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FLORIDA STATUTES

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1951 Prepared by

Statutory Revision Department

RICHARD W. ERVIN

Attorney General

CHARLES TOM HENDERSON

Assistant Attorney General, Director

Published by the

STATE OF FLORIDA

Cop1Jright 1951, by the State of Florida

ROSE PRINTING COMPANY Tallahassee, Florida

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', TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME I

SECTION CHANGES MADE BY THE 1951 LEGISLATURE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

THE OFFICIAL FLORIDA STATUTES OF 1951

ALPHABETICAL CHAPTER INDEX

NUMERICAL TITLE AND CHAPTER INDEX

CONSTITUTION OF FLORIDA

INDEX TO CONSTITUTION

STATUTES, CHAPTER 1-499

SUPREME COURT RULES

COMMON LAW RULES

EQUITY RULES

VOLUME 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ALPHABETICAL CHAPTER INDEX

STATUTES, CliAPTER 500-959

TRACING TABLES (SESSION LAWS TO STATUTES) ' MORTALITY TABLE

GENERAL INDEX -

CENSUS OF 1950

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PREFACE The members of the Florida Bar have, during the past two years, expressed

approval of the continuous revision system for keeping Florida Statutes up to date.

The legislature also approved the system in 1949, and again in 1951 by adopting as the official statutes all statutory law included in the 1949 stat­utes. The 1949 edition was a consolidation of the 1941 revision and supple­ments. The 1951 edition of the statutes is a revision complete within itself. A citation from the Florida Statutes of 1951 becomes the official and last expression of the legislature on .all statutory law, except the acts of the legislature of 1951 also included in statutory form, which are prima facie until adopted in 1953.

We have made a number of improvements in this edition that will help in finding the law.

A new tabulation of every section change made by the 1951 legislature of amended, repealed, new or transferred sections or chapters will prove convenient for ready reference.

A new alphabetical chapter index which leads . directly and quickly to the chapter number will also be most useful.

The Supreme Court, Common Law and Equity Rules have been · placed in volume 1 in this edition instead of volume 2, so that the lawyer may have the statutory actions and procedure and court rules in the same volume for more convenient use.

Much effort has been made in this edition to reduce obsolete sections, improve the index and create ways and means of making the finding of present law easier.

The Continuous Revision System is now well established. We acknowl­edge the many letters received from attorneys over the state who made constructive suggestions of needed changes in the arrangement of the mate­rials and indexes included in this edition.

Our Revision Department has long range plans to further improve many sections of the law. The election code, for example, which was adopted in 1951, upon which they worked for over fourteen months, reduced the original statutory material by more than 20 % by reorganizing and restating the law. Other similar projects are now in progress. Bar and layman committees are cooperating.

The legislature of 1951 made many changes in the previous statutes and added a number of new laws. In this edition 411 · sections have been amended, 840 sections repealed, 757 new sections added and 609 sections transferred by revision. A total of 2615 section changes are reflected over the 1949 com­pilation, with 26 new chapters added and 10 chapters repealed. Although more statutory law was enacted in 1951 than in 1949 the volumes are no larger because of repealing obsolete laws, consolidating sections, and revision work done.

We are constantly striving. to publish the statutes quicker, bring them more up to date and to include such supplementary data as approved by the Florida Bar.

Experience is giving us knowledge of many quicker methods of printing, editing and distributing the laws .

• We welcome criticisms and suggestions of ways and means to improve the contents, eliminate errors and obsolete laws.

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I want to thank the members of the Florida bar who have in the past and are now cooperating by keeping us abreast of the needs of the profession. This publication must always be a product to fill a need, requested by and guided by attorneys of the Florida bar for practicing members of the bar.

I want to express appreciation to the Statutory Revis-ion staff for the method and manner in which they have carried out all constructive sugges­tions and for their loyal cooperation in publishing and distributing this 1951 edition in record time.

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RICHARD W. ERVIN Attorney General

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THE OFFICIAL FLORIDA STATUTES 1951

' AN EXPLANATION OF THE SUBJECT MATTER, PURPOSE, PLAN, AND ORGANIZATION.

A copy of the official Statutes should be on the desk of every lawyer in Florida. .

. The Statutes of 1951 contain all the active Florida statutory law enacted · smce 1885 and completely up to date through the regular session of 1951. It is the only official edition of the Florida Statutes. (See Section 16.24, F.S.)

All amendments of the Florida Statutes together with the new legislation of the 1951 legislature have been compiled in their proper places and sections repealed or expired have been deleted. (See Section 16.28, F.S.) The notes following each section in the statutes give a complete history of its enact­ment, including the section and the chapter of the law as passed by the legislature.

ADOPTION OF THE STATUTES AND GENERAL LAWS All statutes in this volume passed prior to 1951 have been officially

adopted as statutory law in their present form. (Ch. 26484, 1951) The effect of an adoption is to cure any technical defect with reference to title, form, etc. See: McConville v. Ft. Pierce Bank and Trust Co., 101 Fla. 727, 135 So. 392; Christopher v. Mugen, 61 Fla. 513, 55 So. 273, also 63 Fla. 1, 58 So. 486, 89 Fla. 119, 103 So. 414, error dismissed 46 S. Ct. 23, 269, U.S. 594, 70 L. Ed. 430.

The legislature also authorized the inclusion of the 1951 General Session Laws in this volume. (See Sections 19.28, 19.29, F.S.) The 1951 session laws included herein in statutory form have been edited but not changed. They read verbatim as enacted by the legislature and recorded in the general session laws of 1951, whether as amendments to existing sections or new sections. We only assign a statutory decimal section number when we convert the law into statutory form in place of the original section number as des­ignated in the general session law. If the law of 1951 amended a section of the statutes, the history note reads "Am. §1, ch. 26852, 1951" giving the amending section and number of the session law. If a new section has been added, the history note will read "Comp. §1, ch. 25016, 1951," showing the compiling section and the number of the 1951 law.

·The general session laws of 1951, until 1953, are the official laws. The legislature at each session adopts the statutory form of the previous session laws. The 1951 laws will be officially adopted in 1953. Reference to the history notes will constantly keep the attorney informed on the status of each section with reference to, source, amendment, repeal, or any new sections added in 1951.

LOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF TITLES . AND CHAPTERS

The object of any arrangement of statutes is to facilitate the finding of the law. Two methods of arrangement are in general use in the United States namely: The "logical," grouping of related subjects together as found in most digests, and the "alphabetical," as used in Corpus Juris and American Jurisprudence. A few states use a combination of both methods, however, a majority use the "logical" arrangement which we have adopted and use in the Florida Statutes.

(NEW) TABLE OF STATUTORY CHANGES MADE BY THE 1951 LEGISLATURE

A table of all statutory section changes made by the 1951 legislature will be found on the inside fly leaf of Volume one. This table will give (1) the number of the section when any change has been made in a section or subsection (2) the type of change made whether amended, repealed, new, or transfe:red, and (3) the number of the session law authorizing the change.

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This table should prove informative and a convenient method of quickly finding out whether the law has been changed in any section.

If the section is not listed in this table the law has not been changed in 1951.

(NEW) ALPHABETICAL CHAPTER INDEX

A new alphabetical chapter index will be found immediately following the Florida Constitution. This index has been inserted upon the suggestion of numerous attorneys in order to give direct access to all active chapters. All chapters are alphabetically listed together with the chapter number . . The attorney should find this new index very helpful and time saving. The index to sections at the beginning of each chapter has been retained cover­ing the subject matter in each section of the chapter.

INDEX TO TITLES AND CHAPTERS

The "Analysis of Florida Statutes by titles and chapters" printed in volume one will afford the attorney a quick reference to the chapters grouped under the logical title system. Familiarity with this index will save the lawyer much time.

It lists groups of related subjects in a general subject f~eld, and lists in numerical order all chapters assigned. Should a chapter be repealed, transferred, or expired by law, the number is followed by the word (re­pealed), (transferred) or (expired). When vacancies occur in the numerical order the unused numbers have been reserved for future use. A reference to this index will quickly inform one whether a chapter is active or has been repealed or has expired. The history notes will give further detailed information.

GENERAL INDEX

The general index has been carefully reworded and improved. An index has never been prepared which has been entirely satisfactory

to all members of the bench and bar. It is doubtful whether that Utopia will ever be reached.

No index can contain every possible entry. An index of such size would be incapable of practical use. On the other hand, to index the law only in those places where the user of statutes should logically look would not be sufficient because many persons are not logical in searching an index. We have attempted to reach a happy medium between the logical and the prac­tical approach by selecting catch-words and titles that are commonly used. Cross references in blank have been reduced to a minimum and a direct reference given to the chapter or section whenever possible in every cross reference.

We have revised the index so that it will be workable for the ·greatest number of persons. The checking plan which we followed insures that no section has been omitted • and that every section has been properly indexed under several heads.

We have attempted to use a noun as a catch-word wherever possible instead of an adjective, preposition, a conjunction or an adverb.

The subject matter with which one is concerned will generally give a key to the spot in the index from which to begin the search.

The index is based on a logical arrangement of the statutes. The user will meet with greater success by looking in a place where it should logically be rather than relying upon alphabetical uncertainties of the index.

All indexes at best are inconvenient and time consuming. Continued improvement can and will be made through cooperation of the bench and bar with your Statutory Revision Department. Many suggestions from attor­neys are included in the reworking of the index in this '51 edition .

. NUMBERING SYSTEM

The decimal system of numbering sections, adopted in 1941, has been retained. The same decimal system used in our official Florida Statutes is also used in the Florida Statutes Annotated, published by West Publishing Company. Through mutual agreement publishing companies serving the Florida lawyers are kept informed of all statutory changes in the law.

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CHAPTER AND SECTION NUMBERS

Each subject is logically grouped and given a chapter number. Each section added to the chapter is assigned a decimal number. In chapter 16 the first section would be 16.01, the fifteenth section would be 16.15.

The original decimal system of numbering sections is generally followed. However, where a new section is inserted · between two already existing sections an additional number is added to identify the inserted section. For example in Chapter 25 between already existing sections 25.12 and 25.13 there were added six new sections. These sections now are numbered 25.121, 25.122, 25.123, 25.124, 25.125, 25.126. Since all sections herein are active and up to date and adopted by the 1951 legislature, it will not be necessary to refer to any of the previous statutes except to compare a · former section with an amended section or to refer to a repealed s·ection for information.

CHAPTERS

Chapters have retained their original numbers except where transferred or revised. The following chapters have been added in this edition, chapters 39, 42, 183, 184, 252, 366, 486, 553, 554, 575, 650, 673, 737, and 801 are new; and chapters 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 409, and 509 have been revised.

INDEX TO SECTION SUBJECTS AT BEGINNING OF EACH CHAPTER

At the top of each chapter you will find a numerical index to section subjects within the chapter. Should skips appear in section numbers, the section has been repealed or deleted by law.

When sections have expired or have been repealed or transferred in a . revision, the section number is still carried numerically in the body of the chapter together with history notes giving the chapter number of the general session law authorizing the deletion or transfer. If a section number does not appear in the chapter it has not been assigned. With few exceptions our policy is to assign new section numbers to new matter rather than reassign used section numbers. History notes will give full information on any deviation from this policy.

HISTORY NOTES

History Notes have been carefully compiled, checked for accuracy with original session laws, and brought completely up to date. The lawyer will find them dependable and convenient in the practice of law. Read the history notes for reference to section and chapter authorizing new, amended, re­pealed, revised or transferred sections of the statutes.

INDEX TO CONSTITUTION OF FLORIDA

The Constitution of Florida has been brought up to date through 1950. The index to the Constitution of Florida is carried immediately pre­

ceding the constitution itself in the beginning of volume one. The same index has been meshed in with the general index in order that a person searching for a subject may have references to both the con11titution and the statutes in one inde~. This combined general index has- proven to be time saving and a convenient reference to statutory and constitutional pro­visions relating to the same general subject matter.

TABLES

A table tracing all existing general acts of the legislature from 1919 through 1951 into the Florida Statutes will be found following the statutes in volume two. This table indicates where a particular section of a law has been assigned in the statutes. The word "omitted" shown in place of a statute section number, indicates that the act is a local or special act or a general act of local application and is not in the statutes.

At the beginning of this table .there appears an explanation, which, if read; will expedite and facilitate its use.

The most recent mortality tables will be found in back of volume two.

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COMMON LAW, EQUI'I;Y AND SUPREME COURT RULES

The Common Law and Equity Rules adopted by our supreme court will be found at the back of volume one. These have been inserted in volume 1 instead of volume 2 by request of and for the convenience of members of the bar in order to have the rules and statutory actions in the same volume,

SUPREME COURT rules precede the Common Law and Equity Rules in volume one.

PAGE ARRANGEMENT

The section number, at the top of the left-hand page, designates the first section on the page. The section number, at the top of the right-hand page, refers to the last section on the page.

Chapter headings are carried at the top of each page close to the section number for convenient reading.

Page numbers throughout appear at the top of the . inside of each page.

FORMER REVISIONS AND COMPILATION

The laws of general application of the territory of Florida and of the State of Florida have either been compiled unofficially or revised under authority of law and adopted as official statutes, in the following publica- · tions to wit: Duval's Compilation of Territorial Laws, 1840 (compilation) ; Thompson's Digest, 1847 (compilation); Bush's Digest, 1872 (compilation); McClellan's Digest, 1881 (compilation) ; Revised Statutes (R.S.) 1892, (re­vision enacted as ~ law) ; General Statutes, (G.S.) 1906, (revision -enacted as a law); Compiled General Laws, (C.G.L.) 1927, (compilation unofficial); Official Revised Florida Statutes (F.S.) 1941, (revision-enacted as a law) ; and the Florida Statutes of 1949, (F.S. '49), (consolidation of '41 statutes and supplements) ; Florida Statutes of 1951 (Revision-adoption enacted as a law).

Each two years hereafter a complete new revision will be adopted to keep the law up to date.

BIENNIAL PUBLICATION

Florida Statutes hereafter will be printed every two years and a biennial publication should meet with ever increasing favor (See Section 16.44, F.S. '49). It is economical and valuable to the attorney who must purchase and consult the statutes often. No Florida lawyer who wishes to keep up to date with the changing statutory law should be without this latest edition.

The biennial plan of printing statutes is a plan which has been in successful use in other states for over fifty years. It is a preventive and a cure for the overgrowth of statutes. Since many of our statutes are short lived, the dead is removed and buried each two years. This operation makes room for new statutes. The amendments and new laws of each succeeding ·legislature are meshed in with the standing statutes. Subject matter is gradually consolidated and often revised into single chapters.

A biennial edition of the statutes also affords members of the legisla­ture a convenient opportunity to amend and revise existing law which is available in a form convenient for study and improvement. Legislators can know what the bills contain and can intelligently amend or reject them with understanding. When a section or chapter method of revision is used, it is met with intelligent legislatipe judgment which results in a gradual improvement of existing law.

STATUTORY REVISION

Statutory Revision technique works primarily with form rather than substance (See Section 16.43, F.S. '49). The Revision Department of the Attorney General's office often suggests a revision of chapters where im­provements can be made, however, no change in an existing statute is ever made without legislative approval. The initiation of actual revision of sub­stantive law should be sponsored by attorneys, judges, legislators, or ad­ministrators through specialized committees whose members are in close touch with the practice or enforcement of law. The revisors will always assist when called upon, and are interested in all projects and suggestions for eliminating unnecessary statutes, repetition of words and technical defects in the statutes.

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Revision work also has to do with conflicts, duplications, redundancy, verbosity, circumlocution, with obsolete provisions, ambiguities, obscurities, omissions, incompleteness and other tech'nical faults found in all session laws. Revision includes constant and continuous work toward the .reclassi­fication and consolidation of subject matter. It aims toward changing the wording of a law so that essential clearness and harmony will exist in order that logical arrangement and compactness of the statutes may be obtained. Revision aims toward simplicity in statement and understanding of meaning by the use of, and arrangement of, words and phrases. It helps avoid rhetorical flourishes and ornamentations as existed under the common law, and aims toward setting forth in clear cut and understandable language the present up to date law.

The revisor's office is a clearing house where lawyers, judges, legisla­tors, and administrators may help make better statutory law. By calling attention to errors, omissions, conflicts and other defects found in the statutes, all lawyers can materially help this department to improve our Florida Statutes. Many suggestions for improvement of this nature are included in this edition.

The attorney can save much time in required research in using the Official Florida Statutes as the original source for examining the latest up to date law. No supplements to consider, no additional reading required. All the statutory law of Florida is compiled in this one edition of the 1951 statutes. A quick reading of the statute, and an examination of tpe history . notes included therein, a copy of the latest general session laws, and a good annotation or digest for court decisions are among the essential tools needed to materially assist the lawyer in making a speedy, thorough, and complete search into existing statutory law in Flprida.

CHARLES TOM HENDERSON Assistant Attorney General Director of Statutory Revision

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