Florida Statute 1001.71 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLVIII
EARLY LEARNING-20 EDUCATION CODE

Chapter 1001
EARLY LEARNING-20 GOVERNANCE

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1001.71 University boards of trustees; membership.—

(1) Pursuant to s. 7(c), Art. IX of the State Constitution, each local constituent university shall be administered by a university board of trustees comprised of 13 members as follows: 6 citizen members appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by the Senate; 5 citizen members appointed by the Board of Governors subject to confirmation by the Senate; the chair of the faculty senate or the equivalent; and the president of the student body of the university. The appointed members shall serve staggered 5-year terms. In order to achieve staggered terms, beginning July 1, 2003, of the initial appointments by the Governor, 2 members shall serve 2-year terms, 3 members shall serve 3-year terms, and 1 member shall serve a 5-year term and of the initial appointments by the Board of Governors, 2 members shall serve 2-year terms, 2 members shall serve 3-year terms, and 1 member shall serve a 5-year term. There shall be no state residency requirement for university board members, but the Governor and the Board of Governors shall consider diversity and regional representation. Beginning July 2, 2020, for purposes of this subsection, regional representation shall include the chair of a campus board established pursuant to s. 1004.341.

(2) Members of the boards of trustees shall receive no compensation but may be reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses as provided in s. 112.061. A member is subject to s. 112.313 with respect to business dealings with the university, including any entity under the control of or established for the benefit of the state university under his or her purview while he or she is a member of that state university’s board of trustees.

(3) University boards of trustees are a part of the executive branch of state government.

(4) Each university board of trustees shall select its chair and vice chair from the appointed members. Each chair shall serve for 2 years and may be reselected for one additional consecutive 2-year term, except that, for each additional consecutive term beyond two terms, by a two-thirds vote, the board of trustees may reselect the chair for additional consecutive 2-year terms. The chair shall preside at all meetings of the board of trustees and may call special meetings of the board. The chair shall also attest to actions of the board of trustees. The chair shall notify the Governor or the Board of Governors, as applicable, in writing whenever a board member has three consecutive unexcused absences from regular board meetings in any fiscal year, which may be grounds for removal by the Governor or the Board of Governors, as applicable.

(5) Each university board of trustees shall keep and, within 2 weeks after a board meeting, post prominently on the university’s website detailed meeting minutes for all meetings, including the vote history and attendance of each trustee. The Board of Governors shall adopt regulations to implement this subsection.

History.—s. 1, ch. 2002-188; s. 83, ch. 2002-387; s. 2, ch. 2003-392; s. 77, ch. 2007-217; s. 11, ch. 2016-237; s. 4, ch. 2018-4; s. 7, ch. 2024-101.

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Amendments to 1001.71

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 1001.71

Total Results: 4 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Florida Pub. Employees Council 79 v. Pub. Emp. Relations Comm'n, 871 So. 2d 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004).

Cited 3 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 546854

...See § 229.003(5)(b), Fla. Stat. (2002) (providing that all the powers, duties, and functions of the Board of Regents were transferred to the Florida Board of Education). [3] This section was not amended during the 2003 legislative session. [4] Pursuant to sections 1001.71(1) and (4), Florida Statutes (2002), the Boards of Trustees were to be comprised of twelve members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the state senate with the members to serve staggered four-year terms. The student body president of each university was to serve ex officio as a voting member of his or her university's board. § 1001.71(1), Fla. Stat. (2002). Members could be removed by the Governor upon a recommendation of the State Board of Education. § 1001.71(3), Fla. Stat. (2002). Notably, in 2003, the Legislature amended section 1001.71(1) to correspond with article IX, section 7 with respect to the composition of the Boards of Trustees....

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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

...See § 1001.705(l)(d), Fla. Stat. (2011) (defining a state university as an agency of the state that belongs to and is a part of the executive branch of state government). University boards of trustees are also part of the executive branch of state government. See § 1001.71(3), Fla....

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Univ. of South Florida Bd. of Trs. v. Comentis, Inc., 861 F.3d 1234 (11th Cir. 2017).

Cited 2 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2017 WL 2821537, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11734, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 1663

...Florida declares that the “boards of trustees [of state universities] are a part of the 3 Case: 16-11341 Date Filed: 06/30/2017 Page: 4 of 11 executive branch of state government.” Id. § 1001.71(3)....

...§ 1004.65– 726 (community colleges), and while we indicated in Williams that a Florida community college is not an agent of the state’s executive branch, Florida explicitly defines the board of trustees of a state university to be a part of the state government’s executive branch. Id. § 1001.71(3). Second, the State of Florida exercises great control over the USF Board by defining the USF Board’s powers and by appointing its members....

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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2003).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

...as deemed necessary." 12 Sincerely, Charlie Crist Attorney General CC/tgh 1 Section 339.175 , Fla. Stat. 2 Section 339.175 , Fla. Stat. 3 Section 339.175 (4), Fla. Stat. 4 Section 339.175 (5), Fla. Stat. 5 Section 339.175 (2)(a), Fla. Stat. 6 Ibid. 7 Section 1001.71 (1), Fla....

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