ORDINANCE NO. 0-01 AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING SECTION 1- OF THE BROWARD COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES ("CODE") RELATING TO THE BROWARD COUNTY ELECTED OFFICIAL CODE OF ETHICS; MODIFYING SECTION 1-(d) RELATING TO ETHICS TRAINING AND EDUCATION, INCLUDING TO ENSURE CONSISTENCY WITH STATE LAW; AND PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (Sponsored by the Board of County Commissioners) 1 1 1 1 0 1 WHEREAS, Section.1, Florida Statutes, requires that certain elected officials complete four () hours of ethics training during each calendar year, which training covers certain specified topics (the "State Ethics Training Requirement"); and WHEREAS, commencing in 01, elected municipal officers were included within this State Ethics Training Requirement; and WHEREAS, the County's Elected Official Code of Ethics contains a requirement for four () hours of annual training and specifies the permissible content of the training, but requires such training to be completed based on term years rather than calendar years (the "County Ethics Training Requirement"); and WHEREAS, Section., Florida Statutes, empowers county commissions to impose certain more stringent ethical standards than are provided under the state ethics code; and WHEREAS, the County's Elected Official Code of Ethics imposes numerous more stringent ethical standards, including a requirement that newly elected officials
receive, in addition to other required ethics training, four () hours of ethics training within one hundred twenty () days after taking office; and WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners ("Board") finds that changing the timing of the County Ethics Training Requirement to a calendar-year cycle, clarifying the required content for ethics training, and allowing newly elected officials to meet their additional ethics training requirement between election and one hundred twenty () days after taking office would strengthen the County's Elected Official Code of Ethics, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: Section 1. Section 1- of the Broward County Code of Ordinances is hereby 1 1 amended to read as follows: Sec. 1-. Code of ethics for elected officials. 1 (d) Training and Education. 1 0 1 (1) Newly Elected Officials Training Requirement. In addition to meeting the annual training requirement referenced in paragraph (d)() below, Newly Elected Officials shall, within between election and one hundred twenty () days after taking office, receive a minimum of four () hours of training from their governmental entity's attorney (or as directed by that attorney) on the topics of the Sunshine Law, public records, and public service ethics, which addresses ethics topics including Section, Article II, of the Florida Constitution, the state's Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees (Chapter, Part III, Florida Statutes), Florida's public records and public meetings laws, and the ethical standards imposed by
the Board pursuant to its authority under Section., Florida Statutes. Each Newly Elected Official and shall certify their his or her 1 1 1 1 0 participation in this training in a form filed for public inspection within fifteen (1) days after the completion of such training or within fifteen (1) days after taking office, whichever is later. At least two () hours of this training shall be received in an interactive setting (group or individual). Additional training for Newly Elected Officials offered by the Florida Association of Counties or the Florida League of Cities is strongly encouraged. For purposes of this paragraph, Newly Elected Officials are those Elected Officials who did not occupy an office that was subject to this code at any time within the one-year period prior to their current election to office. () Annual Training Requirement. Each Elected Official shall, on an annual basis, attend or participate in a minimum of four () hours of continuing education training on the topics of Sunshine Law, public records, and public service ethics which addresses ethics topics including Section, Article II, of the Florida Constitution, the state's Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees (Chapter, Part III, Florida Statutes), Florida's public records and public meetings laws, and the ethical standards imposed by the Board pursuant to its authority under Section., 1 Florida Statutes. These Training programs may be available through regional universities, municipal or local government organizations, or through state or regional Bar associations. Commencing January 1, 0, Tthe four () hour annual training requirement shall be met on a term-
1 1 1 1 calendar-year basis, and at least two () hours of annual training during each term calendar year shall be received in an interactive setting (group or individual). Each Elected Official shall annually certify that he or she has met this requirement in a form filed for public inspection within thirty (0) days after the end of each term calendar year. To facilitate the transition to a calendar-year cycle, Elected Officials shall be deemed to have met the annual training requirement for their term year which commenced in 0 if they received, during calendar year 0, at least four () hours of ethics training on the topics of Sunshine Law, public records, and public service ethics, with at least two () hours of that training occurring in an individual or group interactive setting. () The revisions made to paragraph () above shall become effective (a) for County Commissioners, on the first day of their term years commencing in November 01; and (b) for Municipal Officials, on the first day of their applicable term years which commence in or after November 01. () () The certifications referenced in this section (d) shall provide the date of each training session, the number of hours completed during each session, and the mode of each session (i.e., live individual training, live group training, online training, or watching/listening to recorded materials). 0 Section. SEVERABILITY. 1 If any portion of this Ordinance is determined by any Court to be invalid, the invalid portion shall be stricken, and such striking shall not affect the validity of the remainder of this Ordinance. If any Court determines that this Ordinance, or any portion hereof, cannot be legally applied to any individual(s), group(s), entity(ies), property(ies), or
circumstance(s), such determination shall not affect the applicability hereof to any other individual, group, entity, property, or circumstance. Section. INCLUSION IN CODE. It is the intention of the Board of County Commissioners that the provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Broward County Code; and that the sections of this Ordinance may be renumbered or relettered and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section," "article," or such other appropriate word or phrase in order to accomplish such intentions. Section. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance shall become effective as provided by law. 1 1 1 1 ENACTED January, 0 FILED WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE January, 0 EFFECTIVE January, 0 0 1 Approved as to form and legal sufficiency: Joni Armstrong Coffey, County Attorney By /s/ Andrew J. Meyers 01// Andrew J. Meyers (date) Chief Deputy County Attorney AJM/mm 01// Elected Official Code of Ethics -