HB 973 Florida House · 2025 Regular Session

Special Districts

Summary

Special Districts; Abolishes certain soil & water conservation districts; transfers assets & liabilities of such districts to DACS; provides that independent special district that grants public access to district lands or water areas for outdoor recreational purposes owes no duty of care to perform specified actions; provides that independent special district is not responsible for injury to persons or property caused by act or omission of such person upon such lands or water areas; provides certain protection to owner of private land if independent special district secures easement or other access right through such private land to district lands or water areas that independent special district makes available to public for outdoor recreational purposes; provides that special district may purchase commodities & contractual services from purchasing agreements of this state; provides that independent special district may require, by resolution, criminal history screening for certain persons; revises qualifications of supervisor of soil & water conservation district; requires DACS to monitor specified soil & water conservation districts & ensure that each district is winding up administrative & fiscal matters in timely manner & using certain practices.

Issues: ✗ Environment

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 24, 2025 Last action Jun 16, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

H 973 Filed → H 973 c1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly shortened from 56 pages to 21 pages, with major substantive changes including the removal of requirements for special districts to publish advertisements on county websites, deletion of provisions requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to conduct performance reviews of fire control districts, and addition of new liability protections for independent special districts allowing public access to their lands. The bill also adds requirements for the Commission on Ethics to investigate supervisor eligibility and modifies purchasing agreements to apply to state purchasing agreements rather than other entities.

Scope change

The bill's scope was reduced by removing provisions about special district website publication requirements and fire control district performance reviews, while adding new liability protections and ethics investigation requirements for special district supervisors.

REQUIREMENT

Deleted requirements for special districts to publish advertisements and public notices on county websites

Removed provisions requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to conduct performance reviews of independent fire control districts

Changed purchasing agreements provision to allow special districts to purchase from state purchasing agreements rather than other specified entities

Modified provisions requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to conduct performance reviews of certain independent special districts by a specified date

ENFORCEMENT

Added requirements for the Commission on Ethics to investigate whether special district supervisors meet eligibility criteria

DEFINITION

Added liability protections for independent special districts that grant public access to district lands or water areas for outdoor recreational purposes

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in State Affairs Committee

lower

Apr 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee

lower

Apr 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable by Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee

lower

Apr 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Added to Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee agenda

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Committee

Referred to State Affairs Committee

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Committee

Referred to Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable with CS by Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Added to Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee agenda

lower

Mar 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee

lower

Mar 2, 2025

Committee

Referred to State Affairs Committee

lower

Mar 2, 2025

Committee

Referred to Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee

lower

Mar 2, 2025

Committee

Referred to Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors