## Facts

- Triple A Enterprises, Inc. operated a delivery service in Martin County, Florida, including transportation of household goods.
- The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) sent Triple A a letter stating it lacked authorization under chapter 323, Florida Statutes, and warning that the PSC would seek a permanent injunction in Martin County if operations did not cease within five days.
- The PSC did not file an enforcement action after sending the letter.
- Twenty-six days after receiving the letter, Triple A and related individuals filed suit in Martin County seeking a declaration that chapter 323’s authorization scheme was unconstitutional and requesting injunctive relief.
- The PSC moved to transfer venue to Leon County (its official residence), relying on the state “home-venue” privilege.
- Triple A opposed transfer, arguing (a) the venue statute and home-venue doctrine were unconstitutional under due process and Florida’s access-to-courts guarantee, and (b) the PSC was a “sword-wielder” threatening unconstitutional enforcement in Martin County.

## Issues

1. Whether Florida’s venue statute, § 47.011, Florida Statutes (1977), and the related common-law home-venue doctrine for suits against state agencies are unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause and article I, section 21 of the Florida Constitution.
2. Whether the “sword-wielder” exception to the home-venue rule permitted Triple A to sue the PSC in Martin County based on the PSC’s warning letter.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court granted certiorari and quashed the circuit court’s interlocutory order declaring § 47.011 unconstitutional.
- The Court held that § 47.011 and the home-venue doctrine are constitutional and do not deny due process or access to courts.
- The Court held the sword-wielder exception did not apply because the PSC had only sent a notice letter and had not commenced enforcement proceedings in Martin County.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the home-venue rule, under which venue lay in Leon County absent a valid exception.

## Legal Principles

- Suits against state agencies are generally required to be brought in the county of the agency’s official residence (the state “home-venue” privilege).
- Venue rules allocate the location of litigation within the state and ordinarily do not violate due process or access to courts so long as an adequate judicial forum exists.
- The sword-wielder exception to home venue is narrow and applies only when a state officer or agency is actively and imminently pursuing enforcement in a manner that threatens unconstitutional injury in the plaintiff’s county.
- A warning letter threatening possible future enforcement, without an actual or imminent enforcement action, is insufficient to invoke the sword-wielder exception.

## Conclusion

The Florida Supreme Court reaffirmed the state’s home-venue privilege, upheld § 47.011 and related venue doctrine against constitutional challenge, and limited the sword-wielder exception by holding that a pre-enforcement suit filed after a warning letter must be brought in the agency’s home county.


Fla. Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Triple A Enters., Inc., 387 So. 2d 940 (Fla. 1980)