FL
Florida House Bill H0025

Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0025 Compare Versions

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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to care for retired law enforcement 2
1616 dogs; providing a short title; creating s. 943.69, 3
1717 F.S.; providing legislative findings; providing 4
1818 definitions; creating the Care for Retired Law 5
1919 Enforcement Dogs Program within the Department of Law 6
2020 Enforcement; requiring the department to contract with 7
2121 a nonprofit corporation to administer and manage the 8
2222 program; specifying requirements for the nonpro fit 9
2323 corporation; specifying requirements for the 10
2424 disbursement of funds for the veterinary care of 11
2525 eligible retired law enforcement dogs; limiting annual 12
2626 funding available for an eligible dog; prohibiting the 13
2727 accumulation of unused funds from a current year for 14
2828 use in a future year; prohibiting reimbursement in 15
2929 certain circumstances; providing for use of 16
3030 appropriated funds for administrative expenses; 17
3131 requiring the department to adopt rules; providing an 18
3232 appropriation; providing an effective date. 19
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3434 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21
3535 22
3636 Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Care for Retired 23
3737 Law Enforcement Dogs Program Act." 24
3838 Section 2. Section 943.69, Florida Statutes, is created to 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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5151 read: 26
5252 943.69 Care for Retired Law Enforc ement Dogs Program.— 27
5353 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. —The Legislature finds that: 28
5454 (a) Law enforcement dogs are an integral part of many law 29
5555 enforcement efforts statewide, including the apprehension of 30
5656 suspects through tracking and searching, evidence location , drug 31
5757 and bomb detection, and search and rescue operations. 32
5858 (b) Law enforcement agencies agree that the use of law 33
5959 enforcement dogs is an extremely cost -effective means of crime 34
6060 control and that law enforcement dogs possess skills and 35
6161 abilities that frequently exceed those of existing technology. 36
6262 (c) The service of law enforcement dogs is often dangerous 37
6363 and can expose them to injury at a rate higher than that of 38
6464 nonservice dogs. 39
6565 (d) Law enforcement dogs provide significant contributions 40
6666 to the residents of this state. 41
6767 (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 42
6868 (a) "Law enforcement agency" means a lawfully established 43
6969 state or local public agency having primary responsibility for 44
7070 the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of 45
7171 penal, traffic, highway, regulatory, game, immigration, postal, 46
7272 customs, or controlled substance laws. The term also includes a 47
7373 correctional facility, as defined in s. 944.242(1). 48
7474 (b) "Retired law enforcement dog" means a dog that was 49
7575 previously in the service of or employed by a law enforcement 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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8888 agency in this state for the principal purpose of aiding in the 51
8989 detection of criminal activity, operation of a correctional 52
9090 facility, enforcement of laws, or apprehension of offenders and 53
9191 that received certificat ion in obedience and apprehension work 54
9292 from a certifying organization, such as the National Police 55
9393 Canine Association, Inc., or other certifying organization. 56
9494 (c) "Veterinarian" has the same meaning as provided in s. 57
9595 474.202. 58
9696 (d) "Veterinary care" mean s the practice, by a 59
9797 veterinarian, of veterinary medicine as defined in s. 474.202. 60
9898 The term includes annual wellness examinations, vaccinations, 61
9999 internal and external parasite prevention treatments, testing 62
100100 and treatment of illnesses and diseases, medicat ions, emergency 63
101101 care and surgeries, veterinary oncology or other specialty care, 64
102102 euthanasia, and cremation. 65
103103 (3) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. —The Care for Retired Law 66
104104 Enforcement Dogs Program is created within the department to 67
105105 provide a stable funding source for the veterinary care for 68
106106 retired law enforcement dogs. 69
107107 (4) ADMINISTRATION. —The department shall contract with a 70
108108 nonprofit corporation organized under chapter 617 to administer 71
109109 and manage the Care for Retired Law Enforce ment Dogs Program. 72
110110 Notwithstanding chapter 287, the department shall select the 73
111111 nonprofit corporation through a competitive grant award process. 74
112112 The nonprofit corporation must meet all of the following 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125125 criteria: 76
126126 (a) Be dedicated to the protection or care of retired law 77
127127 enforcement dogs. 78
128128 (b) Be exempt from taxation under s. 501(a) of the 79
129129 Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in s. 80
130130 501(c)(3) of that code. 81
131131 (c) Have maintained such tax -exempt status for at least 5 82
132132 years. 83
133133 (d) Agree to be sub ject to review and audit at the 84
134134 discretion of the Auditor General in order to ensure accurate 85
135135 accounting and disbursement of state funds. 86
136136 (e) Demonstrate the ability to effectively and efficiently 87
137137 disseminate information and to assist former handlers and 88
138138 adopters of retired law enforcement dogs in complying with this 89
139139 section. 90
140140 (5) FUNDING.— 91
141141 (a) The nonprofit corporation shall be the disbursing 92
142142 authority for funds the Legislature appropriates to the 93
143143 department for the Care for Retired Law Enforcement Do gs 94
144144 Program. These funds must be disbursed to the former handler or 95
145145 the adopter of a retired law enforcement dog that served for 5 96
146146 years or more as a law enforcement dog upon receipt of: 97
147147 1. Valid documentation from the law enforcement agency 98
148148 from which the dog retired which verifies that the dog was in 99
149-the service of or employed by: 100
149+the service of or employed by that agency; and 100
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158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162- a. One or more law enforcement agencies for a period of at 101
163-least 5 years; or 102
164- b. One or more law enforcement agencies for a period of at 103
165-least 3 years, was injured in the line of duty, and retired f rom 104
166-the agency due to such injury; and 105
167- 2. A valid invoice from a veterinarian for veterinary care 106
168-provided in this state to a retired law enforcement dog and 107
169-documentation establishing payment of the invoice by the former 108
170-handler or the adopter of the re tired law enforcement dog. 109
171- (b) Annual disbursements to a former handler or an adopter 110
172-to reimburse him or her for the cost of the retired law 111
173-enforcement dog's veterinary care may not exceed $1,500 per dog. 112
174-A former handler or an adopter of a retired law enforcement dog 113
175-may not accumulate unused funds from a current year for use in a 114
176-future year. 115
177- (c) A former handler or an adopter of a retired law 116
178-enforcement dog who seeks reimbursement for veterinary care may 117
179-not receive reimbursement if funds appropri ated for the Care for 118
180-Retired Law Enforcement Dogs Program are depleted in the year 119
181-for which the reimbursement is sought. 120
182- (6) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. —The department shall pay to 121
183-the nonprofit corporation, and the nonprofit corporation may 122
184-use, up to 10 percent of appropriated funds for its 123
185-administrative expenses, including salaries and benefits. 124
186- (7) RULEMAKING.—The department shall adopt rules to 125
162+ a. That the dog served 5 years or more with that agency; 101
163+or 102
164+ b. Documentation showing that the dog served a total of 5 103
165+years or more with two or more law enf orcement agencies; and 104
166+ 2. A valid invoice from a veterinarian for veterinary care 105
167+provided in this state to a retired law enforcement dog and 106
168+documentation establishing payment of the invoice by the former 107
169+handler or the adopter of the retired law enforc ement dog. 108
170+ (b) Annual disbursements to a former handler or an adopter 109
171+to reimburse him or her for the cost of the retired law 110
172+enforcement dog's veterinary care may not exceed $1,500 per dog. 111
173+A former handler or an adopter of a retired law enforcement dog 112
174+may not accumulate unused funds from a current year for use in a 113
175+future year. 114
176+ (c) A former handler or an adopter of a retired law 115
177+enforcement dog who seeks reimbursement for veterinary care may 116
178+not receive reimbursement if funds appropriated for the Car e for 117
179+Retired Law Enforcement Dogs Program are depleted in the year 118
180+for which the reimbursement is sought. 119
181+ (6) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. —The department shall pay to 120
182+the nonprofit corporation, and the nonprofit corporation may 121
183+use, up to 10 percent of appr opriated funds for its 122
184+administrative expenses, including salaries and benefits. 123
185+ (7) RULEMAKING.—The department shall adopt rules to 124
186+implement this section. 125
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195195 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199-implement this section. 126
200- Section 3. Effective July 1, 2022, for the 2022 -2023 127
201-fiscal year, the sum of $300,000 in recurring funds is 128
202-appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of 129
203-Law Enforcement for the purpose of implementing and 130
204-administering the Care for Retired Law Enforcement Dogs Program. 131
205- Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 132
199+ Section 3. Effective July 1, 2022, for the 2022 -2023 126
200+fiscal year, the sum of $300,000 in recu rring funds is 127
201+appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of 128
202+Law Enforcement for the purpose of implementing and 129
203+administering the Care for Retired Law Enforcement Dogs Program. 130
204+ Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 131