Florida Senate - 2024 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 438
Ì547206#Î547206
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RS .
02/27/2024 .
.
.
.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The Committee on Rules (Ingoglia) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 18 - 66
4 and insert:
5 (1) Beginning November 3, 2026, and except as provided in
6 s. 124.011, relating to single-member districts after decennial
7 redistricting, a person may not appear on the ballot for
8 reelection to the office of county commissioner if, by the end
9 of his or her current term of office, the person will have
10 served, or but for resignation would have served, in that office
11 for 8 consecutive years. A person who has served in the office
12 of county commissioner for 8 consecutive years may not qualify
13 for a different district seat of the county commission or an at
14 large county commission seat of that county with a term of
15 office beginning less than 2 years after his or her 8
16 consecutive years in office have ended.
17 (2)(a) The term limits imposed by this section apply to:
18 1. Noncharter counties, and service of a term of office
19 which commenced before November 3, 2026, may not be counted
20 toward the limitation imposed by this section.
21 2. Charter counties whose charter does not impose term
22 limits on county commissioners as of November 3, 2026. In such
23 counties, service of a term of office which commenced before
24 November 3, 2026, may not be counted toward the limitation
25 imposed by this section.
26 3. Charter counties whose charter, as of July 1, 2024,
27 imposed term limits longer than the term limits imposed by this
28 section and whose voters approved a reduction to such term
29 limits in a referendum held pursuant to subsection (3).
30 (b) The term limits imposed by this section do not apply
31 to:
32 1. Charter counties whose charter imposes term limits that
33 are equal to or more restrictive than the term limits imposed by
34 this section. This section does not authorize a person subject
35 to such term limits to immediately serve an additional 8
36 consecutive years.
37 2. Charter counties whose charter, as of July 1, 2024,
38 imposes term limits longer than the term limits imposed by this
39 section and whose voters rejected such term limits in a
40 referendum held pursuant to subsection (3).
41 (3) A county whose charter, as of July 1, 2024, expressly
42 provides that county commissioners may serve longer than the
43 limits imposed by this section shall hold a referendum election
44 that coincides with the 2024 general election to determine
45 whether the limits imposed by this section shall apply to such
46 county.
47 (4) Except as provided in this section, an initiative or
48 referendum process regarding term limits of county commissioners
49 is prohibited.
50 Section 2. Referendum election.—
51 (1) A charter county whose charter authorizes county
52 commissioners to serve for a period longer than 8 consecutive
53 years shall hold a referendum election on November 5, 2024.
54 (2) The ballot title for the referendum must be in
55 substantially the following form:
56
57 COUNTY COMMISSIONER TERM LIMITS
58
59 (3) The referendum question must be in substantially the
60 following form:
61
62 Currently, the ...(county name)... County charter
63 prohibits commissioners from serving longer than 12
64 consecutive years. Should the county reduce the term
65 limit for county commissioners to 8 consecutive years?
66
67 (__) Yes.
68 (__) No.
69
70 (4) The referendum election must be conducted by the
71 supervisor of elections for each applicable county in accordance
72 with the Florida Election Code.
73 Section 3. (1) If a county approves the referendum required
74 by s. 124.012, Florida Statutes, a county commissioner who is
75 seeking his or her third term of office in such county and who
76 is reelected at the same general election as the referendum may
77 complete his or her third term of office as authorized by such
78 county’s charter.
79 (2) If a county approves the referendum required by s.
80 124.012, Florida Statutes, a commissioner of such county who has
81 served one or more terms under a preexisting county charter is
82 limited to the number of terms he or she has served as specified
83 by the county charter, as of November 5, 2024, and may not serve
84 another 8 consecutive years in addition to any years he or she
85 has served, unless the intervening period occurs as required in
86 s. 124.012(1), Florida Statutes.
87
88 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
89 And the title is amended as follows:
90 Delete lines 4 - 10
91 and insert:
92 commissioners, beginning on a specified date;
93 prohibiting specified persons from seeking certain
94 offices until after a specified timeframe; providing
95 applicability; requiring certain counties to hold a
96 referendum election on a specified date; prohibiting
97 initiatives or referendum processes regarding term
98 limits which are not specifically provided for by the
99 act; providing for the form for the ballot title and
100 referendum question; providing construction; providing
101 an