How to File Florida Ethics Form 1: EFDMS, Deadlines, Corrections

To file Florida Ethics Form 1, submit the Statement of Financial Interests electronically through the Electronic Financial Disclosure Management System (EFDMS) at disclosure.floridaethics.gov by July 1 each year. The form covers the previous calendar year’s income, assets, liabilities, and business interests, and registration runs through the email address your agency’s financial disclosure coordinator has on file for you. Paper forms are no longer accepted.¹

Confirm Form 1 Is the Right Form for You

Form 1 applies to local officers, state officers, and specified state employees. Local officers include people elected to office in a county, school district, or special district, along with appointed members of local boards, councils, commissions, and authorities such as planning and zoning boards. State officers include elected officials not already subject to Form 6, appointed members of statewide boards and commissions, and members of the Board of Governors of the State University System. Specified state employees include assistant state attorneys, assistant public defenders, administrative law judges, exempt employees in the Governor’s or Cabinet members’ offices, and department-level leadership such as appointed secretaries and executive directors.²

One important boundary. As of January 1, 2024, mayors and elected members of a municipality’s governing body no longer file Form 1. They file the more detailed Form 6 under Section 112.3144 instead.³ If you hold one of those seats or are running for one, stop here and check the Form 6 instructions.

Candidates for offices that carry a Form 1 requirement complete the disclosure during their qualifying period. If you already have a filing obligation, you use EFDMS to print your disclosure or a verification of filing and hand it to your Qualifying Officer. If you don’t yet hold a position that requires disclosure, you request an invitation to register in EFDMS, complete the form there, print it, and submit it to your Qualifying Officer.⁴

Register and Submit Through EFDMS

Filing happens in one place: disclosure.floridaethics.gov. If you’ve filed through EFDMS in a previous year, log in with your existing credentials rather than creating a new account.

Go to disclosure.floridaethics.gov and click “I am a Filer.”
Click “Request Registration Email” and enter the email address your agency’s financial disclosure coordinator has on file for you.
Watch for a registration link from mail.disclosure.floridaethics.gov. Add that address to your safelist so it isn’t caught by spam filters.⁵
Create a username and password, log in, complete the form, and submit.

When you finalize the submission, the system generates a receipt with a digital timestamp. That receipt is your proof of compliance and stays in the Commission’s database. If a category doesn’t apply to you, mark that section “not applicable” — you still must file the form even when nothing is reportable in any category.⁶

What to Gather Before You Log In

Form 1 asks for six categories of financial information from the previous calendar year. Having the records at hand makes the online session much faster.

Sources of Income

Every source of gross income over $2,500 that you received in your own name or that someone else received for your benefit. Public salary is excluded. List sources in descending order, largest first.⁶

Secondary Sources of Income

This section applies only if you owned more than 5% of a business entity doing business in Florida and personally received more than $5,000 in gross income from it during the year. If both conditions are met, identify every source of income to the business that exceeded 10% of the business’s gross income, with the source’s address and principal business activity.⁷

Real Property in Florida

The location or description of any Florida real property in which you owned, directly or indirectly, more than 5% of the property’s value at any point during the year. Your primary residence is exempt. Vacation homes are exempt unless you derive income from them. A street address is enough when one exists.⁷

Intangible Personal Property

A general description of stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, and similar holdings worth more than $10,000.⁶

Liabilities

Every liability that exceeded $10,000 at any point during the reporting year.⁶

Interests in Specified Businesses

Ownership interests in certain regulated business types must be identified. The list covers state and federally chartered banks, savings and loan associations, cemetery companies, insurance companies, mortgage companies, credit unions, small loan companies, alcoholic beverage licensees, pari-mutuel wagering companies, utility companies, entities regulated by the Public Service Commission, and entities that hold a franchise granted by a city or county government.⁷

Deadlines

The annual deadline is July 1, and it applies to everyone who held a covered position at any point during the previous year.² Newly appointed officers and employees have a shorter clock: the first Form 1 is due within 30 days of appointment or employment, and then annually every July 1 after that.⁴

If July 1 passes, you are not immediately penalized. The Commission sends delinquency notices by email in August, and a grace period runs through September 1. A form filed by September 1 carries no fine or disciplinary action.²

Correcting a Filed Form

If you find an error or omission after submitting, file a Form 1X through EFDMS. The amendment form asks for the corrected information and an explanation of what changed, and you can attach supporting documentation.⁸ There is no penalty for filing an amendment.

Filing When You Leave Office

Leaving a position that required Form 1 triggers a final disclosure, Form 1F, due within 60 days of your departure. The exception: if you immediately move into another position that requires Form 1 or Form 6, the final filing isn’t required. Form 1F is filed through EFDMS.⁴

What Happens If You File Late

Missing the September 1 grace period triggers an automatic $25-per-day fine that accrues until you file or until the total hits $1,500.⁹ If a late-filing fine is imposed and you believe the delay was caused by circumstances beyond your control, you can appeal. The Commission may waive fines when the filer demonstrates “unusual circumstances” — meaning uncommon, rare, or sudden events that directly caused the missed deadline.¹⁰ A willful failure to file, once the maximum fine has accrued and notice has gone unanswered, can lead the Commission to recommend removal from office or employment.⁶

1
Florida Commission on Ethics. Current Forms and Filing Information
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.3145 – Disclosure of Financial Interests and Clients Represented Before Agencies
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 112.3144 – Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests
4
Florida Commission on Ethics. Statement of Financial Interests
5
Florida Commission on Ethics. Electronic Financial Disclosure Management System
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 112.3145 – Disclosure of Financial Interests and Clients Represented Before Agencies
7
Florida Commission on Ethics. Florida Commission on Ethics Form 1 Instructions
8
Florida Commission on Ethics. Amendment to Statement of Financial Interests
9
Florida Commission on Ethics. Financial Disclosure Information
10
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code Annotated Rule 34-8.210 – Penalties for Late Filing