City Attorney Opinions
The Office of the City Attorney serves as counsel to the City's elected public officials as well as all appointed officials, and all boards and departments.
This Website contains the formal Legal Opinions issued by this office since 2003. To preserve the integrity of these documents and assure proper reference to citations and footnotes, the opinions are provided in Adobe Acrobat PDF files.
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LEGAL OPINIONS BY YEAR ISSUED
2023
23-001 - Vacancy(PDF, 156KB)
2022
No Opinions Issued
2021
21-001 - City Commission Investigation of the Omni CRA, its employees, and activities(PDF, 179KB)
2020
No Opinions Issued
2019
19-001 Not Issued
19-002 - Veto Authority of the Mayor(PDF, 326KB)
2018
No Opinions Issued
2017
17-001 Not Issued
17-002 - Authority of Dade County to place restrictions for off-duty emergency service on a Land-Sale Agreement to a Private Entity purchasing property located in the City(PDF, 331KB)
17-003 - Point at which First Reading Occurs Invoking the Provisions of Section 7.1.2.8(g)(3) of Miami 21(PDF, 283KB)
2016
16-001 - Charter Section 52(c) possible conflicts with Charter Section 36(PDF, 1MB)
2015
15-001 - Requirement for a Runoff Election(PDF, 335KB)
15-002 - Counting Votes at Runoff Election(PDF, 320KB)
2014
14-001 - Franchise Fee Exemption for Dade County Schools Projects(PDF, 291KB)
14-002 - Communications between Committee Members(PDF, 282KB)
14-003 - Resign to Run(PDF, 348KB)
2013
13-001 - Dual Office Holding(PDF, 2MB)
13-002 - Authority of the Chief of Police(PDF, 638KB)
13-003 - Interpretation of Florida Resign-to-Run Law(PDF, 1MB)
13-004 - One Time Three Percent Payout(PDF, 312KB)
2012
12-001 Sexual predators analysis of State, County and City residency regulations(PDF, 771KB)
12-002 Coconut Grove Business Improvement District and Miami Authority(PDF, 444KB)
12-003 Ad Valorem Tax Exemption-Parking Garage Marlins Stadium(PDF, 2MB)
12-004 Regulation of Moorings(PDF, 362KB)
2011
11-001 Redistricting(PDF, 1023KB)
11-002 Parking fees for Vehicles with Disabled Parking Permit(PDF, 841KB)
11-003 Additional Term Eligibility(PDF, 260KB)
2010
10-001 Are "legal services" obtained by the Office of the City Attorney exempt from the City of Miami Procurement Ordinance?(PDF, 354KB)
10-002 Miami-Dade County On Demand Transportation(PDF, 416KB)
2009
09-001 Applicability of the Parking Surcharge Ordinance to Pay and Display Machines(PDF, 278KB)
09-002 Interpretation of Florida Resign-to-Run Law and Method for Filling Vacancy in Office pursuant to the City of Miami Charter(PDF, 486KB)
09-003 Civilian Investigative Panel - Clarification of Legal Issues(PDF, 698KB)
09-004 Filling a temporary vacancy on the Commission by appointment(PDF, 240KB)
09-005 Ad Valorem Tax Exemption Program - Method for City to refund taxes paid by businesses entitled to ad valorem tax exemption(PDF, 250KB)
09-006 May the City of Miami take over the operations of the Gusman Center Theater?(PDF, 264KB)
2008
08-001 SEOPW expending Tax Increments funds for Community Policing in CRA(PDF, 291KB)
08-002 Conflict of Interest: City transacting with a Company whose executive director is a City Board member(PDF, 468KB)
08-003 Ability of City to require Adjacent Property Owners to Repair Adjacent Sidewalks(PDF, 573KB)
08-004 Audit Advisory Committee's Responsibility Over the Component Units Reported on City's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)(PDF, 210KB)
08-005 Regulation of Peacocks(PDF, 274KB)
08-006 24 Hour Gas Stations - Mandatory Security(PDF, 442KB)
08-007 Solid Waste Franchise Fee for Commercial Hauling(PDF, 732KB)
08-008 Code Violation enforcement not related to real property(PDF, 595KB)
08-009 Bona Fide Restaurant - Hours of liquor sales(PDF, 456KB)
08-010 Interpretation of Miami Charter Section 29-B(PDF, 329KB)
08-011 Civilian Investigative Panel - Internal or Administrative Operations(PDF, 271KB)
2007
07-001 Conflict of Interest: Department Director doing business with Agency employing former spouse(PDF, 283KB)
07-002 Applicability of Section 112.501, Florida Statutes to DDA Members(PDF, 329KB)
07-003 Levy User Fees upon Marine Vessels not Burning Bio-fuels(PDF, 232KB)
07-004 Grant/Withhold Public Work Permits Prior to Payment(PDF, 484KB)
07-005 Not Issued
07-006 Voting Rights of City Commissioner Serving as Presiding Officer(PDF, 345KB)
07-007 Payment of death benefits to the beneficiary of former Commissioner Arthur Earle Teele, Jr.(PDF, 379KB)
07-008 Conflict of Interest: Federally funded Non-Profit Corporation hires Affiliated-for-Profit(PDF, 340KB)
07-009 Interpretation of Charter Section 14 and the City's disclosure Policy(PDF, 319KB)
07-010 Authority of Auditor General to Issue Legal Opinions and Conduct Investigations(PDF, 320KB)
07-011 Under what circumstances can a meeting be closed to the public without violating Florida's Sunshine Laws?(PDF, 346KB)
07-012 Conflict of Interest: Authority of Auditor General(PDF, 650KB)
07-013 Conflict of Interest: Department Director Serving on Agency Advisory Board(PDF, 288KB)
07-014 Overtown CRA Church Renovations - use of TIFF Funds(PDF, 491KB)
07-015 Hours of Operation for Bars and Nightclubs with a 4COP License(PDF, 566KB)
2006
06-001 Anti-nepotism Law-Interpretation of Florida Law(PDF, 348KB)
06-002 Not Issued
06-003 Not Issued
06-004 Settlement Authority(PDF, 343KB)
06-005 Maximum Civil Penalty for Code Enforcement Citations(PDF, 553KB)
06-006 Member Requirements for Community Relations Board(PDF, 285KB)
06-007 Use of City Hall(PDF, 359KB)
06-008 Applicability of Lobbyist Regulations to CRA Consultants(PDF, 102KB)
06-009 Ethics Inquiry re Solicitation of Sponsor for Events(PDF, 317KB)
06-010 Provocative Flyers - Coconut Grove(PDF, 718KB)
2005
05-001 Set-Aside Minority and Women Owned Businesses(PDF, 440KB)
05-002 Principals as Lobbyist; Miami-Dade County Ethics Code; Minimum Standards(PDF, 722KB)
05-003 Re-execution of City of Miami and AT&T Revocable License Agreements with New Cingular Wireless(PDF, 453KB)
05-004 Latin American Gourmet re: Transfer or Assignment of Privileges to City(PDF, 358KB)
05-005 Conflict of Interest re: Member of Planning Advisory Board Transacting Business with City(PDF, 224KB)
05-006 City's Liability for Untimely Payment of Payroll Taxes(PDF, 424KB)
05-007 Ultimate Responsible Party for Unpaid City of Miami Bills(PDF, 510KB)
05-008 Parking Revenue Derived from Biscayne Boulevard Parking Lots Subject to Sales Tax(PDF, 318KB)
05-009 Authority to Grant Pay Increases and Bonuses to Staff Members of the Mayor and City Commission(PDF, 307KB)
2004
04-001 Impact Fee Exemption; Community Development Target Areas; Causeway Towers(PDF, 679KB)
04-002 Hyatt Lease(PDF, 504KB)
04-003 Tower of Grand Bay, Parking and FAR Calculations for Special Permit(PDF, 492KB)
04-004 Procurement of Professional Services re: Consultants Competitive Negotiation Act(PDF, 1MB)
04-005 Pending Development Regulations and New Applications(PDF, 1MB)
04-006 Exemption for Code Enforcement Officers(PDF, 300KB)
04-007 Tax Issues re: Default by Latin American Gourmet(PDF, 577KB)
04-008 Waiver of Residence Requirement-Member Health Facilities Authority Board(PDF, 188KB)
04-009 FPL Energy Services - Chilled Water Franchise Agreement(PDF, 392KB)
04-010 Cancellation of City Commission Meetings(PDF, 247KB)
04-011 Inclusion of Revenues Generated from Leasing/Rental of Equipment in Franchisee's Gross Receipts(PDF, 308KB)
2003
03-001 Not Issued
03-002 Development of Tract 3 of Riverside Plaza(PDF, 567KB)
03-003 Review of Statutory and Contractual Allocation of Convention Development Tax ("CDT") Revenues(PDF, 1MB)
03-004 Land Acquisition - Little Haiti Park(PDF, 746KB)
03-005 Dual Office Holding of Public Officer and Trustee of Miami-Dade County Public Health Trust(PDF, 2MB)
03-006 Not Issued
03-007 Expense of Public Funds for Defense of Law Enforcement Officer(PDF, 1MB)
03-008 Not Issued
03-009 Use of Bond Proceeds to Construct Public Riverwalk(PDF, 309KB)
03-010 Status -Alley North of N.E. 61st Street- N.E. 5th Avenue(PDF, 841KB)
03-011 Travel per Diem(PDF, 734KB)
03-012 Waiver of Zoning Application Fees - St. Stephen's Church(PDF, 351KB)
03-013 Exemption from Commercial Solid Waste Fees for New School Construction for Miami Dade School Board(PDF, 689KB)
03-014 FOP Demand for Payment of Health Insurance Premiums; Ricky Taylor(PDF, 349KB)
03-015 Relative powers and duties of City commission and City Manager under City's Mayor-City Commissioner Form of Government(PDF, 623KB)
03-016 Fire Accident Review Committee's Determinations of Fault(PDF, 359KB)
03-017 Principals as Lobbyist; Miami-Dade County Ethics Code; Minimum Standards(PDF, 719KB)