ADU Pass
Jackson County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Jackson County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. We cover 10 cities and 14 ZIP codes in this county.
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County ADU details
County ADU ordinance
Jackson County is a rural north-Florida panhandle county (population ~47,000, Marianna is the county seat) with a non-charter commission form of government. The Jackson County Land Development Code (LDC), administered by the Jackson County Planning & Zoning Department under the Board of County Commissioners, governs unincorporated land use and also applies in the county's smaller towns that have not adopted independent zoning (several of the seven incorporated municipalities — Alford, Bascom, Campbellton, Cottondale, Graceville, Grand Ridge, Greenwood, Jacob City, Malone, Marianna, Sneads — rely on the county LDC with only a municipal zoning overlay). The LDC does NOT contain a standalone ADU ordinance; accessory dwellings are handled as guest houses / mother-in-law suites under the R-1, R-2, and A-1 Agricultural district provisions. Typical provisions: one accessory dwelling allowed per A-1 parcel >=5 acres without conditional-use approval; guest houses without kitchens are broadly permitted in residential districts; second kitchens or full dwelling units in residential districts typically require a conditional-use permit. The LDC has not been updated for Florida s 163.31771 alignment and no ADU-specific rulemaking is pending as of 2026-04-20.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Most of Jackson County's area is unincorporated rural and agricultural land. ADU-adjacent construction is permitted by the Jackson County Building & Code Enforcement Department at the county courthouse complex in Marianna. Jackson uses the Florida Building Code as adopted without material local amendments. The department operates a limited online intake (email/PDF submission) and in-person counter service. Typical single-family / accessory-dwelling permit review runs 3-6 weeks including septic review by DOH-Jackson. Panhandle Florida is still recovering in some sectors from Hurricane Michael (2018-10-10, Cat 5 landfall in neighboring Bay County that caused extensive wind damage across Jackson County) — rebuild permits from 2018-2022 absorbed substantial department bandwidth.
County assessor
Jackson County property assessment is performed by the Jackson County Property Appraiser, an elected constitutional officer operating out of the Jackson County Courthouse in Marianna. The appraiser maintains parcel records for all ~37,000 parcels in the county across incorporated and unincorporated territory. Standard Florida rules apply: Save Our Homes (F.S. 193.155) 3% cap on homestead parcels; 10% non-homestead-residential cap (F.S. 193.1554); new-construction carve-out (F.S. 193.155(4)(a)) that captures an ADU at full just value in the year of completion. Agricultural classification (F.S. 193.461 Greenbelt) is widely used in Jackson — cattle, timber, and row crops dominate — and the ag/ADU interaction is the main assessment-policy consideration.
Assessment policy: Standard Florida new-construction assessment at full just value; subsequent 3% (homestead) or 10% (non-homestead residential) cap. Marshall & Swift cost approach predominates. Agricultural-classification parcels retain ag classification on the ag-use portion after ADU addition if the bona-fide-agricultural-use test continues to be met on the remainder. Timberland classification is common (Jackson is in the longleaf / slash pine belt) and requires active forestry management plans under F.S. 193.461(3)(b) to retain ag status.
County overlays (5)
Jackson County overlays most relevant to ADU siting: (1) FEMA SFHAs along the Chipola River, Apalachicola River tributaries, and Marianna's urban creek systems (concentrated flood-risk corridors rather than county-wide); (2) Dougherty Plain karst terrain — sinkholes, caves, and springs that require geotechnical due diligence on new-construction siting; (3) NWFWMD water-management jurisdiction with spring-protection overlays around Blue Spring, Merritt's Mill Pond, and Florida Caverns State Park; (4) Hurricane Michael rebuild-zone permit priority for parcels with verified pre-storm dwelling structures; (5) Florida Building Code 130-140 mph design-wind-speed region (lower than south-FL but still hurricane-zone) without HVHZ. No seismic, no coastal-commission, no WUI-specific overlay.
- Chipola River / Apalachicola Tributaries FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas
- Dougherty Plain Karst / Sinkhole Terrain
- NWFWMD Spring-Protection Overlays (Blue Spring, Merritt's Mill Pond, Jackson Blue)
- Florida Building Code 130-140 mph design-wind-speed region (non-HVHZ)
- Hurricane Michael (2018) rebuild / reconstruction overlay
Known county issues (4)
- policy-review — Jackson County (pop ~47,000) would be covered by a pending ADU-ordinance mandate. Current LDC handles accessory dwellings via district-level provisions, not a standalone ADU section. A mandate-compliant ordinance would address size caps, setbacks, owner-occupancy, parking explicitly. No draft as of 2026-04-20.
- other — Jackson County sits on the Dougherty Plain karst region. Sinkhole inspection, soil borings, and potentially piers-instead-of-slab foundations are common requirements. Add $5k-$15k to ADU project cost on sinkhole-prone parcels. Sinkhole insurance rider is a separate annual cost under F.S. 627.706.
- other — Parcels with FEMA-verified Hurricane Michael damage qualify for F.S. 193.155(4)(b) reconstruction carve-out on rebuild at or below pre-storm footprint. Adding an ADU during rebuild trips the carve-out on the incremental area; model carefully before combining rebuild + ADU. For new ADU projects on non-rebuild parcels this issue does not apply.
- staffing-shortage — Jackson County Building Department is a small rural operation with email/PDF intake rather than a full ePermits portal. Response times 3-6 weeks are typical; peak summer and post-storm seasons may stretch longer.
Florida state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Florida does NOT currently have a statewide ADU preemption law in effect. Florida Statutes § 163.31771 (enacted 2004, last amended 2020) is permissive — it authorizes local governments to adopt ADU ordinances but does not require them to. ADU rules are therefore set municipality-by-municipality: Miami-Dade, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and a growing set of Florida cities have their own ordinances; many smaller counties and cities still prohibit or restrict ADUs by default. A preemption bill (SB 48 / HB 313) is pending in the 2026 legislative session and is likely to pass given that its 2025 predecessor cleared the Senate 37-0 and House 97-10 before dying on a procedural amendment dispute.
- Florida Statutes § 163.31771 — Accessory dwelling units — Permissive (not mandatory) statute. Defines an ADU as 'an ancillary or secondary living unit, that has a separate kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area, existing either within the same structure, or on the same lot, as the primary dwelling unit.' Authorizes — but does not require — local governments to adopt ordinances allowing ADUs in single-family residential zones. Contains no size caps, no owner-occupancy rules, no HOA preemption. All substantive rulemaking is local.
State financing programs
Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) does not operate an ADU-specific state loan or grant program. FHFC's primary affordable-housing lever at the ADU tier is the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP), which distributes state documentary-stamp-tax revenue to all 67 counties and 52 entitlement cities for locally-administered housing programs — some of which may fund ADU construction at the local level (notably Orange County's Affordable ADU Loan Program, run through the Orange County Housing Finance Trust). FHFC's FL Assist down-payment programs and HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage conventional loans apply to ADU-eligible primary residences but do not single out ADUs. Proposed CS/SB 1440 would create a state property-tax exemption of up to 100% of assessed value for an ADU rented at affordable rates.
State housing programs
Florida does not currently operate a statewide pre-approved ADU plan catalog (unlike California or Washington). State-level ADU implementation is driven by (a) the permissive § 163.31771 which lets willing jurisdictions adopt ordinances, (b) SHIP pass-through funding to local ADU programs (Orange County's Affordable ADU Loan Program is the model), and (c) the affordable-housing property-tax exemption under the Live Local Act (SB 102 / SB 328). The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) — now reorganized as the Department of Commerce — provides technical assistance to local governments but no statewide ADU-specific mandate or program. Major counties (Miami-Dade, Orange, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Broward) have published their own ADU ordinances and guidance documents.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.