Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 286.012 (2025)

Voting requirement at meetings of governmental bodies.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
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286.012 Voting requirement at meetings of governmental bodies.A member of a state, county, or municipal governmental board, commission, or agency who is present at a meeting of any such body at which an official decision, ruling, or other official act is to be taken or adopted may not abstain from voting in regard to any such decision, ruling, or act; and a vote shall be recorded or counted for each such member present, unless, with respect to any such member, there is, or appears to be, a possible conflict of interest under s. 112.311, s. 112.313, s. 112.3143, or additional or more stringent standards of conduct, if any, adopted pursuant to s. 112.326. If there is, or appears to be, a possible conflict under s. 112.311, s. 112.313, or s. 112.3143, the member shall comply with the disclosure requirements of s. 112.3143. If the only conflict or possible conflict is one arising from the additional or more stringent standards adopted pursuant to s. 112.326, the member shall comply with any disclosure requirements adopted pursuant to s. 112.326. If the official decision, ruling, or act occurs in the context of a quasi-judicial proceeding, a member may abstain from voting on such matter if the abstention is to assure a fair proceeding free from potential bias or prejudice.
History.s. 1, ch. 72-311; s. 9, ch. 75-208; s. 2, ch. 84-357; s. 13, ch. 94-277; s. 19, ch. 2013-36; s. 7, ch. 2014-183.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1974–2024 · leading case: Oldham v. Rooks, 361 So. 2d 140 (Fla. 1978).
Oldham v. Rooks, 361 So. 2d 140 (Fla. 1978). · cites it 10× “Rooks says the statute under attack was in direct conflict with Section 286.012, Florida Statutes (1973), which reads as follows: No member of any state, county, or municipal governmental board, commission, or agency who is present at any meeting of any such body at which an…”
Ruff v. Sch. Bd. of Collier Cnty., 426 So. 2d 1015 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). · cites it 9× “Appellants filed suit against appellees, alleging a violation of chapter 286, Florida Statutes (1981), commonly known as the "Florida Sunshine Law" and seeking to void certain actions of the appellee "Task Force.”
Izaak Walton League of Am. v. MONROE CTY., 448 So. 2d 1170 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). · cites it 2× “Consequently, [a] city council member may not abstain from voting on grounds of bias or prejudice against an individual when matters concerning that individual or the business he represents come before the council. It is present policy of this state that a public officer may…”
Kinzer v. State Com'n on Ethics, 654 So. 2d 1007 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995). · cites it 4× “NOTES [1] The Town Attorney advised Kinzer that he had a legal duty to vote under section 286.012, Florida Statutes (1989), and that there was no exception for the anti-nepotism law.”
State v. Dinsmore, 308 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 1975). · cites it 2× “Appellant submits that Section 286.012, Florida Statutes, which provides: "Voting requirement at meetings of governmental bodies.”
George v. City of Cocoa, 78 F.3d 494 (11th Cir. 1996). “” Fla. StatAnn. § 286.012 (West 1995). Section 286.”
Walberg v. Metro. Dade Cnty., 296 So. 2d 509 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). “Florida Statute § 286.012, F.S.A., specifically provides that members of governmental bodies are required to perform their responsibilities by participating in decisions to be made by such bodies.”
Jay R. Chernoff v. City of North Miami Beach (Fla. 3d DCA 2024). · cites it 2× “Commissioner Chernoff also cites an 7 Attorney General opinion that states in the body of the opinion the exception that “members of a legislative body vote on matters coming before them unless they have a conflict of interest,” citing section 286.012, Florida Statutes, as…”
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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