---
type: "Bill"
title: "Dorcas Fire District, Okaloosa County"
description: "Dorcas Fire District, Okaloosa County; Provides that district is dependent special district; removes provisions relating to district's status as independent special district; provides that Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners or its appointees shall serve as governing board; removes provisions relating to duties, election, terms, compensation, & meetings of district board of commissioners; removes requirement that resolution or ordinance adopted by board & approved by referendum only be repealed by referendum; authorizes district to assess ad valorem taxes & non-ad valorem assessments, & to impose & foreclose non-ad valorem assessment liens, as authorized by law; removes board's authority to enter into certain agreements; revises rate of assessment of non-ad valorem assessments; provides that expansion & merger of district shall be ratified by board."
jurisdiction: "us/states/fl"
legislature: "Florida Legislature"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 897"
citation: "Florida HB 897 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["local bills"]
status: "enacted"
chapter_law: "2024-288"
primary_sponsors: ["Maney"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 38
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2023-12-18"
last_action: "2024-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/597ec5ce-14a1-471c-9e2b-8078267bf4f2"
source_url: "https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/897/ByCategory"
source_hash: "d91a6109d2a2ba811aa982a5c7cbc36fec571109be8aa1abf9cd53c2ac966be6"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-fl"]
---

# Florida HB 897 (2024) — Dorcas Fire District, Okaloosa County

Dorcas Fire District, Okaloosa County; Provides that district is dependent special district; removes provisions relating to district's status as independent special district; provides that Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners or its appointees shall serve as governing board; removes provisions relating to duties, election, terms, compensation, & meetings of district board of commissioners; removes requirement that resolution or ordinance adopted by board & approved by referendum only be repealed by referendum; authorizes district to assess ad valorem taxes & non-ad valorem assessments, & to impose & foreclose non-ad valorem assessment liens, as authorized by law; removes board's authority to enter into certain agreements; revises rate of assessment of non-ad valorem assessments; provides that expansion & merger of district shall be ratified by board.

**Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2024-288.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **H 897 Filed** (filed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/897/BillText/Filed/PDF)
2. **H 897 er** (enrolled) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/897/BillText/er/PDF)

## Votes

- Local Bills — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage, Third Reading — **114–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Maney — primary (person)
- López, J. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-12-18** Filed `filing`
- **2024-01-05** Referred to Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-05** Referred to Ways & Means Committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-05** Referred to State Affairs Committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-05** Now in Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee
- **2024-01-09** 1st Reading (Original Filed Version) `filing, reading-1`
- **2024-01-17** Added to Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee agenda
- **2024-01-19** Favorable by Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-01-19** Reported out of Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee
- **2024-01-19** Now in Ways & Means Committee
- **2024-01-29** Added to Ways & Means Committee agenda
- **2024-01-31** Favorable by Ways & Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-01-31** Reported out of Ways & Means Committee
- **2024-01-31** Now in State Affairs Committee
- **2024-02-05** Added to State Affairs Committee agenda
- **2024-02-07** Favorable by State Affairs Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-02-07** Reported out of State Affairs Committee
- **2024-02-07** Bill released to House Calendar
- **2024-02-07** Added to Second Reading Calendar
- **2024-02-15** Bill added to Special Order Calendar (2/21/2024)
- **2024-02-21** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-21** Placed on 3rd reading `reading-3`
- **2024-02-21** Added to Third Reading Calendar
- **2024-02-22** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-22** Passed; YEAS 114, NAYS 1 `passage`
- **2024-02-22** In Messages
- **2024-02-23** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-27** Received `enrolled`
- **2024-03-07** Withdrawn from Rules `withdrawal`
- **2024-03-07** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading
- **2024-03-07** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2024-03-07** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2024-03-07** Passed; YEAS 40 NAYS 0 `passage`
- **2024-03-07** In Messages
- **2024-03-07** Ordered enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-06-07** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2024-06-13** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-07-02** Chapter No. 2024-288

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/597ec5ce-14a1-471c-9e2b-8078267bf4f2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).