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Below is a legal update as written in the September 2006 edition of INTERFACE.

LEGAL UPDATE

Robert L. Hamilton, Esq.

Adjunct Professor, Florida Institute of Government

University of Central Florida

The 2006 Florida Legislature, via HB 789, amended Chapter 556, Florida Statutes, pertaining to excavators and underground facility owners/operators.

The key parts of HB 789 pertaining to code enforcement are as follows:

Code Enforcement officers, as of Oct. 1, 2006, will be permitted to issue citations for non-criminal infractions of various provisions of Chap. 556 as set forth in HB 789 (previously, only sworn law enforcement officers were authorized to enforce Chap. 556). These citations will be returned to county court.
If a citation is issued by code enforcement, the civil penalty is $250 plus court costs.
Eighty percent (80%) of the civil penalty will go to the local government jurisdiction issuing the citation (with 20% being retained by the Clerk of the Court).
Any person electing or required to appear in county court is subject to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 plus court costs (see distribution of penalty above).
Local government code enforcement can enforce the provisions of Chap. 556 “…without the need to incorporate the provisions of this Chapter (556) into any local code or ordinance.

Under the provisions of Chap. 556, Sunshine State One Call of Florida, Inc. administers the statewide notification system to prevent damage to underground facilities. Sunshine State will provide the citations free of charge to local governments together with ancillary literature. Contact at Sunshine State is: David B. Erwin, Esq., General Counsel, 127 Riversink Rd., Crawfordville, Fla. 32327 (phone 850.926.9331; fax 850.926.8448; email daveerwin@hughes.net).

INTERFACE September 2006