Case Title: In Re Advisory Opinion to Governor

Citation: 313 So. 2d 717

Docket Number: 

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1975-03-20T00:00:00Z

Document:
313 So. 2d 717 (1975)
In re ADVISORY OPINION TO the GOVERNOR, Request of February 25, 1975 (Sarasota County Tax Collector).
No. 46974.

Supreme Court of Florida.
March 20, 1975.
*718 Arthur C. Canaday, Tallahassee, for Governor Reubin O'D. Askew.
Richard E. Nelson of Nelson, Stinnett, Surfus, Payne, Hesse & Cyril, Sarasota, and John R. Lawson, Jr. of Holland & Knight, Tampa, for Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota County.
We have the honor to acknowledge your communication of February 25, 1975, requesting our advice pursuant to Section 1(c), Article IV, Florida Constitution, 1968 Revision, and Rule 2.1(h), Florida Appellate Rules, relating to certain executive powers and duties.
Omitting the formal parts, your letter reads as follows:
Upon receipt of your request for advisory opinion relative to your executive powers and duties, this Court entered an interlocutory order finding that the questions propounded were answerable and requesting that briefs be filed by interested parties.
We respond to the first question in the affirmative and find that Article IV, Section 1(f), Florida Constitution, does authorize you to appoint the Tax Collector in Sarasota County due to the vacancy created in that office by the demise of the Tax Collector.
Article IV, Section 7, Florida Constitution (1885) providing:
was replaced by Article IV, Section 1(f), substantially variant in language, from its predecessor, which provides:
It is now expressly provided that the appointment to fill a vacancy shall be made in the manner provided for in the Constitution. In re Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 229 So. 2d 229 (Fla. 1969). We do not agree with the Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota County that Article VIII, Section 1(d), Florida Constitution, stating:
provides an alternative constitutional procedure for the filling of vacancies in the office of the County Tax Collector. Article VIII, Section 1(d), provides that the sheriff, tax collector, tax assessor, supervisor of elections and clerk of the circuit court be elected by the electors of each county but contains the proviso that alternatively another manner than election for the selection of these officers may be provided for by a county charter or special law. The language of this constitutional provision to which the proviso attaches does not deal with vacancies in office but rather deals with the filling of the office for a specified term. This Court has consistently held that the purpose of a proviso is not to enlarge or extend the act or section of the Constitution of which it is a part, but is a limitation on the language employed therein, and will be construed strictly and limited to the objects fairly within its terms. The Charter for Sarasota County does not provide for an alternative manner of choosing the Tax Collector but rather contains the following provision:
Evidencing the fact that the question of vacancies in the Constitution is treated separately from the question of normal elections, we note that in the Article of the Constitution relating to the Legislature, the Constitution of Florida separately deals with the election of Senators and members of the House, and the filling of vacancies which may arise. Article III, Section 15.
Further, we find that this Court's earlier decision in In re Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 116 So. 2d 425 (Fla. 1959), decided prior to the 1968 amendment to Article IV, Section 1(f), is inapplicable to the question now posited in view of the variance in the circumstances. See Article VIII, Section 11, Florida Constitution (1885)  Dade County Home Rule Charter, and Article VIII, Section 6(e), Constitution of Florida (1968).
Previously relative to this Dade County Charter, this Court in Dade County v. Young Democratic Club of Dade County, 104 So. 2d 636 (Fla. 1958), opined:
It is therefore our opinion that the exception to the provision for election of county officers cannot enlarge the meaning of the provision to which it applies to encompass vacancies; and, accordingly, in the absence of constitutional provision, derogating from your power under Article IV, Section 1(f), we find that you are authorized to fill the subject position of Tax Collector in Sarasota County.