Alachua County, FL Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Section 116.04 defines a protected 'historic property or historic resource' broadly as any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, object, or real or personal property of historical, architectural or archaeological value, expressly listing 'monuments, memorials, Indian habitations, ceremonial sites, abandoned settlements, sunken or abandoned watercraft, engineering works, treasure troves, artifacts' among the covered categories, on any 'local public lands': real property the county owns, leases or controls under Section 116.03. Section 116.05(a) makes it a violation for anyone to conduct archaeological field investigations, remove or attempt to remove, deface, destroy or otherwise alter a historic resource by means other than excavation without county authorization; Section 116.05(b) applies the identical prohibition to excavation-based disturbance; and Section 116.05(c) separately bans knowingly selling, exchanging, transporting or soliciting others to traffic in artifacts taken in violation of the chapter.

Section 116.05(d) treats each individual artifact removed, defaced or destroyed as a potentially separate violation, and requires forfeiture to the county of the artifacts along with any photographs or records relating to them. The Alachua County Environmental Protection Department is the designated primary local enforcement entity under Section 116.07, though any code enforcement officer or Florida law-enforcement officer may also enforce the chapter. Authorized investigations must meet the state's Chapter 1A-46 Florida Administrative Code standards, referenced at Section 116.06.