BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 370 (Hooper) and HB 351 (Duggan) add service as a firefighter as grounds for increased criminal penalties for certain criminal offenses. (Taggart)

SB 1494 (Bracy) requires each law enforcement agency in this state to mandate that its

law enforcement officers wear body cameras and use vehicle dash cameras. (Taggart)

HB 11 (Rizo) and SB 1872 (Bean) prohibit a person from approaching a law enforcement officer after receiving a warning with intent to impede, provoke or harass. (Taggart)

CS/SB 652 (Cruz) requires the employer of each athletic venue, entertainment venue and convention center capable of accommodating 5,000 persons or more to display a human trafficking public awareness sign. (Taggart)

SB 788 (Hooper) creates the Florida Hometown Hero Housing Program to assist frontline emergency workers, certain medical and health care personnel and educators in purchasing a home as their primary residence. (Branch)

HB 127 (Slosberg) prohibits the use of handheld wireless devices while operating a motor vehicle where first responders are actively working. This bill does provide several exceptions, such as first responders performing in their official capacity or drivers accessing safety-related information, including emergency, traffic or weather alerts. (Branch)

CS/HB 1435 (Leek) authorizes the Sheriff or Chief Administrative Officer of a municipality to designate a special event zone in response to a special event that takes place or is reasonably anticipated to take place on a roadway, street or highway within their jurisdiction. The bill defines “special event” as an unpermitted temporary activity or event organized or promoted via social media that is attended by 50 or more people and substantially increases or disrupts the normal flow of traffic on those roadways. The bill requires the Sheriff or Chief Administrative Officer to enforce the special event zone in a manner that causes the least inconvenience to the public. Special event zones must also be designated with a warning sign at each point of ingress or egress and remain in effect as long as reasonably necessary to protect the public but not after the special event has dissipated. The bill authorizes law enforcement to enforce occupancy limits on private or public property in a special event zone. Finally, the Sheriff or Chief Administrative Officer may recover all fees and costs associated with designating and enforcing the special event zone from the event promoter or organizer. CS/HB 1435 was amended to require clearly visible signage designating the special event zone and stating all fines are doubled and vehicles are subject to impoundment for traffic infractions and violations. The signage must be posted 24 hours before enforcement of the special event zone can commence. CS/HB 1435 passed the House (90-26) and the Senate (83-32) and is awaiting action by the Governor. (Taggart)

CS/SB 226 (Powell) creates the Care for Retired Law Enforcement Dog Program within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The bill requires that the FDLE contract with a nonprofit corporation to administer and manage the program. To qualify, a dog must have served at least five years with an agency or three years if the dog was injured in the line of duty. CS/SB 226 passed the Senate (36-0) and the House (117-0) and is awaiting action by the Governor. (Taggart)

CS/SB 606 (Garcia) creates additional safety provisions and requirements for boat liveries or privately owned boat rental companies. Of importance to local governments, the bill requires livery owners to notify local law enforcement if a vessel is unnecessarily overdue more than four hours after the contracted time. CS/SB 606 passed the Senate (36-1) and the House (112-1) and is awaiting action by the Governor. (Taggart)

SB 614 (Garcia) and CS/HB 721 (Buchanan) authorize public housing authorities to adopt rules or policies imposing restrictions on owners of dogs deemed dangerous. The bills allow local governments to adopt ordinances addressing the safety and welfare concerns stemming from dog attacks on people or domestic animals, placing restrictions and additional requirements on owners of dangerous dogs, provided that no such regulations may be breed specific. However, ordinances adopted prior to October 1, 1990, are exempt from these statutory requirements.

(Branch)

SB 1672 (Berman) and HB 1271 (Morales) provide for the development and implementation of an active shooter alert system by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The bills allow for FDLE to partner with local governments to assist in the development and implementation of the alert system. Once created and upon request by a local law enforcement agency, FDLE may activate the alert system to assist the local agency when responding to an active shooter event. (Taggart)

HB 699 (McFarland) and SB 934 (Gruters) – Pub. Rec./Homelessness Counts and Databases

HB 983 (Stevenson) – Pub. Rec./Voters and Voter Registration

SB 1042 (Brodeur) and HB 735 (Plasencia) – Public Records/Special Persons Registry

SB 1282 (Diaz) – Public Records/Investigation of a Murder

SB 1920 (Gruters) – Public Records/Election Workers

HB 1547 (Overdorf) and SB 1848 (Gruters) prohibit public agencies from requiring an individual to provide personal information. The bills also prohibit agencies from releasing, publishing or otherwise publicly disclosing personal information. “Personal information” is defined as any compilation of data that directly or indirectly identifies a person as a member, supporter, volunteer or donor of a financial or nonfinancial support to any nonprofit entity. The bills specify how an impacted party may file a lawsuit, set fees for each violation and allow for a judge to award attorney’s fees to the complaint bringing the action. (Taggart)

CS/SB 1046 (Hooper) exempts from public records requirements law enforcement officers and law enforcement vehicle geolocation information. The bill specifies that the exemption would be applied retroactively. CS/SB 1046 passed the Senate (37-1) and the House (112-0) and is awaiting action by the Governor. (Taggart)

CS/CS/SB 1614 (Harrell) revises an exemption from public records adding an exemption related to personal information in written crash reports. Crash report data in computerized databases are now confidential and exempt. Crash reports held by an agency may be made available 60 days after the report is filed to any person or entity eligible to access crash reports. CS/CS/SB 1614 passed the Senate (35-3) and the House (115-1) and is awaiting action by the Governor. (Taggart)

CS/SB 1420 (Burgess) and HB 1213 (Arrington) create a public records exemption for the personal identifying and location information of current and former county and city attorneys and assistant county and city attorneys, as well as information regarding the spouses and children of those attorneys. (Taggart)

HB 307 (Hawkins) and SB 716 (Bradley) provide a public records exemption for the personal information of individuals who adopt an animal from an animal shelter or animal control agency operated by a local government. (Taggart)

SB 1472 (Stewart) requires agencies to respond to a public records request within five business days by: a) making the records available, b) denying the request or c) providing a statement of how long the request will take and the reason for the delay. (Taggart)

SB 674 (Cruz) suspends the physical quorum requirement for local governmental bodies during a declared state of emergency. The bill would allow meetings of any board or commission to be held via telephone, real-time videoconferencing or similar real-time electronic or video communication for no more than six months from the start of the declared state of emergency, unless extended by the governor by executive order. (Taggart)

SB 7006 (Education) saves from repeal the public records exemption relating to any portion of a campus emergency response held by a public postsecondary institution, a state or local law enforcement agency, a county or municipal emergency management agency, the Executive Office of the Governor, the Department of Education, the Board of Governors of the State University System, or the Division of Emergency Management, as well as that portion of a public meeting which would reveal information related to a campus emergency response. SB 7006 passed the House (109-0) and the Senate (35-3) and is awaiting action by the Governor. (Taggart)