Opinion

School Board of Palm Beach County v. Winchester

  • 15 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 418
  • 565 So. 2d 1350
  • 1990 Fla. LEXIS 971
  • 1990 WL 107464
Court
Supreme Court of Florida
Filed
Jul 27, 1990
Status
Published
Author
Grimes
On the bench
Barkett, Ehrlich, Grimes, Kogan, McDonald, Overton, Shaw
Cited by
3 cases
Authority
More cited than 26.7%

The opinion

GRIMES, Justice,

dissenting.

I can sympathize with the unspoken desire to avoid disruption of the impending school board election in Palm Beach County. However, I cannot join in accomplishing that result without a rational basis for doing so.

There is no dispute that chapter 71-393, Laws of Florida, was invalid because it was enacted in violation of article III, section 11(a)(1) of the Florida Constitution. Kane v. Robbins, 556 So.2d 1381 (Fla.1989). Palm Beach County did not become a chartered county until several years after the enactment of chapter 71-393. The only portion of the Palm Beach County charter which may be pertinent to this issue is section 6.2 which states that “adoption of this Home Rule Charter shall not affect any existing obligations of Palm Beach County, the validity of any of its ordinances, or the term of office of any elected county officer which terms shall continue as if this charter had not passed.” Palm Beach County has never acted in its capacity as a chartered county to authorize nonpartisan elections for members of the school board.

I know of no legal theory by which it could be said that the adoption of the home rule charter breathed life into the constitutionally invalid special law. See Broward County v. Plantation Imports, Inc., 419 So.2d 1145 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982).

I respectfully dissent.

EHRLICH, J., concurs.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.