RILEY-FIELD CO., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, PETITIONER,
v.
REUBIN O'D. ASKEW ET AL., RESPONDENTS; CITY OF NORTH KEY LARGO BEACH, FLORIDA, PETITIONER, V. REUBIN O'D. ASKEW ET AL., RESPONDENTS

Fla. 1st DCA | 1976-07-19
Nos. BB-493, BB-494
BOYER, C. J., and McCORD, J., concur.
336 So. 2d 383 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1976) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Two petitioners sought certiorari review of an administrative rule designating Monroe County as an area of critical state concern. The court held that petitions for certiorari challenging agency rules must be filed within 30 days of the rule's effective date, not its adoption date, and that premature filings preserve jurisdiction 'in limbo' until the rule becomes effective.


Holding

The court held that appellate Rule 4.5c(1) requires petitions for certiorari challenging agency rules to be filed within 30 days after the rule's effective date, not its adoption date. Premature filings, made after adoption but before effectiveness, preserve the court's jurisdiction 'in limbo' until the rule becomes effective.


Headnotes

[1] A petition for certiorari review of an agency rule must be filed within 30 days of the rule's effective date.

[2] The 30-day period for seeking judicial review of an agency rule begins to run from the rule's effective date, not its adoption or filing.

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Key Quotes

“An agency rule such as Rule 22F-13 is not strictly a 'decision, order, judgment or decree' within the contemplation of appellate Rule 4.5c(l), and it is not 'rendered' in the same way or with the same effect.”

Establishes that agency rules are fundamentally different from judicial decisions for purposes of determining when review periods begin

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Facts & Procedural History

The Administration Commission adopted Rule 22F-13 on March 9, 1976, and filed it with the Secretary of State on March 10, 1976, designating much of Mo…

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Opinion of the Court
SMITH, Judge.

SMITH, Judge.

In accordance with certiorari procedures made applicable by Yamaha Int’l Corp. v. Ehrman, 318 So. 2d 196 (Fla.App. 1st, 1975), petitioners seek review of Fla. Admin. Code Rule 22F-13 which the Administration Commission of the Department of Administration adopted March 9, 1976 and filed in the office of the Secretary of State on March 10, designating much of Monroe county as an area of critical state concern. Secs. 120.68, 380.-05(1)(b), F.S.1975. Because the petitions for certiorari were not filed within 30 days after the rule’s adoption and filing, respondents moved to dismiss the petitions as untimely filed, invoking Rule 4.5c, F.A.R. :

“(1) . . . Application for writ of certiorari shall be by petition filed in the Court within 30 days from the rendition of the decision, order, judgment or decree sought to be reviewed.”

An agency rule such as Rule 22F-13 is not strictly a “decision, order, judgment or decree” within the contemplation of appellate Rule 4.5c(l), and it is not “rendered” in the same way or with the same effect. Because appellate Rule 4.5c(l) was not designed particularly for review of chapter 120 proceedings, we ftiay and, in the absence of constraints in the Rule, should adjust it to better fit the circumstances of administrative review.

It is evident from an examination of the rulemaking process of the Administrative Procedure Act that it will often be premature for this Court to review an agency rule immediately upon its adoption. For, while an agency’s “adoption” of a proposed rule and its filing with the Department of State might otherwise seem roughly equivalent to “rendition” of a judicial “decision, order, judgment or decree” for purposes of opening the period to seek judicial review, closer inspection of the statute reveals that administrative action on the proposed rule may yet be incomplete. The legislative scheme delays the effectiveness of agency rulemaking action in order to allow objections by the Administrative Procedures Committee and their resolution by agency modification or withdrawal of the proposed rule. Sec. 120.54(10), (11), (12), F.S. 1975.

Florida’s appellate courts have no need to review agency orders which, though adopted, may never become effective, nor to assume jurisdiction for that purpose. We therefore construe appellate Rule 4.5c in this context as requiring the filing of a petition for review within 30 days after the effective date of an agency rule, whether it becomes effective on a date required by statute, or by the expiration of 20 days after its filing in the Department of State, or otherwise by operation of § 120.54, F.S.1975.

The complexities of § 120.54(10), (11) and (12) which fix the effective date of an agency rule may seem a stumbling block to the lawyer, wary of the doctrines of rendition and finality, who hopes to petition for certiorari review neither too soon nor too late for jurisdictional purposes. While such exactitude has been required in other contexts, here no embarrassment arises in the Constitution, statutes or rules from premature filing of a petition for review after an agency has adopted and filed a proposed rule but before it becomes effective. We will regard such a filing as preserving our jurisdiction “in limbo” until the agency’s proposed rule becomes effective and perfects our jurisdiction to review by certiorari. Compare Williams v. State, 324 So. 2d 74, 79 (Fla.1975).

The petitions for review here were filed within 30 days after Rule 22F-13 became effective by the passage of 20 days after its filing with the Department of State. Sec. 120.54(11), F.S.1975. The petitions were timely. The motion to dismiss is denied.

BOYER, C. J., and McCORD, J., concur.


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