The Florida Senate

1001.72  University boards of trustees; boards to constitute a corporation.--

(1)  Each board of trustees shall be a public body corporate by the name of "The (name of university) Board of Trustees," with all the powers of a body corporate, including the power to adopt a corporate seal, to contract and be contracted with, to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded in all courts of law or equity, and to give and receive donations. In all suits against a board of trustees, service of process shall be made on the chair of the board of trustees or, in the absence of the chair, on the corporate secretary or designee.

(2)  It is the intent of the Legislature that the university boards of trustees are not departments of the executive branch of state government within the scope and meaning of s. 6, Art. IV of the State Constitution.

(3)  The corporation is constituted as a public instrumentality, and the exercise by the corporation of the power conferred by this section is considered to be the performance of an essential public function. The corporation shall constitute an agency for the purposes of s. 120.52 The corporation is subject to chapter 119, subject to exceptions applicable to the corporation, and to the provisions of chapter 286; however, the corporation shall be entitled to provide notice of internal review committee meetings for competitive proposals or procurement to applicants by mail or facsimile rather than by means of publication. The corporation is not governed by chapter 607, but by the provisions of this part. The corporation shall maintain coverage under the State Risk Management Trust Fund as provided in chapter 284.

(4)  No bureau, department, division, agency, or subdivision of the state shall exercise any responsibility and authority to operate any state university except as specifically provided by law or rules of the State Board of Education. This section shall not prohibit any department, bureau, division, agency, or subdivision of the state from providing access to programs or systems or providing other assistance to a state university pursuant to an agreement between the board of trustees and such department, bureau, division, agency, or subdivision of the state.

(5)  University boards of trustees shall be corporations primarily acting as instrumentalities or agencies of the state, pursuant to s. 768.28(2), for purposes of sovereign immunity.

History.--s. 84, ch. 2002-387.