Broward County Charter

INTRODUCTION

On November 5, 1974, the voters of Broward County approved the Broward County Charter. Charter Government went into effect in Broward County on January 1, 1975.

The Charter brought home rule to Broward County, which had become a County by an act of the State Legislature in 1915. For the next 60 years, the County Commission had to look to the State Legislature for approval of local bills effecting change in County government.

On October 2, 1973, the County Commission voted unanimously to ask the Legislative Delegation to establish a Charter Commission, pursuant to Florida Statutes, to conduct a comprehensive study of County government. A 15-member Charter Commission worked for nine months, producing the Charter document which was approved by referendum on November 5, 1974 by a vote of 77,889 to 59,898.

In addition to bringing home rule to Broward County, the Charter expanded the County Commission from five to seven members, created a strong administrator form of County government, and established a Countywide land use planning agency.

This Charter contains all the changes which have been approved by the voters through October 1, 2001.

Broward County Charter in Portable Document Format -- (PDF) format

The Broward County Charter was also created in a Portable Document Format (PDF) to retain its original format. To obtain a free copy of Acrobat Reader, used for downloading, viewing, and printing the Broward County Charter, Click Here. This is a one time process, please follow the installation and browser configuration instructions provided by Adobe Acrobat.