CopyAgo (Fla. Att'y Gen. 1981).
Published | Florida Attorney General Reports
...of circuit court, and sheriff were not included as chartered offices, but retain their status as if a charter had not been adopted? 4. May a county charter validly require that the salaries of county officers be provided by ordinance as mandated by s. 125.83 (4), F.S.? 5....
...fficers. The Constitution does not require such constitutional officers to be intrinsically included in a county home rule charter as charter officers or to be designated as such therein. 4. Pursuant to the mandate of s. 5(c), Art. II, State Const., s. 125.83 (4), F.S., probably cannot constitutionally prescribe or require that a county home rule charter provide that the salaries of all county officers be provided by ordinance, or constitutionally delegate to the governing body of a home rule ch...
...rter counties and the officers thereof. Thus, it appears that the Constitution requires that the compensation or salaries of all county officers of all counties, charter or noncharter, `shall be fixed by law.' s. 5(c), Art. II, State Const. However, s. 125.83 (4), F.S., provides: The county charter shall provide that the salaries of all county officers shall be provided by ordinance and shall not be lowered during an officer's term in office. (Emphasis supplied.) As noted in AGO 077-88, s. 125.83 (4), F.S., must be presumed to be valid and given effect until judicially determined otherwise, and this office is without the requisite authority to determine the validity of this or any other duly enacted act of the Legislature. Therefore, the validity and legal effectiveness of s. 125.83 (4), F.S., are matters for the courts to resolve. However, inasmuch as s. 125.83 (4), F.S., appeared to delegate to counties the power to declare what the compensation of all county officers shall be, this office did opine that this statute was constitutionally suspect as an invalid delegation of the legislative power in contravention of the constitutional requirement contained in s. 5(c), Art. II, that the salary of county officers `be fixed by law'; and concluded that until judicially determined otherwise, and pursuant to the mandate of s. 5(c), Art. II, State Const., s. 125.83 (4), F.S., probably could not constitutionally prescribe that a county charter provide that salaries of all county officers be provided by ordinance, or delegate to the governing bodies of the counties the authority to fix by ordinance the compensation of all county officers....
...ome rule charter `probably cannot authorize the county commission to fix by ordinance the compensation of county officers.' I conclude, therefore, until judicially determined otherwise, that pursuant to the mandate of s. 5(c), Art. II, State Const., s. 125.83 (4), F.S., probably cannot constitutionally prescribe or require that a county home rule charter provide that the salaries of all county officers be provided by ordinance, or constitutionally delegate to the governing body a home rule chart...
...al form of government chosen' which the county has in mind or proposes to make in the home rule charter now under consideration. Therefore, your question must be addressed in general terms and general rules of law and statutory construction applied. Section 125.83 (1), F.S., plainly provides that a county home rule charter may prescribe one of the optional forms of government enumerated in s....
...e county home rule charter, unless otherwise limited by the charter. Both ss.
125.85 and
125.86 , F.S., specify that the respective responsibilities and powers of the county ` shall consist of the following powers and duties' (emphasis supplied) and s.
125.83 (1), F.S., operates to require the county charter to clearly define these executive and legislative functions, powers and duties in accordance or consistent with all of the provisions of part IV of ch....
...the prescribed optional forms of government. Subsections (1) and (3) of s.
125.84 , F.S., do prescribe additional powers for the county executives or co-executives therein specified. See also the additional requirements for the charter set forth in s.
125.83 , F.S....
