Current through the 2024 Legislative Session
Section 1001.73 - University board empowered to act as trustee(1) Whenever appointed by any competent court of the state, or by any statute, or in any will, deed, or other instrument, or in any manner whatever as trustee of any funds or real or personal property in which any of the institutions or agencies under its management, control, or supervision, or their departments or branches or students, faculty members, officers, or employees, may be interested as beneficiaries, or otherwise, or for any educational purpose, a university board of trustees is hereby authorized to act as trustee with full legal capacity as trustee to administer such trust property, and the title thereto shall vest in said board as trustee. In all such cases, the university board of trustees shall have the power and capacity to do and perform all things as fully as any individual trustee or other competent trustee might do or perform, and with the same rights, privileges, and duties, including the power, capacity, and authority to convey, transfer, mortgage, or pledge such property held in trust and to contract and execute all other documents relating to said trust property which may be required for, or appropriate to, the administration of such trust or to accomplish the purposes of any such trust.(2) Deeds, mortgages, leases, and other contracts of the university board of trustees relating to real property of any such trust or any interest therein may be executed by the university board of trustees, as trustee, in the same manner as is provided by the laws of the state for the execution of similar documents by other corporations or may be executed by the signatures of a majority of the members of the board of trustees; however, to be effective, any such deed, mortgage, or lease contract for more than 10 years of any trust property, executed hereafter by the university board of trustees, shall be approved by a resolution of the Board of Governors; and such approving resolution may be evidenced by the signature of either the chair or the secretary of the Board of Governors to an endorsement on the instrument approved, reciting the date of such approval, and bearing the seal of the Board of Governors. Such signed and sealed endorsement shall be a part of the instrument and entitled to record without further proof.(3) Nothing herein shall be construed to authorize a university board of trustees to contract a debt on behalf of, or in any way to obligate, the state; and the satisfaction of any debt or obligation incurred by the university board as trustee under the provisions of this section shall be exclusively from the trust property, mortgaged or encumbered; and nothing herein shall in any manner affect or relate to the provisions of s. 1013.78; and any mortgage, lease, or other agreement entered into pursuant to this section is subject to the provisions of s. 1010.62.(4) A board of trustees of a state university may not transfer in excess of $1 million in funds that are appropriated to the state university in the General Revenue Fund, the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, and the Education/General Student and Other Fees Trust Fund between the Education and General Activities category and other program categories. A board of trustees may request additional transfer authority from the Board of Governors. Upon approval of the additional transfer authority by the Board of Governors, the Board of Governors may request a budget amendment to transfer appropriations for a state university between categories in excess of $1 million. Such transfers are subject to review and approval by the Legislative Budget Commission.s. 85, ch. 2002-387; s.168, ch. 2007-5; s.79, ch. 2007-217; s. 6, ch. 2012-134; s.19, ch. 2014-39.Amended by 2014 Fla. Laws, ch. 39, s 19, eff. 5/12/2014.