The Florida Commission on Ethics, created in 1974 by the

Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...

, is tasked with investigating complaints alleging breaches of

public trust The concept of public trust relates back to the origins of democratic government and its seminal idea that within the public lies the true power and future of a society; therefore, whatever ''trust'' citizens place in its officials must be respect ...

by public officers and employees in Florida, other than judges. It is headquartered in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

, Florida.

History and role

1974-99

In 1974 the

created the Florida Commission on Ethics "to serve as guardian of the standards of conduct" for state and local public officials. The Commission is tasked with investigating complaints alleging breaches of

by public officers and employees in Florida, other than judges. It is part of the legislative branch of Florida government. Professor R.L. Williams studied the effectiveness of the Commission in the early 1990s, culminating in a report in 1996, and concluded that at the time it apparently served "more effectively as a punitive agent than as an agent of constructive change."Donald C. Menzel (2012)
''Ethics Management for Public Administrators; Leading and Building Organizations of Integrity''
/ref>

1999-2020

On August 24, 2000, the Commission held that Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor should pay

civil penalties A civil penalty or civil fine is a financial penalty imposed by a government agency as restitution for wrongdoing. The wrongdoing is typically defined by a Codification (law), codification of legislation, regulations, and decrees. The civil fine ...

, for violating the Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests sections of the

Florida Constitution The Constitution of the State of Florida is the document that establishes and describes the powers, duties, structure, and function of the government of the U.S. state of Florida, and establishes the basic law of the state. The current Constitu ...

. In 2004,

Alachua County Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida since 1906, when the campus ope ...

Commissioner Cynthia M. Chestnut was found guilty of an ethics violation by the Commission after she took free tickets to an event from a developer. Professor Donald Menzel wrote in 2012 that the Commission is often regarded as toothless, because in part it is unable to sanction violators, but rather can only make suggestions to the presiding authority. On January 23, 2015, the Commission determined that member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

H. Marlene O'Toole failed to disclose a voting conflict when she voted on the Florida's 2013 budget. On March 11, 2015, the Florida House of Representatives held that O'Toole would not receive punishment for the nondisclosure. In January 2019, the Commission found probable cause that

mayor of Tallahassee The Mayor of Tallahassee is head of the executive branch of the government of Tallahassee, Florida. For part of the city's history the office of mayor was a rotating position chosen among city commissioners. Tallahassee switched to the direct e ...

Andrew Gillum Andrew Demetric Gillum (born July 26, 1979) is an American former politician who served as the 126th mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 to 2018. He served as a Tallahassee city commissioner from 2003 until 2014, first elected at the age of 23. He i ...

violated Florida ethics laws when he accepted gifts during out-of-town excursions with lobbyists and vendors, and failed to report them.

2020-present

In September 2022, the Commission opined that probable cause existed supporting the belief that when Sheriff of Broward County, Florida,

Gregory Tony } Gregory Scott Tony (born 1978) is an American law enforcement officer and the 17th Sheriff of Broward County, Florida. Tony was initially appointed sheriff in 2019 by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, to fill a vacancy. In November 2020, T ...

applied for positions with the

Coral Springs Coral Springs, officially the City of Coral Springs, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is located approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 134,394. It is a ...

Police Department and the

Broward County Sheriff's Office The Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO) is a public safety organization With 5,400 employees, it is the largest sheriff's department in the state of Florida. Sheriff Gregory Tony heads the agency. BSO was one of the United States' largest fully ...

, he misused his public position as he submitted false information or failed to submit information. Later that month, as a result of the commission's statement, Tony was added by Broward state prosecutors to its list of law enforcement officials who could be perceived as having credibility issues that might render their testimony in a trial less than credible. In December 2022, the Commission again found probable cause in a case involving Tony.

Code of Ethics

The

had been revised to require that a

code of ethics Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of bus ...

be created by law for all state employees and non-judicial officers. The code was to prohibit conflict between public duty and private interests. The "Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees" was adopted by the

Florida Statutes The ''Florida Statutes'' are the codified, statutory laws of Florida; it currently has 48 titles. A chapter in the Florida Statutes represents all of the relevant statutory law on a particular subject. The statutes are the selected reproduction of ...

Chapter 112 (Part III). The Code seeks to ensure that

public official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...

s conduct themselves independently and impartially, and seeks to protect the integrity of government.

Commission members

Five of the Commission's nine members are appointed by the

Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

, and two each are appointed by the President of the Florida Senate and

Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives The speaker is the presiding member of the Florida House of Representatives. The Speaker and his staff provide direction and coordination to employees throughout the House and serve the members in carrying out their constitutional responsibilitie ...

. No more than five Commission members may be members of the same political party, and none may hold any public employment during their two-year terms of office. A chair is selected from among the members to serve a one-year term, and may not succeed himself or herself.

Commission penalties

Criminal penalties which initially applied to violations of the Code were eliminated in 1974, in favor of administrative enforcement; the Commission does not itself impose penalties or enforce its findings.The Florida Bar (2019)
''Florida Administrative Practice''

References

{{authority control

External links

Official website''FLORIDA COMMISSION ON ETHICS GUIDE to the SUNSHINE AMENDMENT and CODE of ETHICS for Public Officers and Employees''
(2014).
"Editorial: Give Florida’s Commission on Ethics real powers"
''

Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

'', November 30, 2015. Ethics commissions Florida law Government agencies established in 1974 Government of Florida 1974 establishments in Florida 1974 in American law