Case Name: In re NAME CHANGE PETITION OF Bryan Patrick MULLIN, a/k/a Patrick Bryan Mullin
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2005-02-11
Citations: 892 So. 2d 1214
Docket Number: No. 2D04-2313
Parties: In re NAME CHANGE PETITION OF Bryan Patrick MULLIN, a/k/a Patrick Bryan Mullin.
Judges: VILLANTI, J., Concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 892
Pages: 1214–1216

Head Matter:
In re NAME CHANGE PETITION OF Bryan Patrick MULLIN, a/k/a Patrick Bryan Mullin.
No. 2D04-2313.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
Feb. 11, 2005.
Bryan Patrick Mullin, pro se.

Opinion:
KELLY, Judge.
Bryan Patrick Mullin, an inmate at Avon Park Correctional Institution, appeals the circuit court order denying his petition for change of name. We reverse.
Mullin filed a petition to change his name to Eliezer Ben Mizraehi. The petition alleged that Mullin was convicted of a felony in 1980, that he seeks to change his name in accordance with his religious beliefs, and that he has no illegal or ulterior motive in seeking such a name change. After a telephonic hearing, the trial court, citing section 68.07, Florida Statutes (2003), denied Mullin's petition, finding that under the statute a petition for name change must be denied if the petitioner is a convicted felon and has not had his civil rights restored.
A facially sufficient petition for name change should be granted in the absence of evidence of a wrongful or fraudulent purpose. Isom v. Circuit Court of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, 437 So.2d 732 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). Section 68.07(2)(a)-(k) sets forth the information that a petition for a change of name must include to be facially sufficient. At issue here is paragraph (k), which requires a petitioner to state that his "civil rights have never been suspended, or if the petitioner's civil rights have been suspended, that full restoration of civil rights has occurred." Paragraph (k) became effective June 15, 1995. Ch. 95-283, § 1, at 2652, Laws of Fla. Mullin contends that denying his petition was error because his felony conviction occurred before the effective date of paragraph (k) and thus that paragraph does not apply to him. We agree.
A law is presumed to operate prospectively absent a clear legislative expression requiring that the statute be retroactively applied. Promontory Enters., Inc. v. S. Eng'g & Contracting, Inc., 864 So.2d 479, 483 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004). Furthermore, the inclusion of an effective date in a statute by the legislature "effectively rebuts any argument that retroactive application of the law was intended." Dep't of Revenue v. Zuckerman-Vernon Corp., 354 So.2d 353, 358 (Fla.1977). There is no indication that the amendment adding paragraph (k) should be applied retroactively. Because Mullin's felony conviction occurred in 1980, before the effective date of paragraph (k), the trial court erred when it retroactively applied that section to Mullin's petition. See Middlebrooks v. Dep't of State, Div. of Licensing, 565 So.2d 727 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (holding that in the absence of any indication that legislation was to apply retroactively, an amendment prohibiting a convicted felon who had not had his civil rights restored from receiving a gun license could not be applied to felony convictions occurring before the effective date of that amendment).
Accordingly, we reverse the order denying Mullin's petition and remand for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
VILLANTI, J., Concurs.
CASANUEVA, J., Concurs with opinion.