The Constitution Revision Commission’s Local Government Committee met this morning in Tallahassee. One item on the agenda was Commissioner Carolyn Timmann’s Proposal 13, which would amend Sections 1 and 6 of Article VIII of the State Constriction to require all county constitutional officers be elected by the voters, and would prohibit the county from removing, transferring responsibilities, or changing the method of selecting those officers. This proposal, the first Commissioner Proposal to be considered by a CRC committee, passed with a vote of 6-1.

Stacy M. Butterfield, CPA (Polk), and the Honorable Don Barbee Jr., Esq. (Hernando), gave testimony on behalf of Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers in support of the proposal. 

Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson, Jr. (Walton), president of the Florida Sheriffs Association; Carey Baker (Lake), president of the Florida Association of Property Appraisers; and Lisa Cullen, CFC (Brevard), District 6 Director of the Florida Tax Collectors Association, also spoke in support of the proposal.

The Honorable JD Peacock II (Okaloosa) and the Honorable Tom Bexley (Flagler) waived in support of the proposal representing the Clerks.

Proposal 13 will next be heard by the CRC Ethics and Elections Committee.