Alachua County, FL Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)

Section 70.01, adopted by Ord. No. 2020-20 (Sept. 8, 2020), directs the County Manager to enter into an agreement with the Florida Department of Health to establish a needle exchange program meeting F.S. §381.0038 and to place responsibility for it within one county department (§70.01(a)-(b)). The county must select an operator from a fixed list: a hospital licensed under F.S. Ch. 395, a health care clinic licensed under Part X of Chapter 400, an accredited medical school, a licensed addictions receiving facility, or a §501(c)(3) HIV/AIDS service organization (§70.01(c)(1)-(5)).

Before starting operations, the program must have County Commission approval of an oversight and accountability system with measurable objectives and compliance tracking (§70.01(d)(1)). Exchange sites must be maximum-security, with an accounting of needles/syringes in use and in storage and safe disposal of returned needles (§70.01(d)(2)), and the exchange itself must be strictly one-to-one, one clean unit per used one returned (§70.01(d)(3)). Operators must supply HIV/hepatitis educational materials at every exchange (§70.01(d)(4)), and provide onsite counseling, referrals, and HIV/hepatitis screening within 72 hours if offered by referral, a window a rural county commission may adjust (§70.01(d)(5)), plus emergency opioid antagonist kits or referrals (§70.01(d)(6)).

Programs collect data, participant counts, needles exchanged, demographics, treatment and testing referrals, for an annual report due to the County Commission and the state Department of Health by August 1, but Section 70.01(d)(7) bars collecting any participant's personal identifying information. The county also conducts periodic compliance reviews under §70.01(e).