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Volusia County Charter Review Commission advances five proposed amendments to County Council

One of the five proposed amendments, to be discussed at public hearings, is a new County Council structure: Five district members and two at-large members, with a chair chosen annually by the body.

  • By Clayton Jackson, Volusia County Community Information
  • | 5:00 p.m. May 7, 2026
Volusia County's administration building in DeLand. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock/Pelow media
Volusia County's administration building in DeLand. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock/Pelow media
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The 2026 Volusia County Charter Review Commission adopted its final report during its April 13 meeting, advancing five proposed charter amendments to the Volusia County Council. The County Council will now hold a series of three public hearings to provide residents with an opportunity to comment on the proposed amendments and to consider whether to introduce additional amendments before the general election ballot is finalized.

While the five proposed amendments below cannot be changed or removed at this stage, the Council’s role is limited to holding public hearings. The proposed amendments will be placed on the general election ballot and decided by a majority vote of participating voters.

The five proposed charter amendments are summarized below:

  1. Establishes a County Council structure with five district members and two at-large members, requires the chair to be chosen annually from among the council members, and adds stricter term limits.
  2. Removes Charter restrictions requiring County Council members to be reimbursed for out-of-county work-related expenses and prohibiting County Council members from receiving reimbursement for work-related, in-county expenses.
  3. Updates the County Charter to reflect changes required by Florida’s 2018 Constitutional Amendment 10 affecting various county Constitutional offices.
  4. Removes detailed personnel system requirements from the Charter and instead allows those policies to be set by the County Council through ordinances.
  5. Creates a registry of protected conservation lands, which protects such lands from sale or transfer, and requires a majority plus-one vote of the entire County Council to add properties to such list or remove properties from that list for sale or transfer, while making exceptions for takings by entities with authority of eminent domain and allowing such properties to be used for County purposes.

 The public hearings will be held during regularly scheduled County Council meetings beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 19; 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 2; and 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 16. All meetings will take place in the Frank T. Bruno Jr. County Council Chambers on the second floor of the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand.

The Commission’s final report provides a comprehensive overview of its work, including the proposed charter amendments, ballot title, and summary language, amendment text, and a formal letter of recommendation to the County Council. The report also includes background on the County’s Home Rule Charter, the review process, member biographies, and the commission’s organizational structure and timeline.

 

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