Does the Florida Attorney General have authority to act on an audit of a county supervisor of elections?

Plain-English summary

The Hillsborough County Attorney sent the Attorney General's office a copy of an Ernst & Young audit of the county Supervisor of Elections covering October 1, 2008 through January 5, 2009, and asked the office to review it and take any action it thought appropriate.

Assistant Attorney General Joslyn Wilson responded that the Attorney General's office has no specific authority over the actions of a supervisor of elections, the same point the office had made in an earlier letter. Rather than acting on the audit, the letter laid out which offices do handle local-government financial accountability. Under Part III of Chapter 218, the Uniform Local Government Financial Management and Reporting Act, local governmental entities file annual financial reports (and audit reports, when an audit is required) with the Department of Financial Services. County fee officers report fees and expenses to that department under section 116.03, subject to the accounting rules in section 218.36. The Chief Financial Officer, under section 17.041(1), adjusts and settles county accounts and claims reported by the Auditor General or county officials. And county financial audit reports under section 218.39, along with the officer's written explanation or rebuttal, go to the Auditor General. The letter suggested the county contact the Chief Financial Officer's office and noted the Auditor General's role, but it did not itself review or act on the audit.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2009. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Can the Florida Attorney General investigate or act on a county election supervisor's audit?
A: The letter said no. It stated that the Attorney General's office has no specific authority over the actions taken by a supervisor of elections.

Q: Who handles a county officer's financial reports and audits?
A: According to the letter, annual financial reports and required audit reports go to the Department of Financial Services under Chapter 218, county audit reports go to the Auditor General under section 218.39, and the Chief Financial Officer settles county accounts and claims under section 17.041.

Q: What was the county advised to do?
A: The letter suggested contacting the Chief Financial Officer's office about the matter and pointed to the statutory framework for submitting audit and financial reports, rather than offering the Attorney General's own action.

Background and statutory framework

This was an informal advisory letter, not a formal Attorney General opinion, and it turned on the limits of the office's authority. The substantive framework it described comes from the statutes governing local-government financial accountability. Part III of Chapter 218, the Uniform Local Government Financial Management and Reporting Act, requires reporting entities and independent special districts to file annual financial reports with the Department of Financial Services, and section 218.32(1) sets the deadlines, including filing an audit report within 45 days of its completion but no later than 12 months after the fiscal year ends.

Section 116.03 requires county fee officers to report fees, commissions, and expenses to the Department of Financial Services, with section 218.36 providing an exemption for officers who comply with its accounting requirements. Section 17.041(1) charges the Chief Financial Officer with adjusting and settling county accounts and claims, while preserving county officers' own collection duties. Section 218.39 governs county financial audits and routes the audit report and any officer rebuttal to the Auditor General, and section 11.45 sets out when the Auditor General audits a county agency.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Part III, Chapter 218, Florida Statutes (Uniform Local Government Financial Management and Reporting Act)
• Section 218.32(1), Florida Statutes (annual financial reports to the Department of Financial Services)
• Section 218.39, Florida Statutes (county financial audit reports)
• Section 116.03, Florida Statutes (county fee officer reports)
• Section 218.36, Florida Statutes (fee officer accounting)
• Section 17.041(1), Florida Statutes (Chief Financial Officer settles county accounts)
• Section 11.45, Florida Statutes (Auditor General audits)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/hillsoborough-co-superv-of-elec-audit
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/8216

Original opinion text

Ms. Renee Francis Lee

Hillsborough County Attorney

Post Office Box 1110

Tampa, Florida 33601

Dear Ms. Lee:

Thank you for forwarding a copy of the Ernst & Young Audit of the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections for the period from October 1, 2008 through January 5, 2009. You state that the report has been forwarded for review by the Attorney General’s Office and any action this office deems appropriate.

As this office previously noted in its letter of February 27, 2009, this office has no specific authority over the actions taken by the supervisor of elections. Pursuant to Part III, Chapter 218, Florida Statutes, the "Uniform Local Government Financial Management and Reporting Act," local governmental entities are required to file annual financial reports with the Department of Financial Services. Section 218.32(1)(a), (d), and (e), Florida Statutes, respectively provide:

"(1)(a) Each local governmental entity that is determined to be a reporting entity, as defined by generally accepted accounting principles, and each independent special district as defined in s. 189.403, shall submit to the department a copy of its annual financial report for the previous fiscal year in a format prescribed by the department. . . .

• • *

(d) Each local governmental entity that is required to provide for an audit in accordance with s. 218.39(1) must submit the annual financial report with the audit report. A copy of the audit report and annual financial report must be submitted to the department within 45 days after the completion of the audit report but no later than 12 months after the end of the fiscal year.

(e) Each local governmental entity that is not required to provide for an audit report in accordance with s. 218.39 must submit the annual financial report to the department no later than April 30 of each year. . . ."[1]

Moreover, county fee officers are required by section 116.03, Florida Statutes, to make a report to the Department of Financial Services of all such fees, commissions, or other remuneration collected, including the source, character, and amount of all his or her official expenses and the net amount that the office has paid up to the time of making such report, although section 218.36, Florida Statutes, exempts the officer from making such report if the officer has complied with the requirements of that statute.[2]

Additionally, it is noted that section 17.041(1), Florida Statutes, provides that it is the duty of the Chief Financial Officer to adjust and settle, or cause to be adjusted and settled, all county accounts and claims reported to it by "the Auditor General, the appropriate county or district official, or any person against all county and district officers and employees, and against all other persons entrusted with, or who may have received, any property, funds, or moneys of a county or district or who may be in anywise indebted to or accountable to a county or district for any property, funds, moneys, or other thing of value. . . ."[3]

You may, therefore, wish to contact that office on this matter. Finally, I would note that county financial audit reports conducted pursuant to section 218.39, Florida Statutes, and the officer's written statement of explanation or rebuttal are to be submitted to the Auditor General within 45 days after delivery of the audit report to the entity's governing body, but no later than 12 months after the end of the fiscal year.[4]

Thank you for contacting the Attorney General’s Office.

Sincerely,

Joslyn Wilson

Assistant Attorney General

JW/tsh

[1] See s. 218.31(4), Fla. Stat., defining "[d]epartment" as the Department of Financial Services.

[2] See s. 218.36(4), Fla. Stat.

[3] But see s. 17.041(7), Fla. Stat., providing:

"Nothing in this section shall supersede the continuing duty of the proper county and district officers to require any officer, employee, or person to render full accounts of and to yield up according to law to the officer or authority entitled by law to receive the same, any property, funds, moneys, or other thing of value as to which such officer, employee, or person is in anywise indebted to or accountable to such county or district. The provisions of this section provide for collections and recoveries which the proper county or district officers have failed to make, and for correction of settlements made in an amount or manner other than as authorized by law."

[4] Section 218.39(8), Fla. Stat. And see s. 11.45, Fla. Stat., setting forth the circumstances under which the Auditor General will audit a county agency.