Florida Senate - 2017 SJR 904
By Senator Steube
23-01540-17 2017904__
1 Senate Joint Resolution
2 A joint resolution proposing amendments to Section 17
3 of Article III and Section 7 of Article IV and the
4 creation of a new section in Article XII of the State
5 Constitution to authorize the House of Representatives
6 to impeach state attorneys and public defenders for
7 misdemeanors in office and subject them to trial by
8 the Senate, if impeached; preserve the Governor’s
9 existing authority to suspend state attorneys and
10 public defenders from office; and to provide that
11 state attorneys and public defenders who hold office
12 on or after the amendment’s effective date are subject
13 to impeachment.
14
15 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17 That the following amendments to Section 17 of Article III
18 and Section 7 of Article IV and the creation of a new section in
19 Article XII of the State Constitution are agreed to and shall be
20 submitted to the electors of this state for approval or
21 rejection at the next general election or at an earlier special
22 election specifically authorized by law for that purpose:
23 ARTICLE III
24 LEGISLATURE
25 SECTION 17. Impeachment.—
26 (a) The governor, lieutenant governor, members of the
27 cabinet, justices of the supreme court, judges of district
28 courts of appeal, judges of circuit courts, and judges of county
29 courts, state attorneys, and public defenders shall be liable to
30 impeachment for misdemeanor in office. The house of
31 representatives by two-thirds vote shall have the power to
32 impeach an officer. The speaker of the house of representatives
33 shall have power at any time to appoint a committee to
34 investigate charges against any officer subject to impeachment.
35 (b) An officer impeached by the house of representatives
36 shall be disqualified from performing any official duties until
37 acquitted by the senate, and, unless impeached, the governor may
38 by appointment fill the office until completion of the trial.
39 (c) All impeachments by the house of representatives shall
40 be tried by the senate. The chief justice of the supreme court,
41 or another justice designated by the chief justice, shall
42 preside at the trial, except in a trial of the chief justice, in
43 which case the governor shall preside. The senate shall
44 determine the time for the trial of any impeachment and may sit
45 for the trial whether the house of representatives be in session
46 or not. The time fixed for trial shall not be more than six
47 months after the impeachment. During an impeachment trial
48 senators shall be upon their oath or affirmation. No officer
49 shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the
50 members of the senate present. Judgment of conviction in cases
51 of impeachment shall remove the offender from office and, in the
52 discretion of the senate, may include disqualification to hold
53 any office of honor, trust or profit. Conviction or acquittal
54 shall not affect the civil or criminal responsibility of the
55 officer.
56
57 ARTICLE IV
58 EXECUTIVE
59 SECTION 7. Suspensions; filling office during suspensions.—
60 (a) By executive order stating the grounds and filed with
61 the custodian of state records, the governor may suspend from
62 office any state officer except as provided in subsection (d)
63 not subject to impeachment, any officer of the militia not in
64 the active service of the United States, or any county officer,
65 for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness,
66 incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or
67 commission of a felony, and may fill the office by appointment
68 for the period of suspension. The suspended officer may at any
69 time before removal be reinstated by the governor.
70 (b) The senate may, in proceedings prescribed by law,
71 remove from office or reinstate the suspended official and for
72 such purpose the senate may be convened in special session by
73 its president or by a majority of its membership.
74 (c) By order of the governor any elected municipal officer
75 indicted for crime may be suspended from office until acquitted
76 and the office filled by appointment for the period of
77 suspension, not to extend beyond the term, unless these powers
78 are vested elsewhere by law or the municipal charter.
79 (d) The lieutenant governor, members of the cabinet,
80 justices of the supreme court, judges of district courts of
81 appeal, judges of circuit courts, and judges of county courts
82 are not subject to suspension from office by the governor.
83
84 ARTICLE XII
85 SCHEDULE
86 Impeachment of state attorneys and public defenders.—The
87 amendment to Section 17 of Article III authorizing impeachment
88 of state attorneys and public defenders applies to state
89 attorneys and public defenders who hold office on or after the
90 effective date of the amendment.
91
92 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
93 placed on the ballot:
94 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
95 ARTICLE III, SECTION 17
96 ARTICLE IV, SECTION 7
97 ARTICLE XII
98 IMPEACHMENT AND SUSPENSION OF STATE ATTORNEYS AND PUBLIC
99 DEFENDERS.—Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to
100 authorize the House of Representatives to impeach state
101 attorneys and public defenders for misdemeanors in office and
102 the Senate to conduct a trial in the event of impeachment. The
103 amendment preserves the Governor’s existing authority to suspend
104 state attorneys and public defenders from office; and provides
105 that state attorneys and public defenders who hold office on or
106 after the amendment’s effective date are subject to impeachment.