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Fla. Stat. § 120.565 (2025)

Declaratory statement by agencies.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
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120.565 Declaratory statement by agencies.—
(1) Any substantially affected person may seek a declaratory statement regarding an agency’s opinion as to the applicability of a statutory provision, or of any rule or order of the agency, as it applies to the petitioner’s particular set of circumstances.
(2) The petition seeking a declaratory statement shall state with particularity the petitioner’s set of circumstances and shall specify the statutory provision, rule, or order that the petitioner believes may apply to the set of circumstances.
(3) The agency shall give notice of the filing of each petition in the next available issue of the Florida Administrative Register and transmit copies of each petition to the committee. The agency shall issue a declaratory statement or deny the petition within 90 days after the filing of the petition. The declaratory statement or denial of the petition shall be noticed in the next available issue of the Florida Administrative Register. Agency disposition of petitions shall be final agency action.
History.—s. 6, ch. 75-191; s. 7, ch. 76-131; s. 5, ch. 78-425; s. 5, ch. 79-299; s. 760, ch. 95-147; s. 17, ch. 96-159; s. 9, ch. 2013-14.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 116 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1976–2023 · leading case: Fla. Dept. of Bus. Reg. v. Invest. Corp., 747 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 1999).
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Fla. Dept. of Bus. Reg. v. Invest. Corp., 747 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 1999). · cites it 27× “" § 120.565, Fla. Stat. (1995) (emphasis added); majority opinion at 591 n.”
ST. v. Falls Chase Spec. Taxing Dist., 424 So. 2d 787 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). · cites it 10× “In the Department's motion to dismiss and memorandum of law submitted to *807 the trial court on October 2, 1979, the Department stated: Plaintiffs have the right to request a declaratory statement from the Department, pursuant to Section 120.565, Florida Statutes. To date, no…”
Fla. Optometric Ass'n v. Dept. of Pro. Reg., Bd. of Opticianry, 567 So. 2d 928 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990). · cites it 17× “In accordance with the directive of Section 120.565, Florida Statutes, the Board provided public notice of the petition in the April 21, 1989 edition of the Florida Administrative Weekly.”
Sans Souci v. Div. of Florida Land, Etc., 421 So. 2d 623 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). · cites it 9× “The condominium unit owners, through their condominium association, sought a Section 120.565, Florida Statutes (1979), [2] declaratory statement from the Division in order to preclude Sans Souci from raising the rent by exercising the escalation clause in the sublease.”
Chiles v. Dept. of State, Div. of Elections, 711 So. 2d 151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). · cites it 11× “Section 120.565, Florida Statutes (1995), provided in part that "[a] declaratory statement shall set out the agency's opinion as to the applicability of a specified statutory provision or of any rule or order of the agency as it applies to the petitioner in his or her particular…”
Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger v. Governor of the State of Florida, 848 F.3d 1293 (11th Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “See Fla. Stat. § 120.565 ; Fla. Dep’t of Business & Prof’l Regulation v.”
Sans Souci v. Div. Of Fla. Land Sales & Condos., 448 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). · cites it 8× “The condominium unit owners, through their condominium association, sought a Section 120.565, Florida Statutes (1979), [2] declaratory statement from the Division in order to preclude San Souci from raising the rent by exercising the escalation *1119 clause in the sublease.”
Inv. Corp. v. Div. of Pari-Mut. Wagering, 714 So. 2d 589 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). · cites it 19× “§ 120.565, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1996). The purpose is "`to enable the public to secure definitive binding advice as to the applicability of agency-enforced law to a particular set of facts.”
McDonald v. Dept. of Banking & Fin., 346 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). · cites it 2× “54) or by declaratory statement concerning the applicability of a statute, rule or order (Section 120.565), all agency action, on appropriate challenge, will mature into an order impressed with characteristics of the APA's Section 120.”
In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure-2017 Regular-cycle Report., 256 So. 3d 1218 (Fla. 2018). · cites it 4× “In an appeal from any proceeding pursuant to section 120.565, Florida Statutes (declaratory statements), the record shall consist of the petition seeking a declaratory statement and any - 58 - pleadings filed with the agency; all notices relating to the petition published in the…”
Piezo Tech. v. Smith, 413 So. 2d 121 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). · cites it 6× “205 adjudications, and we therefore conclude that such adjudications may not be made under § 120.565, since that statute expressly requires agency action.”
Lennar Homes, Inc. v. Depart. of Busin. & Prof., 888 So. 2d 50 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). · cites it 6× “Because the Division in the present case did only that which it was required to do by section 120.565, Florida Statutes (2002), i.”
Show all 116 citing cases →
— 120.565(1) — 13 cases
Fla. Dept. of Bus. Reg. v. Invest. Corp., 747 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 1999). “" § 120.565, Fla. Stat. (1995) (emphasis added); majority opinion at 591 n.”
Chiles v. Dept. of State, Div. of Elections, 711 So. 2d 151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). “Section 120.565, Florida Statutes (1995), provided in part that "[a] declaratory statement shall set out the agency's opinion as to the applicability of a specified statutory provision or of any rule or order of the agency as it applies to the petitioner in his or her particular…”
Ppi, Inc. v. Dept. of Bus. & Prof. Reg., 917 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006).
Thrivent Fin. For Lutherans v. State of Florida, Dept. of Fin. Servs., 145 So. 3d 178 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014).
Novick v. Dep't of Health, 816 So. 2d 1237 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002).
— 120.565(2) — 2 cases
Fla. Dept. of Bus. Reg. v. Invest. Corp., 747 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 1999). “" § 120.565, Fla. Stat. (1995) (emphasis added); majority opinion at 591 n.”
Chiles v. Dept. of State, Div. of Elections, 711 So. 2d 151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). “Section 120.565, Florida Statutes (1995), provided in part that "[a] declaratory statement shall set out the agency's opinion as to the applicability of a specified statutory provision or of any rule or order of the agency as it applies to the petitioner in his or her particular…”
— 120.565(3) — 6 cases
Fla. Dept. of Bus. Reg. v. Invest. Corp., 747 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 1999). “" § 120.565, Fla. Stat. (1995) (emphasis added); majority opinion at 591 n.”
Chiles v. Dept. of State, Div. of Elections, 711 So. 2d 151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). “Section 120.565, Florida Statutes (1995), provided in part that "[a] declaratory statement shall set out the agency's opinion as to the applicability of a specified statutory provision or of any rule or order of the agency as it applies to the petitioner in his or her particular…”
Inv. Corp. v. Div. of Pari-Mut. Wagering, 714 So. 2d 589 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). “§ 120.565, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1996). The purpose is "`to enable the public to secure definitive binding advice as to the applicability of agency-enforced law to a particular set of facts.”
Ppi, Inc. v. Dept. of Bus. & Prof. Reg., 917 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006).
1000 Friends of Florida, Inc. v. State, Dep't of Cmty. Affairs, 760 So. 2d 154 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000).
— 120.565(4) — 1 case
Osceola Fish Farm. Ass'n, Inc. v. Div., of Admin. Hear., 830 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.

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