DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS

APPLICABILITY OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE LAW TO MEMBERS
OF THE JACKSONVILLE ETHICS COMMISSION

To: Carla Miller, Director, Office of Ethics, Jacksonville

SUMMARY:

Members of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission are "local officers" subject to the financial disclosure requirements of Section 112.3145, Florida Statutes.¹

QUESTION:

Are members of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission "local officers" subject to the financial disclosure requirements of Section 112.3145, Florida Statutes?

Your question is answered in the affirmative.

In your letter of inquiry, you ask, as the Director of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission, whether members of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission are "local officers" required to comply with the financial disclosure requirements of Section 112.3145, Florida Statutes. You state that the provisions of the Charter of the City of Jacksonville that created the Jacksonville Ethics Commission do not contain any provision requiring members of the Commission to comply with the financial disclosure requirements of the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees, Part III, Chapter 112, Florida Statutes ("Code of Ethics").

The provision of the Code of Ethics implicated by your question is Section 112.3145, Florida Statutes, which provides, in relevant part:

112.3145—Disclosure of financial interests and clients represented before agencies.—

(1) For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires, the term:

(a) "Local officer" means:

2. Any appointed member of any of the following boards, councils, commissions, authorities, or other bodies of any county, municipality, school district, independent special district, or other political subdivision of the state:

c. A board having the power to enforce local code provisions.

Section 112.3145(1)(a)2.c. requires financial disclosure (Statement of Financial Interests, CE Form 1) for members of boards having the power to enforce local code provisions. The threshold question, therefore, is whether the Jacksonville Ethics Commission has the power to "enforce local code provisions." The phrase "local code provisions" is not defined in the Code of Ethics. However, Florida courts have consistently held that when a term is not defined by statute, it must be given its plain and ordinary meaning. See, Rollins v. Pizzarelli, 761 So. 2d 294 (Fla. 2000); Green v. State, 604 So. 2d 471 (Fla. 1992). The plain and ordinary meaning of a term can be ascertained by reference to a dictionary. Gardner v. Johnson, 451 So. 2d 477 (Fla. 1984). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "enforce" as "to give force to." It also defines the term "code" as "a systematic statement of a body of law" and as "a system of principles or rules." Therefore, the plain and ordinary meaning of the phrase "a board having the power to enforce local code provisions" is a board having the power to give force to a systematic statement of a body of law or to give force to a system of principles or rules. In order to determine whether members of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission quality as "local officers," it must be determined whether they have such power.

In order to make that determination, it is necessary to review the provisions of the Charter of the City of Jacksonville ("Charter") relative to the Jacksonville Ethics Commission. Section 1.202 of the Charter provides that the City of Jacksonville shall enact an ethics code with jurisdiction over the officers and employees of the City of Jacksonville. That section of the Charter requires that the ethics code must provide for the creation of an independent ethics commission with the power to "levy those fines or penalties authorized by the City Council for violations of the City's ethics code." See, Section 1.202(e) of the Charter. In 1999, the City Council enacted Chapter 602 of the Charter, which created the Jacksonville Ethics Code and created the Jacksonville Ethics Commission. Section 602.921 of the Charter sets forth the powers and duties of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission. That section of the Charter provides that the Jacksonville Ethics Commission has the power to "enforce Chapter 602." That section of the Charter further provides that the Jacksonville Ethics Commission has "jurisdiction to levy those civil fines or penalties authorized in Chapter 602 for violations of the City's ethics code." Section 602.1101 of the Charter provides that:

A finding by the Ethics Commission of a violation of any part of this Chapter shall subject the person or entity to a public reprimand, a civil penalty of up to $500, or both. All civil penalties collected shall be deposited into the City of Jacksonville General Fund.

It is evident from a reading of the Charter, therefore, that the members of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission have the power to "enforce local code provisions." Accordingly, we find that the members of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission are "local officers" required to comply with Section 112.3145, Florida Statutes.²

Your question is answered accordingly.

ORDERED by the State of Florida Commission on Ethics meeting in public session on April 21, 2017 and RENDERED this 26th day of April, 2017.

____________________________________

Matthew F. Carlucci, Chair

^[1]Prior opinions of the Commission on Ethics may be obtained from its website (www.ethics.state.fl.us).

^[2]In view of the timing of this opinion, we find that the first Form 1 filing of sitting members of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission should be on or before July 3, 2017 (since July 1 is a Saturday), that new members should file within 30 days of their appointment, and that all members should file Form 1F when they leave their positions and Form 1X if they need to amend a previously-filed Form 1.