28936863, 34-5.001 - Florida Administrative Rules, Law, Code, Register

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Florida Department of State and Division of Library and Information Services

Notice: 28936863

Notice of Proposed Rule

Department:

COMMISSION ON ETHICS

Chapter:

REVIEW, INVESTIGATION AND HEARING OF COMPLAINTS

Overview

RULE:

34-5.001	Staff Procedures Upon Receipt of a Complaint of Breach of Public Trust
34-5.004	Investigations
34-5.006	Probable Cause Determination
34-5.020	Stipulations, Settlements, and Consent Orders

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this rulemaking will be to update the rules regarding the handling of ethics complaints to reflect the deadlines and process changes recently inserted into Section 112.324(3), Florida Statutes, by Ch. 2024-253, Laws of Florida.

SUMMARY:

All of the following amendments are based on statutory additions to Section 112.324(3), Florida Statutes.  Rule 34-5.001 will be amended to reflect that copies of an original sworn ethics complaints will be sent to the respondent only if it passes a technical and clerical review.  Rule 34-5.004 will be amended to indicate: (1) a preliminary investigation must be undertaken by Commission within 30 days after receiving a complaint that is technically and legally sufficient; (2) a complaint can be amended up to 60 days after the Commission receives the initial complaint; (3) the Commission has one year to complete a preliminary investigation, including determining probable cause; (4) an investigatory report must be completed within 150 days from the start of the investigation; and (5) the process by which the Commission may extend the time frame to complete the investigation, which can extend for up to 60 days.  Rule 34-5.006 will be amended to reflect: (1) the investigatory report must be sent to the respondent and the Commission's Advocate within 5 days of its completion; (2) the Advocate will have 15 days upon receiving the report to submit a written recommendation to the Commission concerning probable cause; (3)  the Advocate's recommendation shall be sent to the respondent within 5 days of its completion, and the respondent will have 14 days to respond in writing to the recommendation; (4) upon receiving the Advocate's  recommendation, the Commission will schedule a probable cause hearing for its next Commission meeting; (5) if the Commission finds probable cause during the hearing, it will send an order of this finding to the complainant and the respondent within 5 days of the date of the determination; (6) the process by which a formal evidentiary hearing may be requested, including clarifying that a public hearing will be deemed waived if not requested by a respondent within 14 days of receiving the probable cause determination; and (7) the process by which the Commission will complete final action on a case after a public hearing is held.  Rule 34-5.020 will be amended to indicate that at least two-thirds of the members of the Commission present at a meeting must vote to reject or deviate from a stipulation or settlement being recommended by the Commission Advocate.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY:

112.322(9), F.S.

LAW:

112.324, FS. (as amended by Ch. 2024-253, Laws of Fla.)

PRINT PUBLISH DATE:

11/1/2024 Vol. 50/215

COMMENTS:

From 11/1/2024 To 11/22/2024 (21 Days)

REFERENCE MATERIALS:

No reference(s).

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