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Commission adopts ordinance allowing ad hoc special magistrates, bars county attorney from appearing before them
Summary
The board approved an ordinance creating a mechanism to appoint ad hoc special magistrates for code enforcement and to prohibit the county attorney from presenting cases to those ad hoc magistrates; staff would hire outside counsel when necessary.
The Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 5 approved an ordinance to provide a mechanism for appointing ad hoc special magistrates to hear code enforcement matters when the regular special magistrate is unavailable or has a conflict.
"We needed a mechanism to, appoint an ad hoc special magistrate so that way, our zoning enforcement can continue on," County Attorney Dan Morrison told the commission during an explanation of the ordinance. Morrison said the change addresses situations when the appointed special magistrate is unavailable, for example because of a conflict of interest.
The ordinance also specifies that the county attorney shall not present cases to an ad hoc special magistrate appointed under the new procedure. Morrison explained that if an ad hoc magistrate is appointed, "the county attorney cannot appear in front of that ad hoc special magistrate. And if staff wants an attorney to present a case to that special magistrate, then county would have to hire outside counsel."
Morrison said the change is intended to close a gap in the county code exposed during recent magistrate transitions and avoid delays in enforcement while a new magistrate is selected. He added that, in practice, staff usually presents enforcement cases without the county attorney in the hearing but said the ordinance formalizes a procedure when outside counsel is necessary.
The motion to adopt the ordinance was made by Commissioner Perkins, seconded by Commissioner White, and passed 5–0.
