Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 20.03 (2025)

Definitions.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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20.03 Definitions.—To provide uniform nomenclature throughout the structure of the executive branch, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Agency,” as the context requires, means an official, officer, commission, authority, council, committee, department, division, bureau, board, section, or another unit or entity of government.

(2) “Board of trustees,” except with reference to the board created in chapter 253, means a board created by specific statutory enactment and appointed to function adjunctively to a department, the Governor, or the Executive Office of the Governor to administer public property or a public program.

(3) “Cabinet” means collectively the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Commissioner of Agriculture, as specified in s. 4, Art. IV of the State Constitution.

(4) “Commission,” unless otherwise required by the State Constitution, means a body created by specific statutory enactment within a department, the office of the Governor, or the Executive Office of the Governor and exercising limited quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial powers, or both, independently of the head of the department or the Governor.

(5) “Committee” or “task force” means an advisory body created without specific statutory enactment for a time not to exceed 1 year or created by specific statutory enactment for a time not to exceed 3 years and appointed to study a specific problem and recommend a solution or policy alternative with respect to that problem. Its existence terminates upon the completion of its assignment.

(6) “Coordinating council” means an interdepartmental advisory body created by law to coordinate programs and activities for which one department has primary responsibility but in which one or more other departments have an interest.

(7) “Council” or “advisory council” means an advisory body created by specific statutory enactment and appointed to function on a continuing basis for the study of the problems arising in a specified functional or program area of state government and to provide recommendations and policy alternatives.

(8) “Department” means the principal administrative unit within the executive branch of state government.

(9) “Examining and licensing board” means a board authorized to grant and revoke licenses to engage in regulated occupations.

(10) “Executive director” means the chief administrative employee or officer of a department headed by a board or by the Governor and the Cabinet.

(11) “Head of the department” means the individual under whom or the board under which direct administration of the department is placed by statute. Where direct administration of a department is placed under an officer or board appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the Governor, that officer or board remains subject to the Governor’s supervision and direction.

(12) “Secretary” means an individual who is appointed by the Governor to head a department and who is not otherwise named in the State Constitution.

(13) “To serve at the pleasure” means the appointee serves in the office until removed by the appointing authority. Consistent with the allotment of executive authority under ss. 1 and 6, Art. IV of the State Constitution, an appointee serving at the pleasure of the appointing authority generally remains subject to the direction and supervision of the appointing authority.

History.—s. 3, ch. 69-106; s. 2, ch. 82-46; s. 5, ch. 83-217; s. 2, ch. 94-235; s. 3, ch. 2000-258; s. 5, ch. 2012-116; s. 8, ch. 2023-8.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1977–2023 · leading case: Jan M. Tuveson v. Florida Governor's Council on Indian Affairs, Inc., a Florida Corp. & an Agency of the State of Florida, 734 F.2d 730 (11th Cir. 1984).

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Jan M. Tuveson v. Florida Governor's Council on Indian Affairs, Inc., a Florida Corp. & an Agency of the State of Florida, 734 F.2d 730 (11th Cir. 1984). · cites it 4× “1 Fla.Stat. § 20.03(7) (1979). That statutory definition has since been amended, *733 however, and the Council no longer comes within it.”

Krause v. Reno, 366 So. 2d 1244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). · cites it 2× “" Section 20.03(11), Florida Statutes (1977), of the Government Reorganization Act defines "agency" to include ".”

Whiley v. Scott, 79 So. 3d 702 (Fla. 2011). · cites it 2× “"Department” is the principal administrative unit of or within the executive branch, §§ 20.03(2) and 20.04(1), and "the individual or board in charge of the department” is the "[h]ead of the department.”

Askew v. Cross Key Waterways, 372 So. 2d 913 (Fla. 1978). “; §§ 20.03(1), 20.31(2), Fla. Stat. (1975).”

Off. Comm. of Unsecured Creditors v. Florida (In Re Tower Env't, Inc.), 260 B.R. 213 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1998). · cites it 2× “Fla.Stat. §§ 20.03 and 20.04. The purpose of the Fund is to serve as a repository for funds which will enable the Department to respond to incidents of inland contamination related to the storage of petroleum and petroleum products.”

Barnett Bank v. Tower Env't, Inc. (In Re Tower Env't, Inc.), 217 B.R. 933 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1997). · cites it 3× “Fla. Stat. §§ 20.03 and 20.04. The purpose of the Fund is to serve as a repository for funds which will enable the Department to respond without delay to incidents of inland contamination related to the storage of petroleum and petroleum products in order to protect the public…”

Cross Key Waterways v. Askew, 351 So. 2d 1062 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). “; §§ 20.03(1), 20.31(2), Fla. Stat. (1975).”

Prison Rehabilitative Indus. v. Betterson, 648 So. 2d 778 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). · cites it 2× “Subsection 768.28(2), on the other hand, defines “state agency” in much broader terms for the purpose of identifying entities entitled to sovereign immunity protection.”

Dept. of Prof'l Reg. v. Hall, 398 So. 2d 978 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). “30, the Department and its Secretary in fact are without general supervisory authority over boards within the departmental structure; concerning the activities of those boards the Department has only closely hedged licensing and enforcement powers.”

Miccosukee Tribe of Indians v. Florida State Athletic Comm'n, 226 F.3d 1226 (11th Cir. 2000). · cites it 2× “See Fla. Stat. § 20.03 (11) (“ ‘Agency,’ as the context requires, means a[ ] .”

Dulcio v. Env't Prot. Agency (S.D. Fla. 2023). “§§ 20.03 (11), 403.061, 403.121, 376.051.”

Miccosukee Tribe v. Florida State Athletic Comm. (11th Cir. 2000). “” Fla. Stat. § 20.03 (10). The Florida Commission falls squarely within this definition.”

— 20.03(1) — 2 cases

Askew v. Cross Key Waterways, 372 So. 2d 913 (Fla. 1978). “; §§ 20.03(1), 20.31(2), Fla. Stat. (1975).”

Cross Key Waterways v. Askew, 351 So. 2d 1062 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). “; §§ 20.03(1), 20.31(2), Fla. Stat. (1975).”

— 20.03(11) — 2 cases

Krause v. Reno, 366 So. 2d 1244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). “" Section 20.03(11), Florida Statutes (1977), of the Government Reorganization Act defines "agency" to include ".”

Prison Rehabilitative Indus. v. Betterson, 648 So. 2d 778 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). “Subsection 768.28(2), on the other hand, defines “state agency” in much broader terms for the purpose of identifying entities entitled to sovereign immunity protection.”

— 20.03(2) — 2 cases

Whiley v. Scott, 79 So. 3d 702 (Fla. 2011). “"Department” is the principal administrative unit of or within the executive branch, §§ 20.03(2) and 20.04(1), and "the individual or board in charge of the department” is the "[h]ead of the department.”

— 20.03(4) — 1 case

— 20.03(7) — 1 case

Jan M. Tuveson v. Florida Governor's Council on Indian Affairs, Inc., a Florida Corp. & an Agency of the State of Florida, 734 F.2d 730 (11th Cir. 1984). “1 Fla.Stat. § 20.03(7) (1979). That statutory definition has since been amended, *733 however, and the Council no longer comes within it.”

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