Eckert v. Board of Com'rs of North Broward Hosp. Dist., 98-1485

• Court: Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
• Writing for the Court: GROSS
• Citation: 720 So.2d 1151
• Parties: 23 Fla. L. Weekly D2534 Edward D. ECKERT, M.D., Petitioner, v. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE NORTH BROWARD HOSPITAL DISTRICT, Respondent.
• Docket Number: No. 98-1485,98-1485
• Decision Date: 18 November 1998

Page 1151

720 So.2d 1151 23 Fla. L. Weekly D2534 Edward D. ECKERT, M.D., Petitioner,
v.
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE NORTH BROWARD HOSPITAL DISTRICT, Respondent. No. 98-1485. District Court of Appeal of Florida,
Fourth District. Nov. 18, 1998.

Nancy W. Gregoire, and Richard T. Woulfe of Bunnell, Woulfe, Kirschbaum, Keller & McIntyre, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for petitioner.

Vanessa A. Reynolds of Conrad & Scherer, Fort Lauderdale, for respondent.

Page 1152

GROSS, Judge.

Edward D. Eckert, M.D., has filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the Board of Commissioners of the North Broward Hospital District ("District") seeking review of the District's decision to suspend Dr. Eckert's staff privileges at the Coral Springs Medical Center for two years, pursuant to section 395.0193, Florida Statutes (1997). We hold that this court lacks jurisdiction over the petition.

In his jurisdictional statement, Dr. Eckert indicates that he is unsure whether this court has jurisdiction. He notes that the District is a special taxing district created by special law, Chapter 27438, Laws of Florida (1951). He could find no general law conferring jurisdiction on this court to review the District's decision. In filing his petition in this court, Dr. Eckert relied upon the District's bylaws, which provide that a decision of the Board of Commissioners to refuse, revoke, or suspend medical privileges is a quasi-judicial function subject to judicial review by certiorari to this court. But for those bylaws, Dr. Eckert would have filed his petition in the circuit court, in accordance with Board of County Commr's of Brevard County v. Snyder, 627 So.2d 469, 476 (Fla.1993). Dr. Eckert asks this court to determine whether it has jurisdiction.

The District urges this court to accept jurisdiction. It argues that its bylaws are based on section 31(2)(e) of the special act, as amended, which conferred jurisdiction on this court.

This case involves review of an "administrative action," which Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.020(a) defines as follows:

Administrative action shall include:

(1) final agency action as defined in the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 120, Florida Statutes;

(2) non-final action by an agency or administrative law judge reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act;

(3) quasi-judicial decisions by any administrative body, agency, board or commission not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act; and

(4) administrative action for which judicial review is provided by general law.

The correct method for review of an administrative action depends on whether the action was by a state agency that is subject to the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") or a local administrative body not subject to the APA. See Padovano, Florida Appellate Practice § 23.1, at p. 440 (2d ed.1997). Article V, section 4(b)(2) of the Florida Constitution grants district courts of appeal the power of "direct review of administrative action, as prescribed by general law." Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(1)(C) provides that judicial review of "administrative action" shall be by appeal, "if provided by general law."

The first issue to confront is whether the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 120, Florida Statutes (1997), confers jurisdiction on this court. Clearly, the APA is "general law" within the meaning of the constitution.

Section 120.68(2), Florida Statutes (1997), provides that judicial review of final agency action shall be in the district courts of appeal. To be subject to this section of the APA, the administrative body whose decision is challenged must fall within the statutory definition of an "agency" contained in section 120.52(1), Florida Statutes (1997). ¹ See Padovano

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at § 23.2, p. 441. If an administrative agency does not qualify as a state agency under the APA, it is considered to be a local administrative body whose decisions are reviewable by certiorari in the circuit court. See City of Deerfield Beach v. Vaillant, 419 So.2d 624 (Fla.1982); Cherokee Crushed Stone, Inc. v. City of Miramar, 421 So.2d 684 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982); Padovano, § 23.4, at 447.

In State ex rel. Bettendorf v. Martin County Envtl. Control Hearing Bd., 564 So.2d 1227 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990) (en banc), this court considered whether it had jurisdiction to entertain a writ of prohibition against the Martin County Environmental Control Hearing Board, which was created by a special act of the legislature. To decide the case, we had to determine whether this court had direct appeal jurisdiction, since "[s]pecial writ jurisdiction follows the appellate process." Id. at 1228. We concluded that the Martin County Environmental Control Board was not an "agency" within the meaning of the APA, noting that "[i]ts provisions are completely intra-county in operation." Id. at 1227. To reach this conclusion, we cited to Rubinstein v. Sarasota County Pub. Hosp. Bd., 498 So.2d 1012 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Booker Creek Preservation, Inc. v. Pinellas Planning Council, 433 So.2d 1306 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); and Hillsborough County Envtl. Protection Comm'n v. Williams, 426 So.2d 1285 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). These cases addressed the issue of when an administrative body was a state agency under the APA. Of the three, Rubinstein is the most helpful.

In Rubinstein, a physician sought appellate review of a final order of the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board which denied the physician reappointment to the hospital staff. The second district had to decide whether the board's decision was directly reviewable as the decision of an "agency" within the meaning of section 120.52(1). If not, then review would be by petition for writ of certiorari in the circuit court. Rubinstein, 498 So.2d at 1013. The court noted that the APA refers to three types of agencies, two of which clearly were inapplicable: agencies of the governor, and other units of government expressly made subject to the APA by general or special law or existing judicial decisions. See id. (citing § 120.52(1)(a) and (c), Fla. Stat. (1985)). The court found that the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board was established by special law in 1949 and that neither legislation nor judicial precedent provided that the board was governed by the APA. See Rubinstein, 498 So.2d at 1013.

The second district observed that the third kind of agency contemplated under the definition in section 120.52(1) includes, inter alia, departments with statewide jurisdiction, regional planning agencies, conservation boards, and land and water management districts. See § 120.52(1)(b), Fla. Stat. The court held that the hospital board was not an agency under this third definition because the board operated wholly within the county. See Rubinstein, 498 So.2d at 1014. To reach its decision, the second district relied on decisions in which agencies were found not to fall within...