§ 2-169. Special magistrate; establishment; qualifications.

(a)

There is hereby established a code enforcement special magistrate of the county, appointed pursuant to F.S. Ch. 162, who shall be designated by the board of county commissioners as its hearing officer for code enforcement matters.

(b)

To be eligible for service as a special magistrate, a person must:

(1)

Be a member in good standing with the Florida Bar for a minimum of five years.

(2)

Engaged in the practice of law in the county.

(c)

Eligible candidates for special magistrate shall be reviewed by a selection committee appointed by the county manager. The selection committee shall make recommendations to the board of county commissioners for the appointment of special magistrates.

(d)

Special magistrates shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners. The board of county commissioners may appoint up to two alternate special magistrates to serve due to legal conflict of interests or in the absence of the special magistrate.

(e)

The special magistrate shall serve at the pleasure of the board of county commissioners and may be removed from service at any time, with or without cause, by a majority of the board of county commissioners.

(f)

The special magistrate shall be compensated at a rate to be determined by the board of county commissioners.

(g)

In the event that a legal conflict of interests prevents the special magistrate and any alternate special magistrate from hearing a case, the county manager may contract with any current special magistrate of another jurisdiction to hear the case.

(Ord. No. 2004-28, § 1, 7-27-04)