Lee County voters are deciding Tuesday whether five of the county's elected constitutional officers should be barred from serving more than 12 years in a row. The proposed charter amendment on the November 3 ballot would cap the sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of elections and clerk of the circuit court at three consecutive four-year terms each.
The measure's language, titled “Setting the Number of Consecutive Terms of Elected Constitutional Officers,” appears on the county's own Lee County Elections site, and the sample ballot spells out exactly which offices would be affected: the sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of elections and clerk of the circuit court, according to WINK News. As reported by Gulf Coast News and Weather, Lee County voters will decide whether these elected constitutional officers face term limits as part of Tuesday's vote.
What the Ballot Language Actually Says
Per the county's sample ballot, the amendment would limit county constitutional officers to serving no more than three consecutive four-year terms in office. The ballot also addresses how the clock would start: no previous term in office that is in progress as of November 2026 would be considered a term of service, meaning officers currently serving wouldn't have their existing terms count against the new cap.
Lee County commissioners unanimously approved placing the charter amendment on the ballot, the same report notes. Commissioner David Mulicka helped sponsor the measure, per WINK News, which also reported remarks from Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell, who said that “12 year term limits for our county executive officers just makes good sense.”
A Conflict Over What Kind of Election This Is
There's a discrepancy in the county's own materials about what to call Tuesday's vote. The Lee County Elections proposed-measures page states that a special election will be conducted on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, while the county's sample ballot separately labels the same date a general election. The dossier of county records reviewed for this story does not resolve which designation is accurate.
Echoes of a 2014 Vote on County Commissioners
This isn't the first time Lee County voters have weighed in on term limits. In 2014, voters approved a charter amendment limiting county commissioners to three consecutive four-year terms, and it passed with 88% of the vote, according to the WINK News report.
The county's constitutional officers have sometimes stayed in their posts for decades. Ken Wilkinson served as property appraiser for 40 years, from 1980 to 2020, while Mike Scott was elected sheriff four times before retiring during his fourth term, per a report from Gulfshore Business. More recently, electoral competition for these seats has been thin: in 2024, Tax Collector Noelle Branning ran unopposed, and Caldwell won his primary with 70% of the vote, the same outlet reported.
