Florida Statute 112.3217 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title X
PUBLIC OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND RECORDS

Chapter 112
PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES: GENERAL PROVISIONS

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112.3217 Contingency fees; prohibitions; penalties.—

(1) “Contingency fee” means a fee, bonus, commission, or nonmonetary benefit as compensation which is dependent or in any way contingent on the enactment, defeat, modification, or other outcome of any specific executive branch action.

(2) No person may, in whole or in part, pay, give, or receive, or agree to pay, give, or receive, a contingency fee. However, this subsection does not apply to claims bills.

(3) Any person who violates this section commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. If such person is a lobbyist, the lobbyist shall forfeit any fee, bonus, commission, or profit received in violation of this section and is subject to the penalties set forth in s. 112.3215. When the fee, bonus, commission, or profit is nonmonetary, the fair market value of the benefit shall be used in determining the amount to be forfeited. All forfeited benefits shall be deposited into the Executive Branch Lobby Registration Trust Fund.

(4) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit any salesperson engaging in legitimate state business on behalf of a company from receiving compensation or commission as part of a bona fide contractual arrangement with that company.

History.—s. 7, ch. 93-121; s. 9, ch. 2000-336.

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Amendments to 112.3217

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 112.3217

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

S112.3217 - BRIBE-GIVING - AGREE TO PAY CONTINGENCY FEE - M: F

S112.3217 - BRIBE-RECEVING - AGREE TO RECEIVE CONTINGENCY FEE - M: F

Cases Citing Statute 112.3217

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Rotemi Realty, Inc. v. Act Realty Co., Inc., 911 So. 2d 1181 (Fla. 2005).

Cited 18 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 30 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 528, 2005 Fla. LEXIS 1461, 2005 WL 1578184

...that statutes in derogation of the common law are strictly construed." BellSouth Telecomm., Inc. v. Meeks, 863 So.2d 287, 290 (Fla.2003). Consistent with these principles, we conclude that section 287.055 applies only to the specific contracts it mentions and is irrelevant here. Act Realty also relies on section 112.3217, Florida Statutes (2004), which prohibits lobbyists from receiving fees contingent on executive branch action....

...§ 475.278, Fla. Stat. (2004). We doubt that the Legislature intended for restrictions on the occupation of lobbying to cover the separately regulated profession of real estate brokerage. We therefore conclude that the restriction on contingency *1188 fees under section 112.3217 does not apply to real estate brokers acting in the ordinary course of their profession, as these brokers were....

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Winthrop & Joseph, Inc. v. Marriott Resort Hosp. Corp., 695 So. 2d 789 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1997).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1997 Fla. App. LEXIS 4847, 1997 WL 216205

executive branch action. We reverse because section 112.3217 applies only to contracts for lobbying and