POST-OFFICEHOLDING RESTRICTIONS

NEW MOTOR VEHICLE ARBITRATION BOARD MEMBER

To:        Charles J. Thompson, Board Member (Delray Beach)

SUMMARY:

The two-year, revolving-door prohibition in Section 112.313(9)(a)(3)(a), Florida Statutes, applies to a member of the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board. During the prohibition period, the former Board member may not represent another person or entity for compensation before the Board or its support staff, including those administrators and staff of the Department of Legal Affairs that provide oversight and legal advice to the Board.

QUESTION:

Are you, a current member of the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, subject to the two-year, post-officeholding restriction of Section 112.313(9)(a)(3)(a), Florida Statutes, after you leave your position?

Your question is answered in the affirmative.

You write that you are a current member of the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board (hereinafter, “Board”), established under Section 681.1095, Florida Statutes. The Attorney General appoints members to the Board to serve for an initial term of one year and subsequent terms of two years. Section 681.1095(1), Florida Statutes. The Attorney General may appoint as many as eight members to a particular region of the Board and may establish as many regions as she wishes. Sections 681.1095(1) and (3), Florida Statutes. Consumer-initiated motor vehicle arbitration cases are heard and decided by three-member panels consisting of Board members within a particular region. Section 681.1095(2), Florida Statutes.

On June 11, 2013, you were reappointed for a two-year term to the Board by the Attorney General. The written confirmation of your appointment contains an assignment to the West Palm Beach region of the Board. In contact subsequent to your initial written inquiry, you write that, in performance of your duties, you normally receive advice and oversight from an attorney at the Fort Lauderdale office of the Department of Legal Affairs.

In your written inquiry, you ask whether you are subject to the two-year, “revolving-door” prohibition of Section 112.313(9)(a)(3)(a). Relevant to your inquiry, the prohibition reads:

No member of the Legislature, appointed state officer, or statewide elected officer shall personally represent another person or entity for compensation before the government body or agency of which the individual was an officer or member for a period of 2 years following vacation of office.

Section 112.313(9)(a)(3)(a).

As an appointee to the Board, you are an appointed state officer. Section 112.313(9)(a)(3)(a) prohibits your representation of persons or entities for compensation before the Board. As we did in CEO 05-4, we find the prohibition to extend to appearances before the members of the Board individually and the support staff of the Board.¹

Your question is answered accordingly.

ORDERED by the State of Florida Commission on Ethics meeting in public session on July 25, 2014, and RENDERED this 30th day of July, 2014.

____________________________________

Linda McKee Robison, Chair

^[1] However, we do not find that you are subject to the prohibition as to other entities or persons within the Department of Legal Affairs.