The Florida Commission on Ethics is trying to build support for legislative changes that include better enforcement of fines and allowing other agencies to refer ethics-related cases to the panel. Commissioner Matt Carlucci, a former Jacksonville City Council president, has written a letter to newspapers that spells out legislative priorities. They include using property liens to help enforce fines that are levied against officials for not filing financial-disclosure information. Currently, some officials take advantage of a four-year statute of limitations to avoid paying the fines. Also, the letter proposes allowing the governor’s office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, state attorney’s offices and the state chief financial officer to refer cases to the commission. Carlucci’s letter said those agencies sometimes handle cases that fall short of criminal conduct but could merit review
by the commission. Another
proposal would change a standard that allows officials who
win ethics cases to recover their legal costs from people who file complaints. The letter said officials should be required to show “actual malice” to recover such costs.