“Power to the people” Representative Artiles is fighting for your rights!


TALLAHASSEE — A simmering fight between South Florida state lawmakers and local Miami-Dade County officials is fueling a proposal that would require all constitutional officers to be elected by voters.

In most counties, constitutional offices — sheriff, property appraiser, supervisor of elections, clerk of the circuit court, and tax collector — are elected. In some counties, however, changes have been made that allow some of those posts to be appointed, or for their duties to be carried out by other areas of government.

The bill, sponsored by Miami Republican Frank Artiles, would require those posts to be elected by county voters. It would impact eight of Florida’s 67 counties, but most notably Miami-Dade. The state’s largest county abolished the offices of sheriff, tax collector, supervisor of elections, and property appraiser, transferring those posts to other areas of government.

“The bill is about giving the power to the people, direct representation,” Artiles told members of the House Local Government Affairs Subcommittee, which passed his plan.