Department of Juvenile Justice Challenge
On February 9, 2010, Hillsborough and Santa Rosa Counties filed suit against the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The complaint challenges the constitutionality of section 985.686, Florida Statutes, which requires all non-fiscally constrained counties to include in their budgets each year, sufficient funds to pay its costs of pre-disposition detention care for juveniles who reside in that county. Under section 986.686, F.S., each county must pay the estimated cost at the beginning of each month and payment must be made to the Department. The amount of the estimated cost to be paid by each county is determined by the statutory provision that requires the Department to calculate the cost of the prior use of secure detention of juveniles who are residents of each county and each county must base its annual budgeted funding for juvenile pre-trial detention on the Department’s calculated use of juvenile detention care. Thus, the counties pay estimated amounts each fiscal year, based on actual, reconciled amounts paid in the previous fiscal year.
The counties generally challenge the manner in which the department determines each counties estimated cost. Second, the counties argue that the state pays much less for detention than the counties do and that the practice is not "cost sharing" as required by section 985.686, F.S. Third, the counties assert that the Department fails to reconcile the assessments to the counties in the manner required by section 985.686.
Specifically, the counties assert that the statute requires that the Department and the counties must share costs, not that the Department merely shifts costs to the counties. In addition, the counties assert that section 986.686, F.S. is void for vagueness, both as applied, and as a facial matter. The counties have asked the court to issue a final judgment declaring that section 986.686, F.S. is void for vagueness as applied, in violation of the constitutional principles of due process and separation of powers, to define the terms "costs" and "joint obligation" in the context of section 986.686, F.S., and to grant injunctive relief. You can link to the complaint here.
Red Light Cameras
Many Municipalities and at least one county are in litigation over whether the local governments have the authority to implement red light camera programs without statutory authority. Click here to link to the list of all the ongoing cases and check on their status. This list was prepared by Dana Crosby, Assistant County Attorney in Orange County.