House Bill hb1329

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1329

        By Representatives Hart, Murman, Henriquez and Romeo






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public employment; amending

  3         s. 112.3135, F.S.; prohibiting the employment

  4         or promotion of certain persons; providing an

  5         effective date.

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  7  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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  9         Section 1.  Section 112.3135, Florida Statutes, is

10  amended to read:

11         112.3135  Restriction on employment of relatives.--

12         (1)  In this section, unless the context otherwise

13  requires:

14         (a)  "Agency" means:

15         1.  A state agency, except an institution under the

16  jurisdiction of the Division of Universities of the Department

17  of Education;

18         2.  An office, agency, or other establishment in the

19  legislative branch;

20         3.  An office, agency, or other establishment in the

21  judicial branch;

22         4.  A county;

23         5.  A city; and

24         6.  Any other political subdivision of the state,

25  except a district school board or community college district.

26         (b)  "Collegial body" means a governmental entity

27  marked by power or authority vested equally in each of a

28  number of colleagues.

29         (c)  "Public official" means an officer, including a

30  member of the Legislature, the Governor, and a member of the

31  Cabinet, or an employee of an agency in whom is vested the

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1329

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  1  authority by law, rule, or regulation, or to whom the

  2  authority has been delegated, to appoint, employ, promote, or

  3  advance individuals or to recommend individuals for

  4  appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement in

  5  connection with employment in an agency, including the

  6  authority as a member of a collegial body to vote on the

  7  appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement of

  8  individuals.

  9         (d)  "Relative," for purposes of this section only,

10  with respect to a public official, means an individual who is

11  related to the public official as father, mother, son,

12  daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew,

13  niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law,

14  son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,

15  stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother,

16  stepsister, half brother, or half sister, person who is

17  engaged to be married to the public officer or employee or who

18  otherwise holds himself or herself out as or is generally

19  known as the person whom the public officer or employee

20  intends to marry or with whom the public officer or employee

21  intends to form a household, or any other natural person

22  having the same legal residence as the public officer or

23  employee.

24         (2)(a)  A public official may not appoint, employ,

25  promote, or advance, or advocate for appointment, employment,

26  promotion, or advancement, in or to a position in the agency

27  in which the official is serving or over which the official

28  exercises jurisdiction or control any individual who is a

29  relative of the public official. An individual may not be

30  appointed, employed, promoted, or advanced in or to a position

31  in an agency if such appointment, employment, promotion, or

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1329

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  1  advancement has been advocated by a public official, serving

  2  in or exercising jurisdiction or control over the agency, who

  3  is a relative of the individual or if such appointment,

  4  employment, promotion, or advancement is made by a collegial

  5  body of which a relative of the individual is a member.

  6  However, this subsection shall not apply to appointments to

  7  boards other than those with land-planning or zoning

  8  responsibilities in those municipalities with less than 35,000

  9  population.  This subsection does not apply to persons serving

10  in a volunteer capacity who provide emergency medical,

11  firefighting, or police services. Such persons may receive,

12  without losing their volunteer status, reimbursements for the

13  costs of any training they get relating to the provision of

14  volunteer emergency medical, firefighting, or police services

15  and payment for any incidental expenses relating to those

16  services that they provide.

17         (b)  Mere approval of budgets shall not be sufficient

18  to constitute "jurisdiction or control" for the purposes of

19  this section.

20         (3)  An agency may prescribe regulations authorizing

21  the temporary employment, in the event of an emergency as

22  defined in s. 252.34(3), of individuals whose employment would

23  be otherwise prohibited by this section.

24         (4)  Legislators' relatives may be employed as pages or

25  messengers during legislative sessions.

26         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1329

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  2                          HOUSE SUMMARY

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      Adds a person who is engaged to be married to the public
  4    officer or employee or who otherwise holds himself or
      herself out as or is generally known as the person whom
  5    the public officer or employee intends to marry or with
      whom the public officer or employee intends to form a
  6    household, or any other natural person having the same
      legal residence as the public officer or employee to the
  7    list of relatives subject to the antinepotism laws.

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