Florida's Charter Counties

In 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.

 

	Year Charter Adopted	No. of Municipalities	2006 Population
Alachua	1987	9	240,764
Brevard	1994	15	531,970
Broward	1975	31	1, 740,987
Charlotte	1986	1	154,030
Clay	1991	4	169,623
Columbia	2002	2	61,466
Duval	1968	5	861,150
Hillsborough	1983	3	1,131,546
Lee	1996	5	549,442
Leon	2002	1	271,111
Miami-Dade	1957	34	2,422,075
Orange	1987	13	1,043,437
Osceola	1992	2	235,156
Palm Beach	1985	37	1,265,900
Pinellas	1980	24	947,744
Polk	1998	17	541,840
Sarasota	1971	4	367,867
Seminole	1989	7	411,744
Volusia	1971	16	494,649

 

See links below for more information on Charter Counties: