(1) Attendance at Council Meetings. Council members shall attend all regularly scheduled Council meetings unless prevented from doing so by reason of court order, subpoena, business with a court which has the sole prerogative of setting the date of such business, death of a family member, illness of the Council member, or hospitalization of the member’s immediate family.
    (a) No Council member may be absent from three consecutive regularly scheduled Council meetings unless the absence is excused for one of the reasons stated in subsection (2), of this rule. An absence for any reason other than the reasons stated in subsection (2), constitutes an unexcused absence for the purpose of declaring a vacancy on the Council. An otherwise excused absence is not excused if the Council member fails to notify the Board office of the impending absence prior to the regularly scheduled Council meeting at which the absence will occur or unless the failure to notify the Board office is the result of circumstances surrounding the reason for the absence which the Council itself excuses after the absence has occurred.
    (b) “”Family”” consists of immediate family, nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws.
    (c) “”Immediate family”” consists of spouse, child, parents, parent-in-law, siblings, grandchildren, and grandparents.
    (2) Principal office, normal hours, service of process.
    (a) The principal office of the Council is in Tallahassee.
    (b) The office is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays.
    (c) The Executive Director of the Council, at the Council’s address, is the Council’s agent for service of process for all matters relating to the Council.
Rulemaking Authority 456.011, 478.43(1) FS. Law Implemented Florida Statutes § 456.011. History-New 5-31-93, Formerly 21M-75.002, Amended 11-16-93, Formerly 61F6-75.002, 59R-50.002, Amended 5-18-00, 9-26-01.