If you hold a covered public position in Florida, the state’s financial disclosure requirements make you file either Form 1 or Form 6 each year by July 1, reporting your income, assets, and debts for the previous calendar year. The rules sit in Chapter 112, Part III of the Florida Statutes and are administered by the Florida Commission on Ethics. Miss the deadline and a $25-per-day fine starts running automatically. Substantive violations can cost up to $20,000 or your job.
Form 1 or Form 6: Which One You File
Which form you file depends on how much authority your position carries, not on how senior it sounds.
Form 1, the Statement of Financial Interests, is the common form. You file Form 1 if you are a local officer elected in a county, municipality, school district, or special district; an appointed member of a local planning, zoning, code enforcement, or pension board; or someone holding operational authority such as a county or city manager, chief of police, fire chief, school superintendent, or purchasing agent spending above the statutory threshold.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.3145 – Disclosure of Financial Interests and Clients Represented Before Agencies Certain state-level staff also file Form 1, including assistant state attorneys, assistant public defenders, administrative law judges, and senior staff in the Governor’s office and state agencies.
Form 6, Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests, is reserved for higher offices covered by Article II, Section 8 of the Florida Constitution. That means the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Cabinet members, state legislators, state attorneys, public defenders, and members of statewide boards with real governing (not advisory) authority. As of January 1, 2024, mayors and elected members of municipal governing bodies file Form 6 rather than Form 1. Members of the Commission on Ethics itself are now Form 6 filers too.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.3144 – Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests
What You Have to Report
Form 1 is a focused snapshot. You list the name and address of every income source that paid you more than $2,500 during the year, plus secondary income from any business in which you hold more than a 5% interest and which paid you more than $5,000. You disclose Florida real property in which you hold more than a 5% interest, intangible personal property worth more than $10,000, and every creditor you owed more than $10,000. Interests in regulated businesses, such as banks or utilities, go on a separate line.3Florida Commission on Ethics. 2025 Form 1 Instructions
Form 6 is far more detailed. It asks for your full net worth as of a specific date, a description and value of every asset worth more than $1,000 (household goods can be combined), every liability over $1,000, and every income source that paid you more than $1,000. The lower thresholds pull in significantly more financial activity than Form 1 does.4Florida Commission on Ethics. 2025 Form 6 Instructions
Elected constitutional officers and elected municipal officers who file either form must also certify that they completed four hours of ethics training during the year.3Florida Commission on Ethics. 2025 Form 1 Instructions
Deadlines and How to File
The annual filing deadline is July 1, covering the previous calendar year.5Florida Commission on Ethics. Financial Disclosure Information Candidates for local office file at the time they submit qualifying papers. New officers and employees have 30 days from the start of their position to file their first disclosure.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.3145 – Disclosure of Financial Interests and Clients Represented Before Agencies
Since January 1, 2024, all disclosures must go through the Commission’s Electronic Financial Disclosure Management System (EFDMS). Paper is no longer accepted. You register on the EFDMS portal using the email your agency coordinator has on file, create a username and password, and complete the form online.6Florida Commission on Ethics. Forms – Financial Disclosure
What Happens If You File Late
If July 1 passes without your filing, the Commission sends a notice giving you until September 1 to file. If the form still is not filed or postmarked by September 1, an automatic fine of $25 per day begins to accrue.5Florida Commission on Ethics. Financial Disclosure Information The daily meter runs quietly. People often discover it only after the total has grown into real money.
Collection is not optional. If you are a current public officer or employee and owe an unpaid fine, the Commission can notify the Chief Financial Officer or your local governing body, which must then withhold up to 10 percent of each paycheck until the balance is paid. If you have already left public service, the Commission can seek wage garnishment through circuit court six months after the order becomes final, or refer the debt to a collection agency. The state has 20 years to collect.7The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 112.31455 – Collection Methods for Unpaid Automatic Fines
Penalties for Substantive Violations
Late fines are the small end. Substantive violations of the ethics code, which include filing a disclosure with false information, carry much heavier consequences under Section 112.317.
For public officers, the available penalties include removal or suspension from office, impeachment, public censure and reprimand, forfeiture of up to one-third of monthly salary for up to 12 months, a civil penalty up to $20,000, and restitution of any financial benefit gained through the violation.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.317 – Penalties
Public employees face a parallel menu: dismissal, suspension without pay for up to 90 days, demotion, salary reduction, and the same $20,000 civil penalty cap. Candidates can be disqualified from the ballot. Former officers and employees are not off the hook either; they remain subject to public censure, civil penalties, and restitution for violations committed while they held their position.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.317 – Penalties
The Commission on Ethics usually does not impose these penalties itself. It investigates, reaches findings, and recommends discipline to the official or body with the authority to act, typically the Governor.9Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.324 – Procedures on Complaints of Violations and Referrals
Final Disclosure When You Leave Office
Your filing obligation does not end on your last day. If you file Form 6, you must submit a final disclosure within 60 days of leaving, covering January 1 of that year through your last day in office. That final filing does not excuse the regular annual disclosure if you were still in position on December 31 of the previous year.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.3144 – Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests Form 1 filers face the same 60-day final filing deadline.3Florida Commission on Ethics. 2025 Form 1 Instructions This is where fines quietly pile up for people who assumed they were done with the system. When an elected municipal officer leaves before the end of a term, the person appointed to fill the vacancy inherits the Form 6 obligation for the rest of that term.
Who Does Not Have to File
The filing requirement targets people with meaningful authority over public money or policy, not everyone on a government payroll or roster. If your position does not appear on the statutory lists defining “local officer” and “state officer,” you do not file.
A specific carve-out matters at the state level: members of advisory bodies are excluded from the definition of “state officer.” If you sit on a statewide board that only makes recommendations and has no binding decision-making power, you have no filing obligation.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.3145 – Disclosure of Financial Interests and Clients Represented Before Agencies At the local level, the statute reaches governing bodies, zoning boards, code enforcement boards, pension boards, and similar entities with actual authority. A volunteer on a local committee with no regulatory or spending power generally falls outside the requirement.
If you are not sure whether your position is covered, you can submit the facts in writing to the Commission on Ethics and request an advisory opinion. The opinion is binding on you as long as the facts you described are accurate.10The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 112.322 – Duties and Powers of the Commission That is a cheaper answer than a year of $25 days.