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The Florida Senate

2011 Florida Statutes

Title X PUBLIC OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND RECORDS
Chapter 120 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT Entire Chapter
SECTION 55
Publication.
F.S. 120.55
120.55 Publication.—
(1) The Department of State shall:
(a)1. Through a continuous revision system, compile and publish electronically, on an Internet website managed by the department, the “Florida Administrative Code.” The Florida Administrative Code shall contain all rules adopted by each agency, citing the grant of rulemaking authority and the specific law implemented pursuant to which each rule was adopted, all history notes as authorized in s. 120.545(7), complete indexes to all rules contained in the code, and any other material required or authorized by law or deemed useful by the department. The electronic code shall display each rule chapter currently in effect in browse mode and allow full text search of the code and each rule chapter. The department shall publish a printed version of the Florida Administrative Code and may contract with a publishing firm for such printed publication; however, the department shall retain responsibility for the code as provided in this section. Supplementation of the printed code shall be made as often as practicable, but at least monthly. The printed publication shall be the official compilation of the administrative rules of this state. The Department of State shall retain the copyright over the Florida Administrative Code.
2. Rules general in form but applicable to only one school district, community college district, or county, or a part thereof, or state university rules relating to internal personnel or business and finance shall not be published in the Florida Administrative Code. Exclusion from publication in the Florida Administrative Code shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of such rules.
3. At the beginning of the section of the code dealing with an agency that files copies of its rules with the department, the department shall publish the address and telephone number of the executive offices of each agency, the manner by which the agency indexes its rules, a listing of all rules of that agency excluded from publication in the code, and a statement as to where those rules may be inspected.
4. Forms shall not be published in the Florida Administrative Code; but any form which an agency uses in its dealings with the public, along with any accompanying instructions, shall be filed with the committee before it is used. Any form or instruction which meets the definition of “rule” provided in s. 120.52 shall be incorporated by reference into the appropriate rule. The reference shall specifically state that the form is being incorporated by reference and shall include the number, title, and effective date of the form and an explanation of how the form may be obtained. Each form created by an agency which is incorporated by reference in a rule notice of which is given under s. 120.54(3)(a) after December 31, 2007, must clearly display the number, title, and effective date of the form and the number of the rule in which the form is incorporated.
5. The department shall allow material incorporated by reference to be filed in electronic form as prescribed by department rule. When a rule is filed for adoption with incorporated material in electronic form, the department’s publication of the Florida Administrative Code on its Internet website must contain a hyperlink from the incorporating reference in the rule directly to that material. The department may not allow hyperlinks from rules in the Florida Administrative Code to any material other than that filed with and maintained by the department, but may allow hyperlinks to incorporated material maintained by the department from the adopting agency’s website or other sites.
(b) Electronically publish on an Internet website managed by the department a weekly publication entitled the “Florida Administrative Weekly,” which shall serve as the official Internet website for such publication and must contain:
1. Notice of adoption of, and an index to, all rules filed during the preceding week.
2. All notices required by s. 120.54(3)(a), showing the text of all rules proposed for consideration.
3. All notices of public meetings, hearings, and workshops conducted in accordance with the provisions of s. 120.525, including a statement of the manner in which a copy of the agenda may be obtained.
4. A notice of each request for authorization to amend or repeal an existing uniform rule or for the adoption of new uniform rules.
5. Notice of petitions for declaratory statements or administrative determinations.
6. A summary of each objection to any rule filed by the Administrative Procedures Committee during the preceding week.
7. A cumulative list of all rules that have been proposed but not filed for adoption.
8. Any other material required or authorized by law or deemed useful by the department.

The department shall publish a printed version of the Florida Administrative Weekly and make copies available on an annual subscription basis. The department may contract with a publishing firm for printed publication of the Florida Administrative Weekly.

(c) Review notices for compliance with format and numbering requirements before publishing them on the Florida Administrative Weekly Internet website.
(d) Prescribe by rule the style and form required for rules, notices, and other materials submitted for filing.
(e) Correct grammatical, typographical, and like errors not affecting the construction or meaning of the rules, after having obtained the advice and consent of the appropriate agency, and insert history notes.
(f) Charge each agency using the Florida Administrative Weekly a space rate to cover the costs related to the Florida Administrative Weekly and the Florida Administrative Code.
(g) Maintain a permanent record of all notices published in the Florida Administrative Weekly.
(2) The Florida Administrative Weekly Internet website must allow users to:
(a) Search for notices by type, publication date, rule number, word, subject, and agency;
(b) Search a database that makes available all notices published on the website for a period of at least 5 years;
(c) Subscribe to an automated e-mail notification of selected notices to be sent out before or concurrently with weekly publication of the printed and electronic Florida Administrative Weekly. Such notification must include in the text of the e-mail a summary of the content of each notice;
(d) View agency forms and other materials submitted to the department in electronic form and incorporated by reference in proposed rules; and
(e) Comment on proposed rules.
(3) Publication of material required by paragraph (1)(b) on the Florida Administrative Weekly Internet website does not preclude publication of such material on an agency’s website or by other means.
(4) Each agency shall provide copies of its rules upon request, with citations to the grant of rulemaking authority and the specific law implemented for each rule.
(5) Any publication of a proposed rule promulgated by an agency, whether published in the Florida Administrative Code or elsewhere, shall include, along with the rule, the name of the person or persons originating such rule, the name of the agency head who approved the rule, and the date upon which the rule was approved.
(6) Access to the Florida Administrative Weekly Internet website and its contents, including the e-mail notification service, shall be free for the public.
(7)(a) Each year the Department of State shall furnish the Florida Administrative Weekly, without charge and upon request, as follows:
1. One subscription to each federal and state court having jurisdiction over the residents of the state; the Legislative Library; each state university library; the State Library; each depository library designated pursuant to s. 257.05; and each standing committee of the Senate and House of Representatives and each state legislator.
2. Two subscriptions to each state department.
3. Three subscriptions to the library of the Supreme Court of Florida, the library of each state district court of appeal, the division, the library of the Attorney General, each law school library in Florida, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
4. Ten subscriptions to the committee.
(b) The Department of State shall furnish one copy of the Florida Administrative Weekly, at no cost, to each clerk of the circuit court and each state department, for posting for public inspection.
(8)(a) All fees and moneys collected by the Department of State under this chapter shall be deposited in the Records Management Trust Fund for the purpose of paying for costs incurred by the department in carrying out this chapter.
(b) The unencumbered balance in the Records Management Trust Fund for fees collected pursuant to this chapter may not exceed $300,000 at the beginning of each fiscal year, and any excess shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund.
History.—s. 1, ch. 74-310; s. 1, ch. 75-107; s. 4, ch. 75-191; s. 5, ch. 76-131; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 4, ch. 77-453; s. 3, ch. 78-425; s. 4, ch. 79-299; s. 7, ch. 80-391; s. 4, ch. 81-309; s. 1, ch. 82-19; s. 1, ch. 82-47; s. 3, ch. 83-351; s. 3, ch. 84-203; s. 17, ch. 87-224; s. 1, ch. 87-322; s. 20, ch. 91-45; s. 15, ch. 96-159; s. 896, ch. 2002-387; s. 5, ch. 2004-235; s. 14, ch. 2004-335; s. 4, ch. 2006-82; ss. 8, 9, ch. 2008-104; ss. 11, 12, ch. 2010-5.