South Florida Region County Government Structures

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County	Population (April 2006 Estimates) 1	Charter/ Non-Charter 2	Charter Review Commission	% of Population Unincorporated 3	No. of Cities 4	Districting Scheme	Strong/Weak Mayor	Administrative Structure	Countywide Powers
Monroe	83,219	Non-Charter		45%	5	5 at large	Mayor is a County Commissioner, elected by the Board of County Commissioners	County Administrator appointed by Board of County Commissioners 5	No
Miami-Dade	2,462,104	Charter Adopted 1957	Every 5 years	45%	34	13 single	Mayor elected by countywide vote	County Manager appointed by Mayor 6	Yes 7
Broward	1,765,829	Charter Adopted 1975	Every 6 years	2%	31	9 single	Mayor is a County Commissioner, elected by the Board of County Commissioners	County Administrator appointed by Board of County Commissioners 8	Yes 9
Palm Beach	1,292,742	Charter Adopted 1985	None specified	44%	38	7 single	Chairman is a County Commissioners, elected by the Board of County Commissioners	County Administrator appointed by Board of County Commissioners 10	Yes 11
Martin	144,339	Non-Charter		86%	4	5 at large	Chairman is a County Commissioner, elected by the Board of County Commissioners	County Administrator appointed by Board of County Commissioners12	No
St. Lucie	251,301	Non-Charter		28%	3	5 at large	Chairman is a County Commissioner, elected by the Board of County Commissioners	County Administrator appointed by Board of County Commissioners	No
Indian River	133,364	Non-Charter		64%	5	5 at large	Chairman is a County Commissioner, elected by the Board of County Commissioners	County Administrator appointed by Board of County Commissioners	No

Prepared by CUES 2-13-2007

¹ The Office of Economic and Demographic Research, Florida Legislature, http://edr.state.fl.us/population.htm

²In 1968, the electors of Florida granted local voters the power to adopt charters to govern their counties. Charters are formal written documents that confer powers, duties, or privileges on the county. They resemble state or federal constitutions and they must be approved, along with any amendments, by the voters of a county. According to several Florida constitutional scholars, the establishment of charter government was designed to remove the resolution of local problems from the state legislature's busy agenda and to grant the county electorate greater control over their regional affairs. To date, there are 19 charter counties in Florida. Collectively these counties are home to more than 75 percent of Florida's residents. Source: Florida Association of Counties.

³The Office of Economic and Demographic Research, Florida Legislature, http://edr.state.fl.us/population.htm

⁴Florida Department of Community Affairs

⁵Division and department heads are appointed by the County Administrator and confirmed by the Board of County Commissioners. The Board appoints special boards and committees.

⁶Mayor also appoints all department heads.

⁷This Charter and the ordinances adopted hereunder shall in cases of conflict supersede all municipal charters and ordinances, except as herein provided, and where authorized by the Constitution, shall in cases of conflict supersede all special and general laws of the state.

⁸ Division and department heads are appointed by the county administrator and confirmed by the Board of County Commissioners. The Board appoints the county attorney and county auditor as well as special boards and committees.

⁹ Municipal ordinances prevail to the extent of conflict except when the county ordinance relates to (1) setting minimum standards protecting the environment through the prohibition or regulation of air/water pollution, or the destruction of resources in the county belonging to the general public; or (2) land use planning.

¹⁰Division and department heads are appointed by the county administrator and confirmed by the Board of County Commissioners. The Board appoints the county attorney and county auditor as well as special boards and committees.

¹¹Municipal ordinances prevail to extent of conflict, except that county ordinances shall prevail over (1) matters relating to protection of wells and well fields ; (2) matters relating to schools, county-owned beaches, district parks and regional parks, solid waste disposal, county law enforcement, and impact fees for county roads and public buildings ; in matters related to county fire-rescue impact fees and county library impact fees in those municipalities whose properties are taxed by the county for library and/or fire-rescue services, respectively; (3) for adoption and amendment of countywide land use element ; and (4) matters related to establishment of levels of service for collector and arterial roads which are not the responsibility of any municipality, the restriction of the issuance of development orders which would add traffic to such roads which have traffic exceeding the adopted level of service, provided that such ordinance is adopted and amended by a majority of the county commission.

¹²In Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, department heads are appointed by the county administrator.

Prepared by CUES 2-13-2007