CS/CS/CS/HB 1595 (Yarkosky) addresses the duties of sheriffs and revises procedures for challenging reductions in a municipal law enforcement agency’s budget. For sheriffs, the bill clarifies that the sheriff has exclusive policing jurisdiction in the unincorporated areas of each county and has concurrent jurisdiction with municipal and special district law enforcement agencies in the jurisdictions of those entities. It provides for the transfer of policing responsibility and authority to the sheriff in counties that do not currently have an elected sheriff. With respect to the budget appeal process for challenges to funding reductions in a municipal law enforcement agency’s budget, the bill only allows a challenge if the reduction is more than 5% of the prior year’s budget. The bill also transfers the appeal process from the Administration Commission to the Division of Administrative Hearings and requires that a copy of the petition be provided to the affected municipality. It provides time limits for the filing of a petition, the petition hearing and the issuance of a final order on a petition. The bill requires an administrative law judge’s final order to be based on whether the proposed budget reduction will impair the law enforcement agency’s ability to ensure public safety. 

Effective date: Upon becoming law. (Taggart)