In Florida Elections Commission v. Davis, Case 1D09-3716 (Fla. 1st DCA September 30, 2010), the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the final order of the administrative law judge concluding that an administrative law judge having final order authority under the 2007 amendment to Section 106.25(5), Florida Statutes, has no authority to levy a penalty against a person found to have violated either Chapters 104 or 106, Florida Statutes. (See blog post December 11, 2009). The Davis opinion can be found here.
Citing to several provisions of the Florida statutes which authorize administrative law judges to impose penalties, the Court noted that “[t]he Legislature well knows how to confer the power to levy administrative penalties as part of the administrative law judge’s final order authority.” Thus, the Court concluded: “The Legislature conferred no such authority on administrative law judges in the event of violations of the provisions of chapters 104 and 106. Inclusio unius est exclusio alterius.” (emphasis in text)
Prepared by: Mark Herron
mherron@lawfla.com
