Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 509.261 (2025)

Revocation or suspension of licenses; fines; procedure.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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509.261 Revocation or suspension of licenses; fines; procedure.—

(1) Any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment that has operated or is operating in violation of this chapter or the rules of the division, operating without a license, or operating with a suspended or revoked license may be subject by the division to:

(a) Fines not to exceed $1,000 per offense;

(b) Mandatory completion, at personal expense, of a remedial educational program administered by a food safety training program provider approved by the division, as provided in s. 509.049; and

(2) For the purposes of this section, the division may regard as a separate offense each day or portion of a day on which an establishment is operated in violation of a “critical law or rule,” as that term is defined by rule.

(3) The division shall post a prominent closed-for-operation sign on any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment, the license of which has been suspended or revoked. The division shall also post such sign on any establishment judicially or administratively determined to be operating without a license. It is a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, for any person to deface or remove such closed-for-operation sign or for any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment to open for operation without a license or to open for operation while its license is suspended or revoked. The division may impose administrative sanctions for violations of this section.

(4) All funds received by the division as satisfaction for administrative fines shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the Hotel and Restaurant Trust Fund and may not subsequently be used for payment to any entity performing required inspections under contract with the division. Administrative fines may be used to support division programs pursuant to s. 509.302(1).

(5)(a) A license may not be suspended under this section for a period of more than 12 months. At the end of such period of suspension, the establishment may apply for reinstatement or renewal of the license. A public lodging establishment or public food service establishment, the license of which is revoked, may not apply for another license for that location prior to the date on which the revoked license would have expired.

(b) The division may fine, suspend, or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment if the operator knowingly lets, leases, or gives space for unlawful gambling purposes or permits unlawful gambling in such establishment or in or upon any premises which are used in connection with, and are under the same charge, control, or management as, such establishment.

(6) The division may fine, suspend, or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment when:

(a) Any person with a direct financial interest in the licensed establishment, within the preceding 5 years in this state, any other state, or the United States, has been adjudicated guilty of or forfeited a bond when charged with soliciting for prostitution, pandering, letting premises for prostitution, keeping a disorderly place, illegally dealing in controlled substances as defined in chapter 893, or any other crime reflecting on professional character.

(b) Such establishment has been deemed an imminent danger to the public health and safety by the division or local health authority for failure to meet sanitation standards or the premises have been determined by the division or local authority to be unsafe or unfit for human occupancy.

(7) A person is not entitled to the issuance of a license for any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment except in the discretion of the director when the division has notified the current licenseholder for such premises that administrative proceedings have been or will be brought against such current licensee for violation of any provision of this chapter or rule of the division.

(8) The division may fine, suspend, or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment when the establishment is not in compliance with the requirements of a final order or other administrative action issued against the licensee by the division.

(9) The division may refuse to issue or renew the license of any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment until all outstanding fines are paid in full to the division as required by all final orders or other administrative action issued against the licensee by the division.

(10)(a) The division may fine, suspend, or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment or public food service establishment if the establishment admits a child to an adult live performance, in violation of s. 827.11.

(b) A violation of this subsection constitutes an immediate serious danger to the public health, safety, or welfare for the purposes of s. 120.60(6).

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the division may issue a $5,000 fine for an establishment’s first violation of this subsection.

(d) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the division may issue a $10,000 fine for an establishment’s second or subsequent violation of this subsection.

History.—s. 48, ch. 16042, 1933; CGL 1936 Supp. 3355(2); s. 1, ch. 21660, 1943; s. 2, ch. 23930, 1947; ss. 1-5, ch. 26939, 1951; s. 1, ch. 28224, 1953; s. 1, ch. 29823, 1955; s. 10, ch. 57-389; s. 40, ch. 63-512; s. 1, ch. 63-69; s. 1, ch. 63-68; s. 1, ch. 63-70; ss. 16, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 192, ch. 71-377; s. 20, ch. 73-325; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 188, ch. 77-104; s. 1, ch. 77-457; s. 9, ch. 78-95; ss. 21, 39, 42, ch. 79-240; ss. 3, 4, ch. 81-161; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 1, 4, ch. 82-84; ss. 28, 51, 52, ch. 90-339; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 11, ch. 93-53; s. 48, ch. 95-144; s. 4, ch. 2007-237; s. 8, ch. 2008-55; s. 7, ch. 2011-119; s. 2, ch. 2023-94.

Note.—Former ss. 511.05, 511.051.

Arrestable Offenses under F.S. 509.261

M = misdemeanor · F = felony · degree: F=1st S=2nd T=3rd

§509.261(3)PUBLIC ORDER CRIMESRENUMBERED. SEE REC # 9978M · 1st

§509.261(3)PUBLIC ORDER CRIMESREMOVE/DEFACE CLOSED FOR BUSINESS SIGNM · 2nd

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 10 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1958–2025 · leading case: All. for Conservation of Nat. Resources in Pinellas Cnty. v. Furen, 104 So. 2d 803 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

All. for Conservation of Nat. Resources in Pinellas Cnty. v. Furen, 104 So. 2d 803 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958). · cites it 2× “Section 509.261, Florida Statutes, F.S.A.”

Hotel & Restaurant Com'n v. Sunny Seas No. One, 104 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 1958). · cites it 2× “This holding is without prejudice to the right of the Hotel Commission to pursue the less drastic procedure afforded by § 509.261, Fla. Stat. 1957, F.S.A. for the suspension or revocation of appellees' hotel *572 license, predicated upon formal charges, notice and a hearing.”

Florida Hotel & Restaurant Comm'n v. Dowler, 99 So. 2d 852 (Fla. 1958). · cites it 2× “Section 509.261, Florida Statutes 1955, F.”

Hotel & Restaurant Comm'n v. Zucker, 116 So. 2d 642 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959). · cites it 2× “Section 509.261, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., gives the hotel and restaurant commission quasi-judicial power to hear and decide issues material and relevant to actions of licensees or on licensed properties, which, under the provisions of the act, may prompt revocation or suspension of…”

HM Florida-ORL, LLC v. Sec'y of the Florida Dep't of Bus. & Prof'l Reg. (11th Cir. 2025). “See Fla. Stat. §§ 509.261 (10)(a), USCA11 Case: 23-12160 Document: 82-1 Date Filed: 05/13/2025 Page: 24 of 127 24 Opinion of the Court 23-12160 561.”

Dep't of Bus. Reg. v. Real Est. Rentals, Inc., 24 Fla. Supp. 2d 232 (Fla. Div. Admin. Hr'g 1986). · cites it 2× “Subsection 509.261 (1), Florida Statutes, provides that the Division may suspend or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment that violates any of the provisions of Chapter 509 or the rules of the Division.”

Hotel & Restaurant Comm'n v. Attache Motel, Inc., 126 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961). “It appears that a petition for writ of certiorari, filed in this court, does not lie to review an order of the circuit court issuing a writ of certiorari to the Hotel and Restaurant Commission of the State of Florida, in that § 509.261(1) (c), Fla.Stat., F.S.A., provides that…”

Beaty v. Kimerling Corp., 47 Fla. Supp. 103 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Miami-Dade Cty. 1978). “59(3) and that if said public lodging establishment is in violation of said law, it is subject to penalties prescribed by Florida Statute §509.261, as well as civil damages. c. The defendant division shall be responsible for investigating any complaint that any public lodging…”

Williams v. City of Arcadia, 501 So. 2d 148 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). “Section 509.261(1)(a) provides that: “the division of hotels and restaurants may suspend or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment that has operated or is operating in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter; .”

— 509.261(1) — 2 cases

Hotel & Restaurant Comm'n v. Zucker, 116 So. 2d 642 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959). “Section 509.261, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., gives the hotel and restaurant commission quasi-judicial power to hear and decide issues material and relevant to actions of licensees or on licensed properties, which, under the provisions of the act, may prompt revocation or suspension of…”

— 509.261(1)(a) — 1 case

— 509.261(2) — 1 case

Dep't of Bus. Reg. v. Real Est. Rentals, Inc., 24 Fla. Supp. 2d 232 (Fla. Div. Admin. Hr'g 1986). “Subsection 509.261 (1), Florida Statutes, provides that the Division may suspend or revoke the license of any public lodging establishment that violates any of the provisions of Chapter 509 or the rules of the Division.”

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