LEAGUE OF MERCY ASSOCIATION, INC., A FLORIDA NON-PROFIT CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
THATCHER WALT, CONSUMER AFFAIRS OFFICER, AND CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, APPELLEES
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The League of Mercy Association challenged Jacksonville's charitable solicitation ordinance (Chapter 404) as unconstitutional for allegedly granting arbitrary discretion to the Consumer Affairs Officer without adequate guidelines. The Florida appellate court upheld the ordinance, finding it contained sufficient procedural safeguards and objective standards to guide the officer's permit decisions.
Chapter 404 is constitutional because it provides sufficient guidelines to constrain the Consumer Affairs Officer's discretion. The ordinance establishes detailed procedures requiring applicants to disclose organizational nature, administrative costs, and fund disbursement plans, and uses terms of general understanding like 'charitable' and 'not for private profit' that are susceptible to legal interpretation based on the facts of each case.
[1] A municipal ordinance requiring charitable organizations to register and obtain a permit to solicit is constitutional if it provides sufficient guidelines to prevent arbi…
[2] An ordinance requiring disclosure of an organization's nature, administrative costs, and fund disbursement methods provides sufficient guidelines for a permitting officer…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“when read as a whole, the ordinance sets forth sufficient guidelines to enable the Consumer Affairs Officer to adequately grant or deny licenses”
Establishes the court's holding that the ordinance is not unconstitutionally vague or an impermissible delegation of authority
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe League of Mercy Association, a Florida non-profit corporation, applied for a permit to solicit in Jacksonville in 1978. The Consumer Affairs Offic…
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McCORD, Judge.
Appellant, League of Mercy Association, Inc., a Florida non-profit corporation, brought this action in the court below, seeking injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment finding Chapter 404 of the Jacksonville Ordinance Code unconstitutional. The trial court denied both and we affirm.
Pursuant to Chapter 404 of the Jacksonville Ordinance Code, the Consumer Affairs Officer of the City of Jacksonville denied appellant’s application for a permit to solicit in 1978. Chapter 404 provides that no charitable organization shall solicit property or financial assistance of any kind or sell any article, etc., without having registered with the Consumer Affairs Office and having obtained a permit as required by that chapter. Chapter 404 relates specific procedures to be followed in applying for and obtaining the necessary permits. The Consumer Affairs Officer is given authority under that chapter to conduct investigations to determine whether solicitations in question will be or have been made for charitable, educational, religious, civic, patriotic, fraternal, reformatory or philanthropic purposes and thereupon to grant, deny, or revoke permits pursuant to the provisions of the chapter. Appellant contends that certain sections of Chapter 404 are unconstitutional in that they delegate to the Consumer Affairs Officer an arbitrary power to determine what constitutes a charitable, religious, etc., organization and purpose and to grant or withhold permits or licenses for charitable organizations without prescribing any guidelines for the exercise of the officer’s discretion. We have reviewed the provisions of Chapter 404 and find that, when read as a whole, the ordinance sets forth sufficient guidelines to enable the Consumer Affairs Officer to adequately grant or deny licenses. The ordinance contains detailed provisions as to the information to be acquired and considered by the Consumer Affairs Officer in taking applications and in issuing the required permits. For example, the ordinance requires applicants to file written statements disclosing the nature of the organization, the administrative costs involved in the solicitation, and the manner in which the solicited funds were or will be disbursed.
Thus, we conclude that the duties assigned to the officer by the ordinance do not bestow upon the officer unbridled discretion to make broad determinations without guidelines. Instead, the language of the ordinance limits the officer’s discretion by the use of terms of general understanding and common usage, such as “charitable” and “not for the private profit of the applicant.” Such terms are not conducive to further definition but are commonly understood by reasonable men and are susceptible to legal interpretation based upon the facts of a given case. Compare Safer v. City of Jax, 237 So. 2d 8 (Fla. 1 DCA 1970).
Appellant also contends that the trial court erred in its order taxing costs. However, the costs order was entered 38 days after rendition of the final judgment. A cost determination must be made within the time allowed for appeal from the final judgment for it to come under the umbrella of that appeal. If it is entered later, review is only available by a separate interlocutory appeal. Roberts v. Askew, 260 So. 2d 492 (Fla.1972); Chatlos v. City of Hollandale, 220 So. 2d 353 (Fla.1968); and Craft v. Clarembeaux, 162 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 2 DCA 1964). Since the order taxing costs was entered eight days after time for appealing the final judgment had expired, we do not have jurisdiction to consider the order on this appeal. No interlocutory appeal has been taken from the order taxing costs.
AFFIRMED.
MILLS, C. J., and SHIVERS, J., concur.
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Dep't OF Admin. & Dep't of Agric. & Consumer Servs. v. Nelson, 424 So. 2d 852 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…e employment. Those terms are subject to common understanding and, given the variety of situations in which the legislature expected the terms to be applied, need not have been further defined in the statute. See League of Mercy Association v. Walt, 376 So. 2d 892, 893 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), cert. denied, 386 So. 2d 639 (Fla.1980). Finally, Nelson argues on his consolidated appeal that the Forestry Division had and enforced against him an illicit rule, which is to say a firm policy not promulgated by rule, aga…
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Dade Cnty. v. Davidson, 418 So. 2d 1231 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)…rmination is made after the entry of a final judgment and appeal has already been taken, review of the cost award is available to petitioner by separate appeal. Chatlos v. Hallandale, 220 So. 2d 353 (Fla. 1969); League of Mercy Assoc., Inc. v. Walt, 376 So. 2d 892 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979).…
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Fla. Teaching Profession-National Educ. Ass'n v. Turlington, 490 So. 2d 142 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)…ture of the sovereign power to enact laws. It is also designed to safeguard against the exercise of unrestricted discretion in the application of the law by an administrative agency charged with this enforcement. League of Mercy Association v. Walt, 376 So. 2d 892 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). This doctrine does not preclude all administrative discretion as to a statute, provided that reasonable guidance is contained in the statute under attack. Department of Administration v. Nelson, 424 So. 2d 852 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Roberts v. Reubin O'D. Askew, 260 So. 2d 492 (Fla. 1972)
- Chatlos v. City OF Hallandale, 220 So. 2d 353 (Fla. 1968)
- Craft v. Marcel Clarembeaux, 162 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964)
- Hopkins v. Panama Plaza Constr. Corp., 237 So. 2d 8 (Fla. 1st DCA 1970)