Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 1550
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       37-02012A-19                                          20191550__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to judicial candidate qualifying;
    3         amending s. 105.031, F.S.; requiring candidates
    4         seeking to qualify for election to the office of
    5         circuit judge or county court judge to include a
    6         completed application form consistent with that of a
    7         judicial nominating commission in their qualifying
    8         papers; requiring such candidates to post the
    9         completed form on a campaign website; providing an
   10         effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Present paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of
   15  section 105.031, Florida Statutes, is amended, and a new
   16  paragraph (b) is added to that subsection, to read:
   17         105.031 Qualification; filing fee; candidate’s oath; items
   18  required to be filed.—
   19         (5) ITEMS REQUIRED TO BE FILED.—
   20         (b) In addition to any items required by paragraph (a), a
   21  candidate seeking to qualify for election to the office of
   22  circuit judge or county court judge shall file, before the last
   23  day of qualifying, a completed application form that is verified
   24  pursuant to s. 92.525 and consistent with the application
   25  submitted to a judicial nominating commission from applicants
   26  who are seeking an appointment to a trial court. Additionally,
   27  if such candidate has a campaign website other than a page on a
   28  social media platform, he or she must post on that website a
   29  copy of the completed application form within 15 days after the
   30  filing of his or her qualifying papers.
   31         (c)(b) If the filing officer receives qualifying papers
   32  that do not include all of the items as required by paragraphs
   33  (a) and (b), as applicable, before paragraph (a) prior to the
   34  last day of qualifying, the filing officer must shall make a
   35  reasonable effort to notify the candidate of the missing or
   36  incomplete items and shall inform the candidate that all
   37  required items must be received by the close of qualifying. A
   38  candidate’s name as it is to appear on the ballot may not be
   39  changed after the end of qualifying.
   40         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.