A ruling by the Florida Supreme Court may mean that Jim Fuller and other Duval officials may not be able to run for a third term.
A decision by Florida's Supreme Court allowing counties to impose term limits may mean that Clerk of Courts Jim Fuller can't run in November.
This comes just weeks before candidates file paperwork to qualify as countywide constitutional officers.
The court's decision basically says that county voters can impose term limits on many top government officials. The new ruling would limit constitutional officers to the rules set forth in a referendum passed by Duval County voters in 1992.
"What did the Supreme Court really mean?" Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland asked. "Did they mean for this to take place in arrears? Or did they mean for it to take place, as legislation would be, after two more terms? And probably only they can answer that question."
Other officers affected by the term limits are the school board, sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector and supervisor of elections. Many who hold these positions may not be able to run for a third term. Property Appraiser Jim Overton and Sheriff John Rutherford’s terms end in 2015.
If Jim Fuller swears by oath that he is qualified to run for reelection and should be on the ballot, “then I can’t refuse him. And then it must be challenged in court by either his opponent or the city of Jacksonville,” Holland says.
Holland says they probably won't have a decision on Fuller's situation until the Supreme Court answers the question of when the ruling goes into effect. He thinks it will be settled long before 2015 when his second term ends.
"And my intentions probably were, in 2015, to definitely run for reelection," Holland said.
Jim Overton has promised an appeal to this in court, but Holland says he won't join him.
