COUNTY PUBLIC PROPERTY LEGAL RIGHTS

MONROE COUNTY, FL – Monroe County would like to remind our community of long-standing constitutional and legal requirements governing how public property may be used during demonstrations, protests, staging, and other expressive activities. As recent events have drawn attention to the issue, certain public spaces, such as street rights-of-way and parks, are classified by the courts as traditional public forums. This means that streets and parks are potential locations which may be used for peaceful assembly and free expression. 
 
Under our federal and state constitutions, government entities cannot prohibit the public from engaging in lawful, expressive activity at traditional public forums. This fundamental constitutional principle of our society applies regardless of viewpoint, topic, or the popularity of the message. County officials note that while the county may enforce content-neutral, reasonable time-place-and-manner restrictions to ensure safety and continuity of government operations, it cannot selectively restrict access to locations classified as traditional public forums based on the content of an individual’s speech or the identity of the group.
 
Not every public building, property or facility is a traditional public forum. Other categories of government facilities include designated public forums, such as meeting rooms, which may be open for certain designated periods of time. Limited public forums, which serve a specific purpose, such as libraries; and non-public forums, such as non-public areas of county office buildings or our three court houses. According to the courts, the government has more leeway in setting rules for these more restricted categories of public forums than for traditional public forums.  
 
Similarly, county facilities are available for use by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies engaged in their official duties. The county cannot prohibit law enforcement officers from coming onto county-owned property. 
 
Please remain respectful of one another’s rights during these situations.

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