Florida Statute 27.54 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research

The 2024 Florida Statutes

Title V
JUDICIAL BRANCH

Chapter 27
STATE ATTORNEYS; PUBLIC DEFENDERS; RELATED OFFICES

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F.S. 27.54

27.54 Limitation on payment of expenditures other than by the state.—

(1) All payments for the salary of the public defender and the criminal conflict and civil regional counsel and for the necessary expenses of office, including salaries of assistants and staff, shall be considered as being for a valid public purpose. Travel expenses shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of s. 112.061.

(2) A county or municipality may contract with, or appropriate or contribute funds to, the operation of the offices of the various public defenders and regional counsels as provided in this subsection. A public defender or regional counsel defending violations of special laws or county or municipal ordinances punishable by incarceration and not ancillary to a state charge shall contract with counties and municipalities to recover the full cost of services rendered on an hourly basis or reimburse the state for the full cost of assigning one or more full-time equivalent attorney positions to work on behalf of the county or municipality. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the case of a county with a population of less than 75,000, the public defender or regional counsel shall contract for full reimbursement, or for reimbursement as the parties otherwise agree. In local ordinance violation cases, the county or municipality shall pay for due process services that are approved by the court, including deposition costs, deposition transcript costs, investigative costs, witness fees, expert witness costs, and interpreter costs. The person charged with the violation shall be assessed a fee for the services of a public defender or regional counsel and other costs and fees paid by the county or municipality, which assessed fee may be reduced to a lien, in all instances in which the person enters a plea of guilty or no contest or is found to be in violation or guilty of any count or lesser included offense of the charge or companion case charges, regardless of adjudication. The court shall determine the amount of the obligation. The county or municipality may recover assessed fees through collections court or as otherwise permitted by law, and any fees recovered pursuant to this section shall be forwarded to the applicable county or municipality as reimbursement.

(a) A contract for reimbursement on an hourly basis shall require a county or municipality to reimburse the public defender or regional counsel for services rendered at a rate of $50 per hour. If an hourly rate is specified in the General Appropriations Act, that rate shall control.

(b) A contract for assigning one or more full-time equivalent attorney positions to perform work on behalf of the county or municipality shall assign one or more full-time equivalent positions based on estimates by the public defender or regional counsel of the number of hours required to handle the projected workload. The full cost of each full-time equivalent attorney position on an annual basis shall be $50, or the amount specified in the General Appropriations Act, multiplied by the legislative budget request standard for available work hours for one full-time equivalent attorney position, or, in the absence of that standard, 1,854 hours. The contract may provide for funding full-time equivalent positions in one-quarter increments.

(c) Any payments received pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited into the Grants and Donations Trust Fund of the applicable public defender or criminal conflict and civil regional counsel for appropriation by the Legislature.

(3) No public defender, assistant public defender, regional counsel, or assistant regional counsel shall receive from any county or municipality any supplemental salary, except as provided in this section.

(4) Unless expressly authorized by law or in the General Appropriations Act, public defenders and regional counsel are prohibited from spending state-appropriated funds on county funding obligations under s. 14, Art. V of the State Constitution. This includes expenditures on communications services and facilities as defined in s. 29.008. This does not prohibit a public defender from spending funds for these purposes in exceptional circumstances when necessary to maintain operational continuity in the form of a short-term advance pending reimbursement from the county. If a public defender or regional counsel provides short-term advance funding for a county responsibility as authorized by this subsection, the public defender or regional counsel shall request full reimbursement from the board of county commissioners prior to making the expenditure or at the next meeting of the board of county commissioners after the expenditure is made. The total of all short-term advances authorized by this subsection shall not exceed 2 percent of the public defender’s or regional counsel’s approved operating budget in any given year. No short-term advances authorized by this subsection shall be permitted until all reimbursements arising from advance funding in the prior state fiscal year have been received by the public defender or regional counsel. All reimbursement payments received by the public defender or regional counsel shall be deposited into the General Revenue Fund. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, the public defender or regional counsel may expend funds for the purchase of computer systems, including associated hardware and software, and for personnel related to this function.

History.—s. 5, ch. 63-409; s. 3, ch. 67-539; s. 4, ch. 72-327; s. 2, ch. 72-722; s. 3, ch. 73-216; s. 6, ch. 80-376; s. 4, ch. 85-213; s. 4, ch. 88-280; s. 1, ch. 89-118; s. 2, ch. 91-303; s. 140, ch. 92-279; s. 55, ch. 92-326; s. 141, ch. 95-147; s. 21, ch. 2003-402; s. 12, ch. 2004-265; s. 5, ch. 2005-236; s. 12, ch. 2007-62; s. 6, ch. 2019-3; s. 2, ch. 2024-153.

F.S. 27.54 on Google Scholar

F.S. 27.54 on Casetext

Amendments to 27.54

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 27.54

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 27.54.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 27.54

Total Results: 20

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS v. JULIANNE M. HOLT, PUBLIC DEFENDER OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2023-11-29

Snippet: municipality to provide representation pursuant to ss. 27.54 and 125.69. Because this civil restitution

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS v. JULIANNE M. HOLT, PUBLIC DEFENDER OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT AND HONORABLE SAMANTHA LEE WARD

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2023-11-29

Snippet: municipality to provide representation pursuant to ss. 27.54 and 125.69. Because this civil restitution

Florida Department of Children & Families v. Adoption of X.X.G.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2010-09-22

Citation: 45 So. 3d 79, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 14014, 61 A.L.R. 6th 621

Snippet: are bonded to Petitioner and B.O. RFA Response 27. 54. But for Section [63.042(3) ], Fla. Stats., DCF

City of Ft. Lauderdale v. Crowder

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2008-04-30

Citation: 983 So. 2d 37, 2008 WL 1883899

Snippet: pursuant to ss. 27.54 and 125.69." [e.s.] § 27.51(1), Fla. Stat. (2007). Section 27.54 further provides:

Ago

Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 1999-09-17

Snippet: Each of the services outlined in ss. 27.34(2) and 27.54(3). (d) Appellate filing fees in criminal cases

Morris v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1999-09-15

Citation: 742 So. 2d 429, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 12297, 1999 WL 770679

Snippet: attorney, exercising the county’s rights under section 27.54(3), Florida Statutes (1995), asked for a hearing

Ago

Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 1999-08-05

Snippet: such services.5 Similarly, sections 27.34(2) and 27.54(3), Florida Statutes, impose upon the county the

Martin v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1998-04-29

Citation: 711 So. 2d 117, 1998 WL 204811

Snippet: indigent it must pay for a trial transcript. See § 27.54(3), Fla. Stat. (1997). We conclude that the financial

Milligan v. Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1998-01-08

Citation: 704 So. 2d 1050, 23 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 22, 1998 Fla. LEXIS 1

Snippet: defender. In such cases, costs incurred pursuant to s. 27.54(3) shah be paid by the county upon certification

Milligan v. COUNTY BD. OF CO. COM'RS

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1998-01-08

Citation: 704 So. 2d 1050

Snippet: defender. In such cases, costs incurred pursuant to s. 27.54(3) shall be paid by the county upon certification

Batson v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1997-10-24

Citation: 700 So. 2d 1244, 1997 Fla. App. LEXIS 12015, 1997 WL 661416

Snippet: defender. In such cases, costs incurred pursuant to s. 27.54(3) shall be paid by the county upon certification

Brown v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1996-11-06

Citation: 682 So. 2d 667, 1996 WL 637648

Snippet: twenty-five years of probation. Second, section 27.54, Florida Statutes, allows the trial court to assess

Louis v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1996-01-17

Citation: 667 So. 2d 851, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 214, 1996 WL 13788

Snippet: consultation fee of an expert witness pursuant to section 27.54(3), Florida Statutes (1993).1 The court denied the

Cade v. State

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1995-06-02

Citation: 658 So. 2d 550, 1995 WL 326107

Snippet: costs in the same manner as other costs. Section 27.54(3), Florida Statutes (1991), further provides in

Lee County v. Eaton

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1994-09-21

Citation: 642 So. 2d 1126, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 9002, 1994 WL 510845

Snippet: are not applicable to a typical civil case. See § 27.54(3), Fla.Stat. (1993); Fla.R.App.P. 9.140(d); Shuman

In Re Order on Prosecution of Cr. App.

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1990-05-03

Citation: 561 So. 2d 1130

Snippet: defender's office, and does not contravene subsection 27.54(2). Further, while it is true that the legislature's