Jackson v. Leon Cnty. Elections Canvassing Bd.

• Decision Date: 22 November 2016
• Docket Number: 1D16–5090.,Nos. 1D16–4870,s. 1D16–4870
• Citation: 204 So.3d 571
• Parties: Dr. Erwin D. JACKSON, as an elector of the City of Tallahassee, Petitioner/Appellant, v. LEON COUNTY ELECTIONS CANVASSING BOARD; Scott C. Maddox, as the successful candidate for Tallahassee City Commission, Seat 1; and City of Tallahassee, a Florida municipal corporation, Respondents/Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

204 So.3d 571

Dr. Erwin D. JACKSON, as an elector of the City of Tallahassee, Petitioner/Appellant,

v.LEON COUNTY ELECTIONS CANVASSING BOARD; Scott C. Maddox, as the successful candidate for Tallahassee City Commission, Seat 1; and City of Tallahassee, a Florida municipal corporation, Respondents/Appellees.

Nos. 1D16–4870

1D16–5090.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

Nov. 22, 2016.

Charles Burns Upton II of the Upton Law Firm, P.L., Tallahassee, for Petitioner/Appellant.

No appearance for Respondent/Appellee Leon County Elections Canvassing Board.

Dan R. Stengle of Dan R. Stengle, Attorney, LLC, Tallahassee, and Stephen Marc Slepin of The Maddox Horne Law Firm, Tallahassee, for Respondent/Appellee Scott C. Maddox.

Louis C. Norvell, Assistant City Attorney, for Respondent/Appellee City of Tallahassee.

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner/Appellant Dr. Erwin Jackson filed a petition for writ of mandamus in this Court seeking to compel the circuit court to hold the "immediate hearing" mandated by section 102.168(7), Florida Statutes (2016). We granted the petition by order and explained that an opinion would follow. The day after our order issued, the trial court held a hearing and entered a final order in favor of Respondent/Appellee Scott Maddox. Jackson immediately sought review of the order in this Court by a separate "emergency petition to invoke this court's constitutional-writs power." We treated the petition as a notice of appeal and, after receiving expedited briefing, entered another order vacating the trial court's final order and remanding for further proceedings. We now write to further explain our actions in both cases, which we have consolidated for purposes of this opinion.

I. Procedural History

Maddox was elected as a city commissioner for the City of Tallahassee on August 30, 2016. The Leon County Elections Canvassing Board certified his election on September 6. Maddox was scheduled to assume office on November 21. However, on September 13, 2016, Jackson filed a challenge in the circuit court seeking to invalidate the Canvassing Board's certification of Scott Maddox's election. Jackson asserted that Maddox was ineligible for the office of city commissioner because he was not an elector of the City of Tallahassee. Jackson argued that because Maddox's legal residence was an expansive million-dollar estate he owns outside the city limits, not the property that he rents in a commercial district of downtown Tallahassee, he was not a city resident, and therefore, not eligible to hold the office of city commissioner.

The City of Tallahassee (the City) sought leave of the court and was permitted to intervene. Citing Subpart A, Section 13 of the City of Tallahassee's Charter (City Charter), which provides that "[t]he commission shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its own members subject to review by the courts," the City argued that the circuit court was not the proper forum to hear Jackson's election contest, rather the City Commission provided the exclusive forum for resolving Maddox's eligibility to hold office. The City and Maddox then moved to dismiss the complaint or, in the alternative, to stay proceedings to allow the City to conduct its own proceeding to determine Maddox's eligibility.

On October 27, the circuit court granted the City's motion to stay, and agreed with the City that the question of whether Maddox was eligible to hold the office of city commissioner was reserved to the City Commission. The circuit court ordered the City to address Maddox's eligibility for office in "a timely manner," directing it to submit, by 5:00 p.m. on November 22, a report on whether Maddox was a resident of the City at the time he took the oath of office on November 21. Thereafter, Jackson sought emergency mandamus relief in this Court to compel the circuit court to conduct an immediate hearing as required by section 102.168(7).

II. Mandamus Proceeding

Jackson challenged Maddox's election pursuant to section 102.168(1), Florida Statutes (2016), which provides that "the certification of election or nomination of any person to office ... may be contested in the circuit court ... by any elector qualified to vote in the election related to such candidacy...." Such a complaint must be filed within ten days after certification of the election results. § 102.168(2), Fla. Stat. (2016). Jackson filed a timely complaint, alleging one of the enumerated statutory grounds for contesting an election: "Ineligibility of the successful candidate for the nomination or office in dispute." § 102.168(3)(b), Fla. Stat. (2016).

To establish ineligibility of a candidate to hold office, "a pleading must aver, and proof must show, constitutional ineligibility—the failure to meet qualifications the constitution lays down." Norman v. Ambler, 46 So.3d 178, 184 (Fla.2010). "In this case, the City is a municipality, and ‘the paramount law of a municipality is its charter, (just as the state constitution is the charter of the State of Florida,) and gives the municipality all the powers it possesses....' " Burns v. Tondreau, 139 So.3d 481, 484 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014) (quoting City of Miami Beach v. Fleetwood Hotel, Inc., 261 So.2d 801, 803 (Fla.1972) ). The City of Tallahassee's charter establishes the minimum requirements for eligibility to serve as a city commissioner in Subpart A, Section 9, which provides that the city commission shall consist of "five (5) electors of the city elected at large." All of the parties agree that an "elector" is a city resident. The contest of election statute further provides that "[a]ny ... qualified elector ... presenting such a contest to a circuit judge is entitled to an immediate hearing." § 102.168(7), Fla. Stat. (2016). But rather than holding an immediate hearing to address Jackson's complaint that Maddox was not eligible to serve as a city commissioner, the trial court stayed the proceedings to allow the City Commission to first decide Maddox's eligibility to hold office. Thus, the question presented to this Court was whether Jackson had a clear legal right to an immediate hearing and whether the trial court had a clear legal duty to conduct an immediate hearing under the election contest statute in light of the City Charter provision providing for the City Commission to determine the qualifications of its members.

The City and Maddox argued that Jackson was not entitled to an immediate hearing because the City Charter established a "supplementary procedure" that operated in harmony with the Florida Elections Code and that designated the City Commission as the exclusive forum for the initial determination of the eligibility of a candidate to hold the office of city commissioner. The City and Maddox argued that the City Commission's determination would then be subject to certiorari review in circuit court. Jackson argued that he was entitled to an immediate hearing in circuit court to resolve his challenge.

Based on our review of the Florida Election Code and the City of Tallahassee's Charter, we hold that Jackson had a clear legal right to an immediate hearing under section 102.168, Florida Statutes, the trial court had a clear legal duty to conduct such hearing, and the trial court's stay of the statutory proceeding in favor of a proceeding before the City Commission was error.

The Legislature has expressly preempted to the state matters involving state and local elections, with a limited exception for municipal elections. § 97.0115, Fla. Stat. (2016) ("All matters set forth in chapters 97–105 are preempted to the state, except as otherwise specifically authorized by state or federal law. The conduct of municipal elections shall be governed by s. 100.3605."). Section 100.3605 provides:

The Florida Election Code, chapters 97–106, shall govern the conduct of a municipality's election in the absence of an applicable special act, charter, or ordinance provision. No charter or ordinance provision shall be adopted which conflicts with or exempts a municipality from any provision in the Florida Election Code that expressly applies to municipalities.

§ 100.3605(1), Fla. Stat. (2016). The City and Maddox argue that section 102.168 does not expressly apply to municipal elections, and in the alternative, that if it does apply, the City of Tallahassee's charter does not conflict with any provision of the Election Code. We reject these arguments for two reasons.

First, the election contest statute, section 102.168, expressly applies to municipal elections. The plain language of the statute provides that, with the exception of challenges to the election of a member of either house of the Legislature, all challenges to the election of any person to office may be brought in circuit court. § 102.168(1), Fla. Stat. (2016) ("Except as provided in s. 102.171, the certification of election or nomination of any person to office, or of the result on any question submitted by referendum, may be contested in the circuit court ... by any elector qualified to vote in the election related to such candidacy, or by any taxpayer, respectively.") (emphasis added). Further, by its express language, the statute applies to the election of local candidates. Section 102.168(4) provides that "[t]he canvassing board responsible for canvassing the election is an indispensable party defendant in county and local elections."

Second, the City of Tallahassee's charter provision providing for the City Commission to judge the qualifications of its own members either is not applicable to a challenge to a candidate's eligibility to hold office, or, if applicable, impermissibly conflicts with section 102.168(7)'s requirement that the circuit court hold an "immediate hearing" once an election challenge is filed. Contrary to the City's and Maddox's arguments, the City of Tallahassee's Charter contains no provision applicable to an election contest challenging the eligibility of a candidate for office. Rather, Section 13 states that the...