General Procedures & Courtesy

In all cases, participants will be required to state their name and address for the record and, in general, be asked to limit their comments to three minutes so that others in the audience may have the opportunity to be heard. The Chairman will accept comments from speakers, but the Chairman will not allow arguments with members of the Board. Likewise, speakers will be expected to address their comments to the Board, not to the audience. Citizens in the audience should respect each speaker's right to state his or her views, and disruptions, including applause or booing, will not be tolerated. Those refusing to accord due respect to the Board, speakers, or others in the audience will be asked to leave the meeting.

Public Participation:

The Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners welcomes public participation. In order to conduct a public meeting where all can be heard, certain rules of procedure must be followed. Visitors or residents who desire to address the Commission on any matter, including those on the Board's agenda, should contact the County Manager's office at 651-7515 to schedule an agenda presentation. This is in conjunction with the Public Participation Plan.

Presentations, Etc.:

Prior to the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting(s), Presentations and Awards are scheduled. During this portion of the meeting, participation involves only the Board and the person(s) making the presentation or receiving an award.

Public Hearings:

Public Hearings are meetings required by statute to address single issues defined to be of general public interest. Members of the public who wish to provide comment to the Sunshine Board shall duly come before the Sunshine Board during the designated period of time on the agenda and provide their full name and address on the record. Advanced notice shall not be required.

1.     Members of the public who wish to provide comments to the Board of County Commissioners shall fill out a speaker card and submit it prior to the opening of the first public comment session. The speaker card shall indicate if the comment is addressing an item on the agenda that is marked as a Public Hearing. Public Hearing comments must remain relevant to the subject matter of the Public Hearing. Speaker cards submitted after the opening of the first public comment session will be heard at the second public comment session at the end of the meeting. 

Resolutions, Proclamations and Ordinances:

The Resolutions, Proclamations and Ordinances Agenda includes budget amendments, Commission Resolutions and County Ordinances.

Department Business:

The Department's Business Agenda includes items that, in general, require discussion by the Board for resolution.

New Business:

New Business includes budget transfer requests, public property use requests, and issues scheduled for discussion by a County Commissioner.

View the Meetings

Commission meetings are streamed live and saved at https://okaloosacountyfl.iqm2.com/Citizens/Default.aspx