Why Florida needs the Administrative Procedure Act.

• Author: Williams, William E.

It is likely that the life of the average Florida citizen today is more directly affected by decisions of Florida administrative agencies than by those of the courts. Because of the combination of Florida's rapid growth with its inevitable impact upon virtually every governmental institution, together with the state's fragile natural environment, the scope of government regulation in Florida has increased exponentially in the last 50 years. The types of decisions made by state agencies include areas as disparate as where and how local governments may grow; the size and location of healthcare facilities; the size and location of electric utilities, including the establishment of rates charged to customers; the drawing of school district lines by local school boards; and the location of transportation facilities and the selection of the companies that will build them, to name a few. In short, in modern day Florida, state government is very much with us. Close upon the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the modern Florida Administrative Procedure Act,(1) it is instructive to take a brief look at the development of administrative law as a distinct legal concept, the development and processes associated with the practice of administrative law in Florida, and whether the current system is of continuing value.

American administrative law is a phenomenon which has developed over the last 150 years, growing primarily out of the federal "trust busting" activities in the late 19th century and the heightened degree of government involvement resulting from attempts to recover from the Great Depression. Several factors gave rise to administrative agencies at both the federal and state levels. Important among these factors were the increasing complexity of modern social, economic, and industrial systems and the importance of specialized expertise in the regulatory process.(2)

The proliferation of administrative agencies can be traced to the need for governmental entities that not only decide disputes, but also have the power to issue regulations having the force of law, to supervise the application of the law, and to investigate and prosecute matters within the scope of legislatively created regulatory programs.(3) The legislative branch of government is ill-suited for such a task because day-to-day regulation often involves amassing great quantities of detailed information and applying the product of evolving science and technology to new problems on an ongoing basis. In contrast, legislative bodies are better suited to establishing major public policies and monitoring how those policies are being administered by the executive branch.(4)

Likewise, the courts were thought to be ill-suited to perform many of the...