Florida State University College of Law Research Center Florida Administrative Law Research Created by Robin Gault, Marin Dell, and Trisha Simonds (Spring

Florida State University College of Law Research Center

Florida Administrative Law Research

Created by Robin Gault, Marin Dell, and Trisha Simonds (Spring 2007), added to by Mary McCormick (Spring 2009, 2010)

Florida State University College of Law Research Center1


II. Rule Enforcement



The Florida Administrative Procedure Act (APA), Fla. Stat. Ch. 120, especially § 120.56 and following, governs challenges to rules and enforcement.

The Model Rules of Procedure are in Title 28 of the FAC and offer guidance for participating in agency hearings.

FAC 28-106 provides Uniform Rules for hearings.



If a case does not involve a “disputed issue of material fact,” the agency itself conducts a hearing and renders a decision.

When a case involves a disputed issue of material fact, the case is referred to the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), which employs neutral administrative law judges (ALJs). DOAH may issue a “recommended order” to the agency for review or a “final order.”



I.

Cases that do not involve a “disputed issue of material fact”



Florida Administrative Law Reports

• After a Florida agency conducts a hearing and renders a decision in a case that does not involve a “disputed issue of material fact,” Fla. Stat. § 120.53 requires the agency to index (by subject) and publish its final orders.

• Most agencies meet this requirement by contracting with Florida Administrative Law Reports, a private company based in Gainesville.

• Fla. Stat. § 120.53(4) designates these reports as the “official” version of the order.



Some agencies post their own orders. To find agency websites, go to http://www.myflorida.com/ and click on “Find an Agency.”




The company publishes five reporters:

1. FALR: Florida Administrative Law Reporter [Law Library KFF 440 A52]

2. ER FALR: Environmental and Land Use Reporter [Law Library KFF 354 A553]

3. FPSC: Florida Public Service Commission Reporter [Law Library KFF 285.1 A55 F47]

4. TAX FALR: Florida Department of Revenue Reporter [Law Library KFF 470 A5544]

5. FCSR: Florida Career Service Reporter [Law Library KFF 332.8 P77 A493]Florida State University College of Law Research Center8



The reporters -- include relevant judicial decisions (also published in So. 2d) as well as administrative orders;

-- are published on schedules that vary from weekly (ER FALR) to quarterly (TAX FALR);

-- have detailed indexes with each issue (by agency, subject, name of hearing officer, statute construed, and rule construed) as well as “supercumulative” indexes covering multiple years.

The indexes have a complex system of codes, so read the instructions before you try to use them.




The company also offers an fee-based online database of decisions (not Web-based) and other services:

http://www.falr.com/


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Search the FALR website by Subject Matter.



Alternatively, search by the name of the party.



Florida Administrative Decisions on Westlaw and

Lexis• Westlaw and Lexis have extensive databases of

Florida administrative opinions.

• In Westlaw, see directory under U.S. State Materials > Florida > Administrative and Executive Materials.Filename: FL-ADMIN (1975- )

• In Lexis, see directory under Legal > States Legal – U.S. > Florida > Agency and Administrative Materials. Filename: FLDOAH (1964- )



II.

Cases that involvea disputed issue of material fact



http://www.doah.state.fl.us/internet/


The DOAH website contains:- DOAH Recommended Orders- DOAH Final Orders- DOAH Rules

The DOAH website can be searched.

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Attorney General Opinions• Florida’s Attorney General is authorized to issue

“advisory” opinions on the interpretation of statutes to members of state and local governments.

• These AG Opinions are frequently cited although they are considered to be only persuasive authority. The quality of the analysis varies, although in most instances the opinion cites to the appropriate legal authority.

• AG opinions are published annually in the Report of the Attorney General. The Law Library has a comprehensive collection of published AG reports in paper [KFF 440.5 A8] and microfilm [FILM 119].

• Selected AG Opinions are published in Florida Law Weekly. [KFF 60 F56, current issues on Reserve.]


Florida State University College of Law Research CenterFlorida State University College of Law Research Center25

Florida AG Opinions are available from Jan. 1977 to the present on Westlaw (FL-AG) and on Lexis (FLAG).

The AG’s website has a searchable database of opinions back to 1972:http://myfloridalegal.com/ago.nsf/Opinions


Executive Orders of the Governor

The Governor’s Office issues Executive Orders on a variety of topics. There is a searchable database of orders since 1996 at the Governor’s Office website:

•http://web.archive.org/web/20061215145047/www.myflorida.com/myflorida/government/laws/execOrdersDisplaySearch.html (1996-2005)

•http://www.flgov.com/orders_search (2006-2010)

•Paper: KFF34.A2G68 (1996-1999) Law Library



For More Information:

• Florida Legal Research – Sources, Process, and Analysis (3d Ed.)– by Barbara J. Busharis & Suzanne E.

Rowe – Law Library KFF 75 .R69 2007

• Guide To Florida Legal Research– by Betsy L. Stupski– Law Library KFF 75 .B7 2001


Documents

Florida State University College of Law Research Center Florida Administrative Law Research Created by Robin Gault, Marin Dell, and Trisha Simonds (Spring