Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/135276
Sarasota News Leader June 7, 2013 Page 15 Leon, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties and the cities of Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach and Gainesville. Along with the City of Sarasota in Sarasota County, the City of Venice has a registry, he added, and he believes North Port will have one soon. Sarasota has had 153 people register since its ordinance went into effect in November 2012, he said. According to the City of Venice website on June 5, 10 people had registered. Such registries are useful in the state, he pointed out, because power of attorney documents obtained by domestic partners "are often ineffectual and disregarded." Among the provisions of the county ordinance that Shelin proposed are the following: It would require that the registering adults be at least 18 years old and "competent to create a contract"; that partners not be married under Florida law or in another domestic partnership or civil union with anyone other than their co-applicant for the registry; that the registry would be gender-neutral; that each person would consider himself "to be a member of the immediate family of the other partner"; and that the partnership could be terminated in writing to the Clerk of Court's Office. Shelin noted that the City of Sarasota charges $30 for a couple to register; $20 goes to the city to cover its costs and the remainder goes to the Clerk of Court's Office, since the partnership is registered there. County Attorney Stephen DeMarsh reads a document at the dais. File photo QUESTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS Among the questions the commissioners posed, a number focused on healthcare ramifications. Hines pointed out that Shelin's county proposal — modeled after the City of Sarasota ordinance — would nullify a domestic partnership in the county if one member of the couple chose later to register as a domestic partner with someone else in a different jurisdiction. Hines talked about the confusion that could ensue in a medical care situation after the change in partners. "The hospital doesn't check your marriage liHe had suggested the latter provision with cense when you claim that you are married," the registries in Venice and Sarasota, Shelin Shelin responded. "They have to accept at noted, to give the documents the appropri- face value what you tell them and what docuate status. mentation you provide them."