the two remaining members being elected by all electors within the county at large?

_____ Yes

_____ No

(10)  Any county adopting one of the propositions set forth in this section may thereafter return to the procedures otherwise provided by law by following the same procedure outlined in subsection (3).

(11)  No county commissioner elected prior to or at the election which approves any revision as permitted in this section shall be affected in his or her term of office. The resolution adopted by the board of county commissioners under paragraph (3)(a) or subsection (7) which presents the proposed revision to the electorate for approval shall specify an orderly method and procedure for implementing the revision contemplated in the resolution.

History.--s. 1, ch. 84-224; s. 16, ch. 85-80; s. 812, ch. 95-147.