The Florida Senate

272.18  Governor's Mansion Commission.--

(1)(a)  There is created within the Department of Management Services a Governor's Mansion Commission to be composed of eight members. Five members shall be private citizens appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate; one member shall be the Director of the ¹Division of Facilities Management of the Department of Management Services; one member shall be the Director of the Division of Recreation and Parks of the Department of Environmental Protection; and one member shall be designated by the Secretary of State and shall be an employee of the Department of State with curatorial and museum expertise. The Governor shall appoint all citizen members for 4-year terms. The Governor shall fill vacancies for the remainder of unexpired terms. The spouse of the Governor or the designated representative of the Governor shall be an ex officio member of the commission but shall have no voting rights except in the case of a tie vote.

(b)  No member of the commission may hold any other state or local office during his or her tenure as a member of the commission.

(c)  Each commission member is accountable to the Governor for the proper performance of the duties of his or her office. The Governor shall cause to be investigated any complaint or unfavorable report received concerning the actions of the commission or any member and shall take appropriate action thereon. The Governor may remove from office any commission member for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or pleading guilty or nolo contendere to, or being found guilty of, a felony.

(2)(a)  The commission shall annually elect a chair from among the citizen members appointed by the Governor. The chair shall serve for 1 year and may be elected for 1 additional year. Meetings of the commission shall be held at the call of its chair, at the request of a majority of its membership, at the request of the department, or at such times as may be prescribed by its rules. A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

(b)  The commission shall obtain clerical, expert, technical, or other services from the Department of Management Services as the commission requires to carry out the purposes of this section.

(c)  Members of the commission shall serve without compensation or honorarium but shall be entitled to receive reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses as provided in s. 112.061. All expenses of the commission shall be paid from appropriations to be made by the Legislature to the Department of Management Services for that purpose. The commission shall submit its budgetary requests to the Department of Management Services for approval and inclusion in the legislative budget request of the department. All vouchers shall be approved by the secretary of the Department of Management Services before being submitted to the Comptroller for payment.

(3)(a)  The commission shall keep the structure, style, and character of the Governor's Mansion, its grounds, and all structures thereon consistent with its original plan of construction and design. It shall preserve and protect the antique furnishings in the private quarters of the Governor's Mansion and the articles of furniture, fixtures, and decorative objects used or displayed in the state rooms of the Governor's Mansion. For the purposes of this section and s. 272.185, the entrance hall, the state bedroom and its hallway and bath, the reception hall, the Florida Room, and the state dining room are the state rooms of the Governor's Mansion. The commission may assist with the private quarters of the Governor's Mansion when requested by the Governor, the Governor's spouse, or the Governor's designee.

(b)  The commission shall recommend for approval by the Governor and Cabinet any major changes in the architecture, furniture, furnishings, fixtures, or decorative objects of the Governor's Mansion, the structures thereon, or the landscaping of the grounds.

(c)  The commission shall catalog and maintain a descriptive, photographic inventory of the antique furnishings in the private quarters and of all articles of furniture, fixtures, and decorative objects used or displayed in the state rooms of the Governor's Mansion.

(d)  The commission shall employ or utilize the services of a full-time curator to catalog and maintain the inventory, to aid in the care and upkeep of the furnishings, to train Governor's Mansion docents, and to assist and advise the commission in the furtherance of the purposes of this section.

(e)  The commission may receive on behalf of the state contributions, bequests, and gifts of money, furniture, works of art, memorabilia, or other property consistent with the purposes for which the commission is created. Title to all property which is acquired by the commission shall vest in the state and shall be held in trust by the commission to further the purposes of this section. No gifts, contributions, or bequests shall be accepted for the Governor's Mansion without the approval of the commission.

(f)  The commission may authorize corporations not for profit, incorporated in accordance with chapter 617 and approved by the Department of State, to operate for the benefit of the Governor's Mansion. Any such corporation shall operate under contract to the commission. The commission shall adopt rules prescribing material conditions of the contract, including, but not limited to, provisions which prescribe procedures for acquiring and disposing of property by the corporation, which describe the relationship of the corporation to the commission, and which require the corporation to disclose material provisions of the contract to donors of gifts, contributions, or bequests.

(g)  The commission also shall adopt rules governing the use of the state rooms of the Governor's Mansion, the selection and acquisition of furnishings and decorations for these rooms, and the acceptance of gifts, contributions, bequests, or loans of property.

(4)  The Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of State shall provide reasonable assistance when requested by the commission.

History.--s. 1, ch. 57-61; s. 1, ch. 61-30; s. 10, ch. 63-400; ss. 22, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 2, ch. 75-70; s. 4, ch. 78-323; ss. 1, 3, 4, ch. 81-13; ss. 1, 4, ch. 82-46; s. 55, ch. 85-349; ss. 1, 2, 3, ch. 88-15; s. 5, ch. 91-429; s. 213, ch. 92-279; s. 55, ch. 92-326; s. 110, ch. 94-356; s. 856, ch. 95-148.

¹Note.--Deleted in the reorganization of the Department of Management Services by s. 3, ch. 97-296. Section 4, ch. 97-296, requires the Division of Statutory Revision to prepare a reviser's bill for submission to the 1998 Regular Session of the Legislature substituting references to the Department of Management Services in the Florida Statutes for references to divisions, bureaus, or other units of that department.