A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction against Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s order to test most state employees for drug use, according to a ruling filed Thursday.

But the judge didn’t rule on whether the state can give urine drug tests to prospective new hires.

The federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida said the drug testing of about 85,000 state employees would violate the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches and sided with a motion by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 79, which represents about 40,000 of the employees.

But because the union didn’t address new hires, the court “does not reach the issues of whether such prospective employees can be subjected to pre-employment testing and subsequent random drug testing pursuant to the executive order,” the judge said.

Scott said he will appeal the ruling.

“As I have repeatedly explained, I believe that drug testing state employees is a common-sense means of ensuring a safe, efficient and productive workforce,” the governor said in a written statement. “That is why so many private employers drug test, and why the public and Florida’s taxpayers overwhelmingly support this policy. I respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling.”

— CNN’s Melanie Whitley contributed to this report.