CHAPTER IV
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
GOVERNOR
September 29, 1945.-045-304.
EASTERN STANDARD TIME-WEST OF APALACHICOLA RIVER
QUESTION: 1. Does the governor have the authority, by executive
order or official proclamation, to make Eastern Standard Time applicable
to that portion of Florida lying west of the Apalachicola river?
.
2. If the answer to the first question is in the negative, what course
should be pursued in order to make Eastern Standard Time applicable
to that portion of Florida lying- west of the Apalachicola river?
To Honorable Millard F. Caldwell, Governor:
A brief outline of the history of standards of time in Florida and
the United States in general seems' pertinent in answering the two
questions. Prior to the year' 1883 considerable confusion existed in the
relations between different sections of the country because of the fact
that the various localities conducted their affairs according to standards
of solar time or'mean solar time, and numerous different interpretations
were given these standards by the respective localities to best suit what
they tieemed to be their convenience.
In an effort to eliminate these innumerable variances, the railroads
of the United States and Canada in 1883 adopted four kinds of standard
time, namely: Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific, each being ap­
plicable to a region covering approximatetly 15 degrees of long-itude and
standard time in each case being the actual sun time at the central
degree of longitude of the region to which the particular standard time ap­
plied. This measurement of time, prior to the enactment of any statutory
provision on the subject, was officially recognized by the Federal Gov­
ernment, and gradually came into general use in most places in the United
states. 52 Am. Jur. 331.
.
.
In 1889 the Florida Legislature adopted central time as the official
standard for the entire State through the enactment of Chapter 3916,
providing as follows:
.
"Whenever specific hours are designated in the statutes of
this State, during which legal proceedings may be had, the same
shall be understood to mean standard time o~ the central or 90th
Meridian."
.
.
Although this law. as amended by Chapter 6938, Acts of 1915. re­
mained on the statute books of Florida until the statutory revision of
1941, its practical effect was nullified when Congress first entered the
field of regulation of standards of time through the medium of the Act
of March 19, 1918, C. 24, 40 Stat. 450, 05 U. S. C. A. 261-263). The
latter act, as amended, divides the territory of the continental United
states into five zones of approximately 15 degrees of longitude each,
authorizes the Interstate Commerce Commission to define the-exact
limits of each zone and provides that within the respective zones the
standard time shall be the mean astronomical time of designated degree
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BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
of longitude west from Greenwich. For the first, or Eastern, zone the
75th Meridian is controlling and for the second, or Central, zone the
90th Meridian. governs. The fifth zone embraces only Alaska, which
was not included in the standard time plan formulated by the railroads.
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Pursuant to the provisions of the act, in 1918 the Interstate Com­
merce Commission placed in the Eastern Zone all that portion of Florida
lying east of the Apalachicola river and in the Central Zone, the re­
mainder of the state. Congress· enacted temporary daylight-saving
measures in 1918 and 1942, but neither of these affected the identities or
boundaries of the time zones and both emergency acts have been re­
pealed.
The Federal Standard Time Act of 1918 is applicable only to: (1)
the movement of common carriers engaged in interstate and foreign
commerce: (2) Federal officials and departments; (3) all acts done by
any persons under federal statutes, orders, rules and regulations. The
prevailing view is that Congress has the power to regulate standards
of time under the authority granted to it to fix the standard of weights
and measures by Article I, Section 8, of the Federal Constitution. It is
equally well settled that since Congress has assumed only limited juris­
diction in the regulation of time standards, the states may enact legisla­
tion fixing such standards in relation'to purely state and local functions
and activities. Massachusetts State Grange v. Benton, 272 U. S. 523.
However, everyday activities in the State and Federal fields are so closely
interwoven that extreme confusion would result if the states should
exercise that power; so the Federal Standard Time Act and the orders
of the Interstate Commerce Commission implementing it are generally
accepted by the states as fixing the time standard for every aspect of the
affairs of their people.
This course has been followed by the Legislature of Florida in adopt­
ing the Statutory Revision of 1941, in which the following appears as
Section 1.02, Florida Statutes, 1941:
"In all laws, statutes, orders, rules' and regulations of this
state, relating to the time of performance of any act by any of­
ficer or department of 'this state, whether in the legislative, ex­
ecutive or judicial branches, or relating to the time within which
any rights shall accrue or determine, or within which any act
shall or shall not be performed, by any person subject to the
jurisdiction of this state, it shall be understood and intended
that the said time shall be the United States Standard Time of
the zone within which the act is to be performed or the .right
shall accrue or determine."
From the foregoing, it is apparent that the Florida legislature has
assumed that it is clothed with the power to regulate standards of time
within the state to the extent that this may be done without conflict
with the federal law, and I am aware of no state constituional provision
that would render such assumption erroneous or grant to the governor
power to supersede those legislative regulations by executive order or
official proclamation. Obviously, the governor is without authority to
supersede the federal act or the order of the Interstate Commerce Com­
mission issued under the powers delegated to it by Congress. Therefore,·
it is my opinion that the first question should be answered in the
negative.
One of two courses may be pursued to cause that portion of Florida
lying west of the, Apalachicola river to be placed in the Eastern Time
Zone. This end might be accomplished through a petition to the Interstate
Commerce Commission. The Federal Standard Time Act authorizes the
Commission to modify from time to time its order defining the limits of
the several time zones.
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BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
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The second, and probably preferable, course would be a concerted
effort to induce Congress to amend the Standard Time Act. There is
ample precedent for such action by Congress. By its Act of March .4,
. 1921, C. 173, (15 U. S. C. A.' 265), the western portions of Texas and
Oklahoma were transfened from the Mountain to the' Central Time
Zone in order that the two states in their entireties would be in the latter
zone: Also, by an Act of March 3, 1923, C. 216, (15 U. S. C. A. 264), a
part of Idaho was transferred from the Pacific to tl}e Mountain Zone.
The flexible quality of the present Florida statute regulating time
standards for state activities precludes the possibility of its conflict with
changes in the limits of time zones that might be made by Congress or
the Interstate Com.merce Commission, or the possibility of there being
. confusion resulting from such changes. In the provision that "the said
time shall be the United States standal;d time of the zone within which
the act is to be ~rformed or the ,right shall accrue or determine," the
Florida Law makes itself conformable to the federal regulations of time
standards .and to any amendments to such regulations:
July 9, 1945:-045-178.
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA-EXPENSES OF INVESTIGATION,
PAYMENT
QUESTION: May Mr. "X" be reimbursed for expenses incuned in
connection with. the recent legislative investigation of the University of
Florida, the president of the university and the Board of Control, and,
if so, what funds are available for such reimbursement?
To Honorable Millard F. Caldwell, Governor:
You have forwarded a claim made by Mr. "X" for reimbursement
of certain expenses which he incurred in connection with the recent
legislative investigation of 'conditions at the university, of the president,
of the university, and the Board of Control.
The statement of expenses submitted is made up of four types of
items: mileage for attendance at the: hearings, $55.50; telephone and
telegraph expenses" presumably incurred in connection with maintaining
the charges riled by Mr. "X," $76.45; attorneys' fees, $1,075.00; andtran­
script of the record of proceedings by the legislative investigating com­
mittee at Gainesville, $95.25.
.
As a member of the Board of Control, Mr. "X" would be entitled
to his mileage for attendance at the hearing. the same as if he were
attending a regular meeting of the Board of Control. The reimburse­
ment of that part of the claim may be made in the usual manner by'
his requisition submitted to the Board of Control for its approval as in
all such c a s e s . '
.
Presuming, as I do, that the charges filed by Mr. "X" were filed in good faith and in all sincerity, it is my opinion tbat the State Board of Education, ,which has supervision of the university and which might have lawfully authorized reasonable expenditures in connection with investigating the charges, may now inquire into the reasonableneSs of the expenses incurred and approve such of them or so much thereof as the board may find reasonable and justifiable under the circumstances and direct. the reimbursement thereof from funds appropriated for the university and available for such purpose.