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Florida Statute 120.536 - Full Text and Legal Analysis
Florida Statute 120.536 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research
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The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title X
PUBLIC OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND RECORDS
Chapter 120
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT
View Entire Chapter
120.536 Rulemaking authority; repeal; challenge.
(1) A grant of rulemaking authority is necessary but not sufficient to allow an agency to adopt a rule; a specific law to be implemented is also required. An agency may adopt only rules that implement or interpret the specific powers and duties granted by the enabling statute. No agency shall have authority to adopt a rule only because it is reasonably related to the purpose of the enabling legislation and is not arbitrary and capricious or is within the agency’s class of powers and duties, nor shall an agency have the authority to implement statutory provisions setting forth general legislative intent or policy. Statutory language granting rulemaking authority or generally describing the powers and functions of an agency shall be construed to extend no further than implementing or interpreting the specific powers and duties conferred by the enabling statute.
(2) Unless otherwise expressly provided by law:
(a) The repeal of one or more provisions of law implemented by a rule that on its face implements only the provision or provisions repealed and no other provision of law nullifies the rule. Whenever notice of the nullification of a rule under this subsection is received from the committee or otherwise, the Department of State shall remove the rule from the Florida Administrative Code as of the effective date of the law effecting the nullification and update the historical notes for the code to show the rule repealed by operation of law.
(b) The repeal of one or more provisions of law implemented by a rule that on its face implements the provision or provisions repealed and one or more other provisions of law nullifies the rule or applicable portion of the rule to the extent that it implements the repealed law. The agency having authority to repeal or amend the rule shall, within 180 days after the effective date of the repealing law, publish a notice of rule development identifying all portions of rules affected by the repealing law, and if no notice is timely published the operation of each rule implementing a repealed provision of law shall be suspended until such notice is published.
(c) The repeal of one or more provisions of law that, other than as provided in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b), causes a rule or portion of a rule to be of uncertain enforceability requires the Department of State to treat the rule as provided by s. 120.555. A rule shall be considered to be of uncertain enforceability under this paragraph if the division notifies the Department of State that a rule or a portion of the rule has been invalidated in a division proceeding based upon a repeal of law, or the committee gives written notification to the Department of State and the agency having power to amend or repeal the rule that a law has been repealed creating doubt about whether the rule is still in full force and effect.
(3) The Administrative Procedures Committee or any substantially affected person may petition an agency to repeal any rule, or portion thereof, because it exceeds the rulemaking authority permitted by this section. Not later than 30 days after the date of filing the petition if the agency is headed by an individual, or not later than 45 days if the agency is headed by a collegial body, the agency shall initiate rulemaking proceedings to repeal the rule, or portion thereof, or deny the petition, giving a written statement of its reasons for the denial.
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to change the legal status of a rule that has otherwise been judicially or administratively determined to be invalid.
(5) Unless otherwise expressly authorized by law, a rule may not include a provision whereby the entire rule, or a provision thereof, automatically expires or is repealed on a specific date or at the end of a specified period.
History.s. 9, ch. 96-159; s. 3, ch. 99-379; s. 15, ch. 2000-151; s. 15, ch. 2005-2; s. 4, ch. 2008-104; s. 1, ch. 2012-31; s. 2, ch. 2025-189.

F.S. 120.536 on Google Scholar

F.S. 120.536 on CourtListener

Amendments to 120.536


Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 120.536

Total Results: 21  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Miccosukee Tribe Of Indians Of Florida v. Florida State Athletic Comm'n, 226 F.3d 1226 (11th Cir. 2000).

Cited 34 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

...In doing so, the state has carefully set forth the limits and extent of the Commission's power. 7 The Florida Commission falls within the state's definition of an agency, see Fla. Stat. 120.51, and thus, its rule making authority is subject to Florida's APA, see Fla. Stat. 120.536 and 120.54. In addition, in 1999, the Florida legislature amended 548.003(2) to state explicitly that "[t]he commission has authority to adopt rules pursuant to 120.536(1) and 120.54 [of the Administrative Procedure Act]...." 8 Once appointed, the members of the Commission serve a term of four years....
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ST. JOHNS RIVER v. Consol.-Tomoka, 717 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998).

Cited 13 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1998 WL 422566

...Statutory language granting rulemaking authority or generally describing the powers and functions of an agency shall be construed to extend no further than the particular powers and duties conferred by the same statute. *78 These standards are restated in section 120.536(1), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), which contains additional provisions not at issue here....
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State, Bd. of Trs. of Internal Improvement Trust Fund v. Day Cruise Assoc., Inc., 794 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001).

Cited 12 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 12894, 2001 WL 1098261

...2d DCA 1998) (applying the 1996 amendments in invalidating rules defining poker because the enabling statute did not specifically authorize them). III. In apparent response to the decision in Consolidated-Tomoka, the Legislature again amended sections 120.52(8) and 120.536(1) in 1999, stating its intent "to clarify the limited authority of agencies to adopt rules in accordance with chapter 96-159, Laws of Florida, and ......
...Save the Manatee Club, Inc., 773 So.2d 594, 599 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). Implementing this legislative intent to cabin agency rulemaking authority, the *700 1999 Legislature amended the "flush left" paragraph of section 120.52(8) and parallel language in section 120.536(1), by replacing the phrase "particular powers and duties" with the phrase "specific powers and duties," and by expressly rejecting the judicial "class of powers and duties" gloss: A grant of rulemaking authority is necessary but not...
...y shall be construed to extend no further than implementing or interpreting the specific the particular powers and duties conferred by the same statute. Ch. 99-379, § 2, at 3790, § 3, at 3791, Laws of Fla. (codified respectively at §§ 120.52(8), 120.536(1), Fla....
...ehensive plan of development concerning the acquisition, management, and disposition of state-owned lands so as to ensure maximum benefit and use. The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund has authority to adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this act....
...The Trustees were also required to include in their notice of proposed rule "a reference to the section or subsection of the Florida Statutes or the Laws of Florida being implemented, interpreted, or made specific." § 120.54, (3)(a)1., Fla. Stat. (1999). The first sentence of 120.536(1) states that "[a] grant of rulemaking authority is necessary but not sufficient to allow an agency to adopt a rule; a specific law to be implemented is also required." This language is apparently intended to stress that under Florida's APA,...
...nterest. Almost all agencies have a general grant—usually found in the first part of their enabling statute—which basically states that the agency "may adopt rules necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter." *703 The first sentence [of section 120.536] emphasizes that such a general grant is sufficient to allow an agency to adopt a rule only when relied upon in conjunction with a specific provision of law to be implemented.......
...Trustees' specific regulatory power under section 253.03(7)(b). NOTES [1] This language appears not only in an unnumbered paragraph following subparagraph 120.52(8)(g), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), (known as the "flush left" paragraph), but also at section 120.536(1), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996)....
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Kennel Club v. Dept. of Bus., 719 So. 2d 1210 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998).

Cited 5 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 1998 WL 552426

...The Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering created a definition of poker and set it forth in the challenged rule, rule 61D-11.026. We agree with the Kennel Club's contention that the promulgation of this rule was an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority. In section 120.536, Florida Statutes (Supp....
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Whiley v. Scott, 79 So. 3d 702 (Fla. 2011).

Cited 4 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 36 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 451, 2011 Fla. LEXIS 1900, 2011 WL 3568804

there must be a specific law to be implemented. § 120.536(1), Fla. Stat. (2010). “Rulemaking authority”
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GRABBA-LEAF, LLC v. Dep't of Bus. & Prof'l etc., 257 So. 3d 1205 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2018).

Cited 3 times | Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida

and duties granted by the enabling statute.” § 120.536(1), Fla. Stat. (2018). No agency has “the authority
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Florida Carry, Inc. v. Univ. of North Florida, 133 So. 3d 966 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013).

Cited 3 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2013 WL 6480789, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 19600

as authorized by the Florida Legislature. See § 120.536, Fla. Stat. (2011). An agency has no legislative
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DEPT. OF Bus. v. Calder Race Course, 724 So. 2d 100 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998).

Cited 2 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1998 WL 422515

...The order held the proposed rules invalid exercises of delegated legislative authority. We affirm, *101 because the rule at issue in this appeal was not authorized by section 550.0251, Florida Statutes, under the 1996 amendments to sections 120.52(8) and 120.536(1), Florida Statutes....
...long as they were reasonably related to the purposes of the enabling legislation and were not arbitrary and capricious. The ALJ concluded, however, that this principle had been repealed by the 1996 amendments to section 120.52(8) and the creation of section 120.536(1), Florida Statutes....
...Moreover, the ALJ concluded that because there was no grant of specific legislative authority, the rule was an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority. Appellant first argues that the ALJ erred in her interpretation of sections 120.52(8) and 120.536(1), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), by requiring a specific grant of authority, as opposed to a specific law to be implemented....
...to Florida's Administrative Procedure Act. As we explained in St. Johns River Water Management District v. Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co., 717 So.2d 72 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), the 1996 legislature intended, through its enactment of sections 120.52(8) and 120.536(1), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), to overrule earlier Florida decisions to the extent that they had held a rule was a valid exercise of delegated legislative authority if it was reasonably related to the enabling statute and not arbitrary or capricious....
...Although the result we reach in the instant case—approval of the ALJ's order invalidating the rule—is not the same as that decided in St. Johns, we adopt the reasoning employed therein. We reiterate that the term "particular powers and duties granted by the enabling statute," as used in amended sections 120.52(8) and 120.536(1), [2] requires a determination of whether the rule "falls within the range of powers the Legislature has granted to the agency for the purpose of enforcing or implementing the statutes within its jurisdiction." Id....
...nt to section 120.52(8). A specific law to be implemented was also required, and nothing in this subsection identifies the power that the rule attempts to implement, i.e., to search. If the rule is to pass the test demanded by sections 120.52(8) and 120.536(1), it must do so through the powers delegated generally to the Division under section 550.0251....
...ded its grant of rulemaking authority," applies to the adequacy of the grant of rulemaking authority. St. Johns, No. 97-2996, 717 So.2d at 81. This provision should be read in pari materia with that in the closing paragraph of sections 120.52(8) and 120.536(1), empowering an agency to "adopt only rules that implement, interpret, or make specific the particular powers and duties granted by the enabling statute," and stating specifically that "[s]tatutory language ......
...legislative intent or policy. Statutory language granting rulemaking authority or generally describing the powers and functions of an agency shall be construed to extend no further than the particular powers and duties conferred by the same statute. Section 120.536(1) contains identical language....
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State v. Montello, 867 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 432748

...FDLE has no inherent rulemaking authority: "A grant of rulemaking authority is necessary but not sufficient to allow an agency to adopt a rule; a specific law to be implemented is also required. An agency may adopt only rules that implement or interpret the specific powers and *616 duties granted by the enabling statute." § 120.536(1), Fla....
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Robinson v. Stewart, 161 So. 3d 589 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 871, 2015 WL 292481

1996)). The identical language was included in section 120.536(1), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1996). See Ch.
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Subirats v. Fid. Nat'l Prop., 106 So. 3d 997 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2013 WL 616602, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 2620

when there is a specific law to be implemented. § 120.536(1), Fla. Stat. (2009) (“An agency may adopt only
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Florida Elections Comm'n v. Blair, 52 So. 3d 9 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 18651, 2010 WL 4967709

...Statutory language granting rulemaking authority or generally describing the powers and functions of an agency shall be construed to extend no further than implementing or interpreting the specific powers and duties conferred by the enabling statute. Accord § 120.536(1), Fla....
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Miccosukee Tribe v. Florida State Athletic Comm. (11th Cir. 2000).

Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

...In doing so, the state has carefully set forth the limits and extent of the Commission’s power. 7 The Florida Commission falls within the state’s definition of an agency, see Fla. Stat. § 120.51, and thus, its rule making authority is subject to Florida’s APA, see Fla. Stat. §§ 120.536 and 120.54. In addition, in 1999, the Florida legislature amended § 548.003(2) to state explicitly that “[t]he commission has authority to adopt rules pursuant to § 120.536(1) and 120.54 [of the Administrative Procedure Act] ....
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Miccosukee Tribe of Indians v. Florida State Athletic Comm'n, 226 F.3d 1226 (11th Cir. 2000).

Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2000 WL 1288675

...In doing so, the state has carefully set forth the limits and extent of the Commission's power. 7 The Florida Commission falls within the state's definition of an agency, see Fla. Stat. § 120.51, and thus, its rule making authority is subject to Florida's APA, see Fla. Stat. §§ 120.536 and 120.54. In addition, in 1999, the Florida legislature amended § 548.003(2) to state explicitly that "[t]he commission has authority to adopt rules pursuant to § 120.536(1) and 120.54 [of the Administrative Procedure Act]...." 8 Once appointed, the members of the Commission serve a term of four years....
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Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 219 F. Supp. 3d 1177 (N.D. Fla. 2016).

Published | District Court, N.D. Florida | 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155708, 2016 WL 6637706

narrowly than most jurisdictions. See Fla. Stat. § 120.536; see also Dep’t of Bus. & Prof'l Regulation v
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Diaz & Russell Corp. v. Dep't of Bus. & Prof'l Reg., 140 So. 3d 662 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014).

Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2014 WL 2199757, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 8113

Board may, consistent with the requirements of section 120.536, Florida Statutes (2013), promulgate admin*666istrative
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G. B., Z.L., through his guardian K.L. v. Agency For Persons With Disabilities, 143 So. 3d 454 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014).

Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal

...r contravenes the specific provisions of . . . the language of the enabling statute.” § 120.52(8)(c), (9), Fla. Stat. It is not enough that the Agency’s rule is “reasonably related” to the Legislature’s purpose or statutory provisions. § 120.536(1), Fla. Stat. The Agency’s rule and interpretation must comport with the specific authorizing statute. § 120.536(1), Fla....
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Christopher Pretzer v. Rick Swearingen, individually & in his Off. capacity, & Florida Dep't of Law Enf't (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2024).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida

very least, an enabling statute is required. See § 120.536(1), Fla. Stat. (“An agency may adopt only rules
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United Fac. of Florida v. Florida State Bd. of Educ., 157 So. 3d 514 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2015).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida

...of rulemaking authority.” A grant of rulemaking authority is the “statutory language that explicitly authorizes or requires an agency to adopt [a rule].” § 120.52(17), Fla. Stat. The scope of an agency’s rulemaking authority is constrained by section 120.536(1) and the so-called “flush-left paragraph” in section 120.52(8), which provide that an agency may only adopt rules to “implement or interpret the specific powers and duties granted by the [agency’s]...
...that “[s]tatutory language granting rulemaking authority or generally describing the powers and functions of an agency shall be construed to extend no further than implementing or interpreting the specific powers and duties conferred by the enabling statute.” Section 120.536(1) and the flush-left paragraph in section 120.52(8) require a close examination of the statutes cited by the agency as authority for the rule at issue to determine whether those statutes explicitly grant the agency authority to adopt the rule....
...to implement the provisions of law conferring duties upon it for the improvement of the state system of K-20 public education except for the State University System,” is a general grant of rulemaking authority that is insufficient by itself to provide the requisite authority for the challenged rule. See §§ 120.52(8), 120.536(1), Fla....
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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2010).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

to the manner in which it is punctuated.4 Section 120.536, Florida Statutes, requires that there be a
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ORLANDO HEALTH Cent., Inc. v. Agency For Health Care Admin., 252 So. 3d 849 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2018).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida

the term in section 120.536, when discussing rules of “uncertain enforceability.” § 120.536(2)(c), Fla

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