BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 357 (Duran) and SB 1474 (Rodriguez) authorize a county or municipality to contract with vendor to install cameras in school speed zones to enforce speed limits. Within the first 30 days after such a camera or cameras are installed in a school speed zone, a motor vehicle operator found to have violated will be issued a warning and will not be liable for the civil penalty. (Taggart)

SB 464 (Bracy) requires the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission to establish and maintain standards for instruction of officers in implicit bias and de-escalation of conflict to minimize violence. The training would be required for all officers to obtain initial certification. (Taggart)

HB 505 (McCurdy) and SB 992 (Powell) provide additional criminal history screening standards for law enforcement or correction officer applicants. The bills require applicants to pass psychological screening and provide names of prior law enforcement agency employers. (Taggart)

HB 879 (Hunschofsky) and CS/SB 1192 (Powell) require the Department of Law Enforcement to establish a continued employment training component relating to mental illness. The component may count toward a law enforcement officer's hours requirement for annual training. (Taggart)

HB 577 (Omphroy) requires law enforcement agencies to maintain a database tracking excessive use of force incidents. The bill provides for suspension of funding for local law enforcement agencies that fail to comply with data collection and reporting requirements. The bill also requires each law enforcement agency to annually review and revise its use of force policy and require each of its officers to attend a training class that reviews the policy. Also included in the bill is an annual reporting requirement to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and direction for the Department to maintain the reports in a publicly accessible format. (Taggart)

HB 7051 (Judiciary Committee) makes several changes to the requirements for the operations and standards of law enforcement agencies including:

•Requires law enforcement officers to disclose if they are subject to a pending investigation or if they separated from their previous agency because of an investigation while applying to a new agency.

•Requires a law enforcement agency to include the facts and reasons an applicant was separated from previous employment as part of a background check investigation of an applicant.

•Requires a law enforcement agency to maintain an officer’s employment information for a minimum of five years following the date of the officer’s separation from the agency.

•Requires the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission to develop basic skills training and each law enforcement agency to develop policies in the use of force.

•Requires an independent review of a use of force incident involving death or the discharge of a firearm. The incidents must also be reported to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

•Prohibits children under age 7 from being arrested unless the violation of law is a forcible felony.

The bill passed both chambers unanimously. (Taggart)

SB 452 (Bracy) and HB 569 (Chambliss) require law enforcement agencies to require officers to wear body cameras and use vehicle dash cameras while on duty. The bills do not provide a funding source for law enforcement agencies to comply with the bill. (Taggart)

HB 197 (Gregory) adds service as a law enforcement officer as grounds for increased criminal penalties for certain criminal offenses that occur due to a prejudice because of their service as a law enforcement officer. The bill also authorizes agencies to include crisis intervention training in the course curriculum for initial certification training. (Taggart)

HB 187 (McCurdy) and SB 878 (Thurston) prohibit law enforcement agencies from purchasing certain surplus military equipment. The bills also prohibit law enforcement agencies from using tear gas and kinetic impact munitions on an assembly or protest unless the gathering has been declared unlawful. (Taggart)

HB 647 (Davis) and SB 942 (Gibson) require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to adopt rules establishing minimum requirements for policies of law enforcement agencies relating to demilitarization, use of force, intelligence-led policing, officer qualifications and canine units. The bills also require FDLE to create a model document for law enforcement agencies relating to several law enforcement procedures. (Taggart)

SB 438 (Bracy) requires law enforcement agencies to have a written policy regarding the investigation of officer-involved deaths. The bill also requires law enforcement agencies to use at least two investigators who are not employed by the agency. Traffic-related, officer-involved deaths would be required to be investigated by a crash reconstruction unit not employed by the agency. Reports by the investigators must be provided to the state attorney in the judicial circuit where the officer-involved death occurred. (Taggart)

SB 518 (Diaz) and CS/HB 433 (Andrade) allow police and fire departments to use drones for assessing damage after a natural disaster. 

CS/CS/SB 44 (Wright) and CS/CS/HB 1049 (Giallombardo) allow police and fire departments to use drones to manage crowd control and traffic as well as gather evidence at a crime or traffic crash scene. The bills permit a state agency or political subdivision to operate drones for assessing damage after a natural disaster during a declared state of emergency. CS/CS/HB 1049 and CS/CS/SB 44 were amended to specify that law enforcement agencies may use drones only to provide an aerial perspective for crowds of 50 or more. The amendments also require law enforcement to create policies and procedures for use of the drone and storage of images and video collected. CS/CS/HB 1049 was further amended to clarify that cybersecurity measures must be adopted by Department of Management Services (DMS) for governmental agencies to ensure the data collected by the drones will be secure. Also, drones used for the purposes set forth in the bills must be purchased by an approved manufacturer. By January 1, 2023, all governmental agencies must discontinue the use of drones not produced by an approved manufacturer. DMS has until January 2, 2022, to establish this list. CS/CS/HB 1049 was substituted for CS/CS/SB 44. CS/CS/SB 44 passed the Senate (39-0) and the House (40-0). (Taggart)

HB 213 (Andrade) preempts Cabinet members from adopting any regulations relating to firearms and ammunition. (Taggart)

HB 877 (Bell) authorizes first responders (EMTs and paramedics) to carry a concealed firearm while performing his or her duties. The bill requires the first responder to hold a valid concealed carry license and complete an extensive training program. The bill also requires the first responder to complete a psychological evaluation prior to receiving approval to carry a firearm while on duty. The bill mandates that the employment agency must fund the trainings required under the bill but does not designate a funding source. (Taggart)

SB 450 (Bracy), SB 446 (Bracy) and HB 1147 (Benjamin) require each county to establish a citizens review board to independently investigate each law enforcement agency within the county. The bills would require one member of the citizens review board to participate in a law enforcement agency's investigative team for any complaints related to use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy and discriminatory language. (Taggart)

SB 732 (Bracy) increases the amount of time a law enforcement agency must retain body camera recordings from 90 days to 365 days. (Taggart)

SB 296 (Taddeo) – Public Records Relating to Redistricting

SB 972 (Rodriguez) and HB 1019 (Casello) – Administrative Entity Telecommunication Meetings

SB 1286 (Rodriguez) – Records Retention for Emergency Communications

HB 1355 (Arrington) and SB 1602 (Stewart) – Public Records exemption for County Attorneys and Assistant County Attorneys

HB 7015 (Commerce Committee) and SB 1914 (Burgess) – Public Records Exemption for Social Media Investigations

CS/HB 1207 (Beltran) and CS/SB 1488 (Stargel) exempt from public records the home address, telephone numbers and the dates of birth of current members of the Legislature and Cabinet officers. The bills also exempt the information of their spouses and children. (Taggart)

CS/CS/HB 781 (Robinson) and CS/CS/CS/SB 844 (Hooper) authorize the clerk of circuit court to give access to information recorded in the official records of a county that is otherwise exempt from public records requirements to specified parties such as attorneys who are admitted to the Florida Bar, members in good standing, authorized title insurers, their affiliates, title insurance agents or title insurance agencies, financial institutions and their affiliates and entities that provide access to title information, tax information and document images for insurance companies, real estate and mortgage investors, attorneys and governmental agencies through a limited access licensing agreement. CS/CS/CS/SB 844 was substituted to CS/CS/HB 781. CS/CS/HB 781 passed the House (118-0) and the Senate (40-0). (Taggart)

CS/SB 400 (Rodrigues) and CS/HB 913 (McClure) prohibit a city, after receiving a public record request, from filing an action for declaratory judgement against the individual or entity making the request. The bills would prevent cities from seeking clarification from the courts as to whether a record is exempt, or exempt and confidential. CS/HB 913 was substituted to CS/SB 400. CS/SB 400 passed the Senate (39-0) and the House (113-0). (Taggart)