Florida's Charter Counties

In 1968, the electors of Florida granted local voters the power to adopt charters to govern their counties.  Charters are formal written documents that confer powers, duties, or privileges on the county.  They resemble state or federal constitutions and they must be approved, along with any amendments, by the voters of a county.

According to several Florida constitutional scholars, the establishment of charter government was designed to remove the resolution of local problems from the state legislature's busy agenda and to grant the county electorate greater control over their regional affairs.

To date, there are 20 charter counties in Florida. Collectively these counties are home to more than 75 percent of Florida's residents.

 

	Year Charter Adopted	No. of Municipalities	Population (April 2007)
Alachua	1987	9	247,561
Brevard	1994	15	552,109
Broward	1975	31	1, 765,707
Charlotte	1986	1	164,584
Clay	1991	4	184,644
Columbia	2002	2	65,373
Duval	1968	5	897,597
Hillsborough	1983	3	1,192,861
Lee	1996	5	615,741
Leon	2002	1	272,896
Miami-Dade	1957	34	2,462,292
Orange	1987	13	1,105,603
Osceola	1992	2	266,123
Palm Beach	1985	37	1,295,033
Pinellas	1980	24	944,199
Polk	1998	17	581,058
Sarasota	1971	4	387,461
Seminole	1989	7	425,698
Volusia	1971	16	508,014
Wakulla	2008	2	29,417

 

See links below for more information on Charter Counties: