Visiting the Florida Legislature in Tallahassee

Yes: the Florida Constitution makes sessions of each house and all legislative committee meetings at the Capitol in Tallahassee open to the public.

Article III of the Florida Constitution says sessions of each house shall be public, with a narrow exception for Senate sessions on appointments to or removal from office, and it requires that all legislative committee and subcommittee meetings of each house, and joint conference committee meetings, shall be open and noticed to the public. That covers the floor sessions in the two chambers of the Capitol in Tallahassee and the committee rooms spread through the Capitol complex along South Monroe Street.

Two bodies make up the Legislature. The Florida Senate describes the Senate and the House of Representatives together as a bicameral legislature, one of three branches of state government, and notes that the Senate is composed of 40 members elected from single-member districts. Each chamber keeps its own website, schedule and rules: the Senate at flsenate.gov and the Florida House at myfloridahouse.gov, which lists visitor guides for the Capitol, a parking guide for the Capitol Complex and a guide to attending a committee meeting.

For a Tallahassee resident, the Capitol is a downtown neighbor, and the public business inside it runs on a calendar set by the state constitution rather than by the City Commission a few blocks away.

The 2027 Regular Session convenes at the Capitol in Tallahassee on Tuesday, March 2, 2027, and a regular session may not exceed 60 consecutive days.

The timing alternates by year. Under Article III, a regular session of the legislature shall convene on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March of each odd-numbered year, and in January in even-numbered years. A regular session may not exceed sixty consecutive days, and a special session is capped at twenty days unless three-fifths of each house votes to extend it. As of October 15, 2026, the Florida Senate home page states that the Regular Session convenes on Tuesday, March 2, 2027, which puts the 60-day window in Tallahassee across March and April 2027.

Session is not the only time the Capitol fills up. Committees also meet between sessions, and the Senate has posted its 2026-2027 interim committee meeting schedule, with weekly schedules and notices to follow before each meeting. A shorter gathering comes first: the Senate FAQ explains that in November of each even-numbered year the Legislature convenes for the sole purpose of organizing each house, fourteen days after the general election, when members are sworn in, officers are elected and rules are adopted. With the general election on November 3, 2026, that organization session falls in mid-November in Tallahassee.

Special sessions can bring lawmakers back to Tallahassee at almost any time. The Senate explains that, beyond the regular session, the Legislature may be convened as outlined in Article III, Section 2, including special sessions called either by the Governor or by a joint proclamation of the Senate President and House Speaker. Recent years show how often that happens: the session list on the Senate's committee pages for the current term runs 2025, 2025A, 2025B, 2025C, 2026, 2026D, 2026E and 2026F, the letters marking sessions held outside the regular 60 days. Each one fills the Capitol galleries and the committee rooms of the Knott Building on short notice, so the Senate and House calendars are the only reliable guide to what is meeting in a given week.

Quiet weeks are common at the Capitol in the fall. On October 9, 2026, the Senate calendar listed no events for the day and the House site reported that currently there are no meetings or sessions scheduled. The Senate lists Ben Albritton as President.

A member of the public signs up with the committee administrative assistant and hands a Florida Senate Appearance Record to the Senate staff running the meeting in the Tallahassee Capitol complex.

Committees are where the public is heard in Tallahassee. Floor sessions in the House and Senate chambers of the Capitol are for members, but committee meetings take public testimony on the bills before them. The Senate's guide to effective communication with a legislator says that to give testimony, a speaker needs to contact the appropriate committee administrative assistant to sign up, and can fill out an appearance card online or in person at the committee meeting. The same guide advises contacting a legislator about an issue before the Legislature takes action on it and tracking where a bill is through flsenate.gov.

The paperwork is handled in the room. On the page for the Senate Committee on Education Pre-K - 12, the Senate states that the Florida Senate Appearance Record cannot be submitted electronically and must be submitted to the Senate professional staff conducting the meeting. That committee lists its location as 415 Knott Building, with a mailing address at 404 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, so a speaker arriving at the Capitol complex should know which building and room the meeting is in. Before each meeting the official Meeting Notice is published, and afterward the Expanded Agenda and attendance record are posted. Those unable to travel to Tallahassee can email comments to committee members through the Senate online directory.

Committees can also be where policy about public comment itself is made. In March 2013, WFSU covered a House Government Operations Committee meeting in Tallahassee that advanced a bill to let Floridians speak at all public meetings; the sponsor told the committee that Florida adopted its open meetings law in 1967.

The Florida Channel carries live coverage of Florida government from the Capitol in Tallahassee, and the Senate video broadcast schedule links each day of Senate events to its streams.

The Senate's video broadcast schedule lists each day's Senate events with links to The Florida Channel, and on quiet days it shows no broadcasts. The Florida Channel describes itself as live Florida government coverage and public affairs programming, produces Capitol Update, a full half-hour review of developments in state government, and lists its address as Suite 901, the Capitol Bldg, 402 South Monroe Street in Tallahassee. Its terms of use bar political, campaign, advocacy or commercial use of its programming.

Paper records are online too. Each chamber publishes calendars, bill histories and journals, and the Senate FAQ explains that House bills receive odd numbers and are prefixed by H or HB, while Senate bills receive even numbers and are prefixed by S or SB. That numbering is the quickest way to tell which chamber in the Tallahassee Capitol a bill started in.

Visitors to the Capitol complex in Tallahassee can start at the Florida Welcome Center on the New Capitol Plaza Level, and the Florida Historic Capitol Museum next door charges no admission.

The Senate's Visit Us page points visitors to the Capitol Area Map and Public Parking, the Department of Management Services Capitol Complex event calendar, and the Florida Welcome Center, New Capitol Plaza Level, (850) 488-6167. It also posts the chamber reservation policy and request form for groups. The Senate's contact page lists the Capitol Police at (850) 488-1790 and The Florida Channel video archives at (850) 488-1281.

The old Capitol, now the Florida Historic Capitol Museum, sits beside the working Capitol in Tallahassee and is open every day except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Admission is free, though the museum notes that donations to support its educational programs are appreciated. Visitors check in at the Reception Desk on the first floor Rotunda, which is one level above ground; special access is available from the northwest entrance on the courtyard side, with elevators to each floor. Food and drinks are not permitted in the museum.

A construction alert on the museum home page says that starting on Monday, September 21, the Monroe Street entrance to the museum is closed due to construction, and all visitors should use the entrances on the Capitol Courtyard. The home page lists the museum at 400 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, phone (850) 487-1902.

Students have a formal way in. The Senate Page Program brings participating students from all across the state to Tallahassee for one week during regular sessions to assist members and take part in a mock session.

Tallahassee residents are represented in the Florida Senate by Senator Corey Simon of District 3, which includes all of Leon County.

Leon County is represented in the Senate by District 3. The Senate page for Senator Corey Simon lists District 3 as consisting of Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla counties, with an office in 303 Senate Building, 404 South Monroe Street. The Senate's legislator lookup returns both the senator and the House member for any address in Tallahassee, from Frenchtown to Killearn.

The Senate's communication guide offers practical rules: make an appointment as soon as a Capitol visit is planned, discuss one issue, bring a one-page fact sheet, and address letters to the senator at The Capitol, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100. The Senate also warns that under Florida law, email addresses are public records, so a message sent to a legislator from a Tallahassee home can be released in response to a records request.

Officials named on this page: Senate President Ben Albritton and Senator Corey Simon, District 3, which includes Leon County and Tallahassee. Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Florida Senate website and the Florida Historic Capitol Museum website.