City’s Ethics Code
As public representatives, we are responsible for applying common sense and sound judgment in all of our decisions and actions. To establish the highest level of public trust, we shall maintain exemplary standards for personal integrity, truthfulness, and fairness in carrying out our public duties. We should avoid any appearance of impropriety or conflict of interest in our roles as public servants and in our personal lives. We expect our representative agents, consultants, contractors, and vendors to be guided by these principles as well.

The Ethics, Anti-Corruption, and Campaign Financing policy within the code of ordinances can be found here.

On Dec. 4, 2019, the Tallahassee City Commission unanimously passed the most comprehensive ethics reform ordinance in City history, creating one of the strongest ethics packages for any municipality in Florida. The package aims to strengthen public trust in local government and enhance transparency. The new and strengthened provisions dictate the high ethical standards required of all City employees, from the highest level of the Commission to seasonal part-time work. The entire ethics package can be found here.

Required Training
The State of Florida requires that every elected official must take four hours of additional ethics training annually. Additionally, effective in 2018, all City employees are required to take an annual ethics training to receive their merit-based pay increase and all new employees, including full-time, part-time, rehires, OPS and temporary, complete a city-sponsored initial ethics awareness education within the first five (5) work days of employment. This is in addition to the requirement for all new employees to complete an online ethics training course within the first 90 days of hire.

Independent Ethics Board
The independent Ethics Board was created in accordance with voters' approval of a City Charter amendment during the November, 2014 general election. Approval of the referendum created a 7-member Board comprised of 5 seats designated for appointment by local entities including the City Commission, Chief Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit, State Attorney for the Second Judicial Circuit, President of Florida State University, and President of Florida A & M University. The referendum required these initial 5 Board members to select two additional members to bring the Board to a full complement of 7 members.

As specified in the Charter amendment, the Ethics Board has the following duties and responsibilities:

• (i) assist the City Commission in the development of the ethics code;
• (ii) adopt bylaws and due process procedures for the administration of the Ethics Board;
• (iii) manage a citywide ethics hotline for receipt of allegations of local corruption, fraud, waste, mismanagement, campaign finance and ethics violations;
• (iv) manage and coordinate the mandatory training of local officials, officers, employees, and board members in state and local ethics;
• (v) have the authority to refer ethics and corruption matters to appropriate enforcement agencies;
• (vi) recommend proposed ordinances, resolutions, or charter amendments to the City Commission in all areas of ethics and corruption, including but not limited to: conflicts of interests, financial disclosure, voting conflicts, hotline policies, ethics education, ethics in procurement, campaign ethics and financing, and lobbying; such legislative proposals shall be filed with and considered by the City Commission;
• (vii) have the authority to investigate complaints and to levy those civil penalties as may be authorized by the City Commission for violations of the City's ethics code; and
• (viii) employ staff serving in the ethics office. A structure shall be established for the Ethics Board that ensures independence and impartiality, and provides for the maximum practicable input from citizens and community organizations. The Ethics Board shall be funded by the City Commission within its discretionary budgetary authority at a level sufficient to discharge the Board's responsibilities.

View the Independent Ethics Office Webpage

Additional Generally Accepted Ethics Policies/Guidelines

• The International City and County Management Association   
• The Florida City and County Management Association
• Florida League of Cities University

Sunshine Law

Florida’s Government in the Sunshine Law, s. 286.011, F.S., commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law, provides a right of access to governmental proceedings of public boards or commissions at both the state and local levels. The law is equally applicable to elected and appointed boards, and applies to any gathering of two or more members of the same board to discuss some matter which will foreseeably come before that board for action. Members-elect to such boards or commissions are also subject to the Sunshine Law, even though they have not yet taken office. There are three basic requirements of s. 286.011, F.S.:

• (1) meetings of public boards or commissions must be open to the public;
• (2) reasonable notice of such meetings must be given; and
• (3) minutes of the meetings must be taken and promptly recorded.

View Florida Statutes, Chapter 286 for Public Business: Miscellaneous Provisions

View Government in the Sunshine Manual

Home Rule

In Florida, Home Rule language was proposed in the 1968 Constitutional revision, and was adopted by the people. After several legal challenges, the Legislature adopted the Home Rule Powers Act in 1973, which ended challenges related to city and county powers. The Florida Constitution states in Article VIII, Section 2(b) for municipalities:

“Municipalities shall have governmental, corporate and proprietary powers to enable them to conduct municipal government, perform municipal functions and render municipal services, and may exercise power for municipal purposes except as otherwise provided by law.”

These powers do not extend to fiscal Home Rule: the state reserves all taxing authority unto itself.

View Florida Statutes, Chapter 166 for State Law Governing Municipalities