| 15 | 15 | | An act relating to assault or battery on hospital 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | personnel; amending s. 784.07, F.S.; defining the term 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | "hospital personnel"; providing for the 4 |
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| 18 | 18 | | reclassification of certain offenses committed against 5 |
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| 19 | 19 | | hospital personnel while engaged in the performance of 6 |
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| 20 | 20 | | their duties; providing an effective date. 7 |
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| 21 | 21 | | 8 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9 |
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| 23 | 23 | | 10 |
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| 24 | 24 | | Section 1. Paragraphs (c) through ( f) of subsection (1) of 11 |
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| 25 | 25 | | section 784.07, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs 12 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (d) through (g), respectively, a new paragraph (c) is added to 13 |
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| 27 | 27 | | that subsection, and subsection (2) of that section is amended, 14 |
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| 28 | 28 | | to read: 15 |
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| 29 | 29 | | 784.07 Assault or battery of law enforcement officers and 16 |
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| 30 | 30 | | , firefighters, emergency medical care providers, public transit 17 |
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| 31 | 31 | | employees or agents, or other specified personnel officers; 18 |
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| 32 | 32 | | reclassification of offenses; minimum sentences. — 19 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (1) As used in this section, the term: 20 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (c) "Hospital personnel" means a health care practitioner 21 |
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| 35 | 35 | | as defined in s. 456.001, an employee, an agent, or a volunteer 22 |
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| 36 | 36 | | who is employed, under contract, or otherwise authorized by a 23 |
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| 37 | 37 | | hospital, as defined in s. 395.002, to perform duties directly 24 |
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| 38 | 38 | | associated with the care and treatment rendered by any 25 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Page 2 of 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 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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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | |
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| 50 | 50 | | |
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| 51 | 51 | | department of a hospital or with the security thereof. 26 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (2) Whenever any person is charged with knowingly 27 |
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| 53 | 53 | | committing an assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer, 28 |
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| 54 | 54 | | a firefighter, an emergency medical care provid er, hospital 29 |
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| 55 | 55 | | personnel, a railroad special officer, a traffic accident 30 |
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| 56 | 56 | | investigation officer as described in s. 316.640, a nonsworn law 31 |
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| 57 | 57 | | enforcement agency employee who is certified as an agency 32 |
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| 58 | 58 | | inspector, a blood alcohol analyst, or a breath test operator 33 |
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| 59 | 59 | | while such employee is in uniform and engaged in processing, 34 |
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| 60 | 60 | | testing, evaluating, analyzing, or transporting a person who is 35 |
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| 61 | 61 | | detained or under arrest for DUI, a law enforcement explorer, a 36 |
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| 62 | 62 | | traffic infraction enforcement officer as described in s. 37 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 316.640, a parking enforcement specialist as defined in s. 38 |
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| 64 | 64 | | 316.640, a person licensed as a security officer as defined in 39 |
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| 65 | 65 | | s. 493.6101 and wearing a uniform that bears at least one patch 40 |
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| 66 | 66 | | or emblem that is visible at all times that clearly identifies 41 |
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| 67 | 67 | | the employing agency and that clearly identifies the person as a 42 |
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| 68 | 68 | | licensed security officer, or a security officer employed by the 43 |
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| 69 | 69 | | board of trustees of a community college, while the officer, 44 |
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| 70 | 70 | | firefighter, emergency medical care provider, hospital 45 |
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| 71 | 71 | | personnel, railroad special officer, traffic accident 46 |
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| 72 | 72 | | investigation officer, traffic infraction enforcement officer, 47 |
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| 73 | 73 | | inspector, analyst, operator, law enforcement explorer, parking 48 |
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| 74 | 74 | | enforcement specialist, public transit employee or agent, or 49 |
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| 75 | 75 | | security officer is engaged in the lawfu l performance of his or 50 |
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| 83 | 83 | | Page 3 of 3 |
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| 84 | 84 | | 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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| 85 | 85 | | |
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| 86 | 86 | | |
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| 87 | 87 | | |
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| 88 | 88 | | her duties, the offense for which the person is charged shall be 51 |
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| 89 | 89 | | reclassified as follows: 52 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (a) In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the 53 |
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| 91 | 91 | | second degree to a misdemeanor of the first degree. 54 |
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| 92 | 92 | | (b) In the case of battery, from a misdemeanor of the 55 |
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| 93 | 93 | | first degree to a felony of the third degree. Notwithstanding 56 |
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| 94 | 94 | | any other provision of law, a person convicted of battery upon a 57 |
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| 95 | 95 | | law enforcement officer committed in furtherance of a riot or an 58 |
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| 96 | 96 | | aggravated riot prohibited under s. 870.01 shall be sentenced to 59 |
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| 97 | 97 | | a minimum term of imprisonment of 6 months. 60 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (c) In the case of aggravated assault, from a felony of 61 |
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| 99 | 99 | | the third degree to a felony of the second degree. 62 |
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| 100 | 100 | | Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person convicted 63 |
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| 101 | 101 | | of aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer shall be 64 |
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| 102 | 102 | | sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 3 years. 65 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (d) In the case of aggravated battery, from a felony of 66 |
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| 104 | 104 | | the second degree to a felony of the first degree. 67 |
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| 105 | 105 | | Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person convicted 68 |
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| 106 | 106 | | of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer shall be 69 |
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| 107 | 107 | | sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years. 70 |
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| 108 | 108 | | Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2023. 71 |
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