This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h1275e.HHS
DATE: 4/11/2023
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/HB 1275 Persons with Disabilities Registry
SPONSOR(S): Health & Human Services Committee, Plasencia
TIED BILLS: HB 1277 IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 784
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee 15 Y, 2 N Guzzo Brazzell
2) Criminal Justice Subcommittee 17 Y, 0 N Hall Hall
3) Health & Human Services Committee 17 Y, 0 N, As CS Guzzo Calamas
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Some behaviors associated with certain developmental, mental, neurological, psychological, emotional, or
cognitive impairments can increase a person’s chances of negative interactions with law enforcement. These
include the inability to follow instructions, acting out, inappropriate verbal statements, or other actions that may
be mistakenly perceived as an indication of hostility, criminal intent, or alcohol or drug intoxication.
Some local law enforcement agencies have developed programs to create safer interactions between law
enforcement and individuals with certain impairments, illnesses or disabilities. These include registries that
allow individuals with certain developmental, mental, neurological, psychological, emotional, or cognitive
impairments to voluntarily enroll by submitting identifying information and indicating the condition they have
that may be relevant to their interactions with law enforcement officers.
CS/HB 1275 creates s. 402.88, F.S., to establish uniform requirements for Persons with Disabilities Registries
by law enforcement agencies. The bill requires specified professionals to diagnose and certify a person’s
developmental, mental, or neurological condition prior to eligibility for enrollment in a registry. The bill requires
law enforcement agencies to ensure that individuals are enrolled in, or disenrolled from, Persons with
Disabilities Registries as follows.
Adults may enroll and disenroll themselves;
Adults with a disability who have been declared incapacitated may be enrolled and disenrolled by their
legal guardian—the local law enforcement agency must notify such adults of their enrollment in writing
within 5 business days; and
Minors may be enrolled and disenrolled by parents or legal guardians—the law enforcement agency
must notify such individuals of their enrollment in writing within 5 business days of their 18
th
birthday.
The bill requires a parent or legal guardian of a child or an incapacitated adult to provide documentation of their
legal authority to enroll the child or incapacitated adult in a registry. A local law enforcement agency must
remove an individual from a disability registry within 5 business days of an enrollee’s verbal or written request
for removal.
The bill authorizes a local law enforcement agency to provide access to a registry, and relevant information
from the registry, to a law enforcement officer engaged in official duties.
The bill is linked to CS/HB 1277, which creates a public record exemption for all records and personal
identifying information relating to the enrollment of individuals in a persons with disabilities registry held by a
local law enforcement agency.
The bill has no fiscal impact on state or local government.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2024. STORAGE NAME: h1275e.HHS PAGE: 2
DATE: 4/11/2023
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Disabilities
Disabilities can cause a lack of functionality in an individual’s vision, hearing, cognition, and motor
performance, and can limit an individual’s ability to care for themselves or live independently.
1
Disabilities can be present at birth or develop over the lifespan. Examples of disabilities include Down
Syndrome, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy.
Currently, 12.7 percent of Americans have a disability.
2
Intellectual Disabilities
Intellectual disability means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing
concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior. An individual with an intellectual disability has certain
limitations in both mental functioning and in adaptive skills such as communicating, self-care, and
social skills. These limitations will cause a person to learn and develop more slowly. People with
intellectual disabilities may take longer to learn to speak, walk, and take care of their personal needs
such as dressing or eating.
3
Down Syndrome
Down syndrome is an intellectual disability caused when abnormal cell division results in extra genetic
material from chromosome 21. This genetic disorder, also known as trisomy 21, varies in severity,
causes lifelong intellectual disability and developmental delays, and, in some people, causes health
problems.
4
Neurological Disorders
Autism
Autism is a pervasive, neurologically-based developmental disability of extended duration that has
onset during infancy or childhood, which causes severe learning, communication, and behavioral
disorders.
5
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes autism, Asperger’s syndrome, and any other
pervasive developmental disorder.
6
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
that approximately one in 44 children has ASD.
7
The CDC also estimates that over 5.4 million adults
have ASD.
8
Alzheimer’s Disease
1
Cornell University, Disability Statistics Online Resource for U.S. Disability Statistics, American Community Survey (2019), available at
https://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/acs.cfm?statistic=1 (last accessed March 19, 2023).
2
Id.
3
Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Long-Range Program Plan Fiscal Years 2023-24-2027-28, available at
http://floridafiscalportal.state.fl.us/Document.aspx?ID=24394&DocType=PDF (last accessed March 17, 2023)
4
Id.
5
S. 393.063(5), F.S.
6
S. 627.6686(2)(b), F.S.
7
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Data & Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder, available at
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html (last accessed March 15, 2023).
8
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Findings: CDC Releases First Estimates of the Number of Adults Living with Autism
Spectrum Disorder in the United States, available at https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/features/adults-living-with-autism-spectrum-
disorder.html (last accessed March 15, 2023). STORAGE NAME: h1275e.HHS PAGE: 3
DATE: 4/11/2023
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia, a general term for memory loss, in which dementia
symptoms worsen gradually over time. It is a progressive brain disorder that damages and eventually
destroys brain cells, leading to memory loss and changes in the functions of the brain. Alzheimer’s
disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease,
memory loss is mild; in late-stages, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond
to their environment. Currently, the disease has no cure, but treatment can temporarily slow the
worsening of symptoms.
9
Florida has an increasing number of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. An estimated 580,000
Floridians have Alzheimer’s disease.
10
The projected number of Floridians with Alzheimer’s disease is
estimated to increase by 24 percent to 720,000 individuals by 2025.
11
Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects the nervous system and the
parts of the body controlled by the nerves. It causes uncontrollable movements, such as shaking,
stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.
12
Nearly 90,000 people are diagnosed with
Parkinson’s disease in the U.S. each year.
13
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare neurological disorder that affects an individual’s
balance and control of walking, speech, swallowing, eye movements and vision, mood and behavior,
and thinking. PSP shares many symptoms with, and is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease.
14
Mental Disorders
A mental illness is an impairment of the mental or emotional processes that exercise conscious control
of one’s actions or the ability to perceive or understand reality, which interferes with the person’s ability
to meet the ordinary demands of living.
15
An estimated 26 percent of American adults suffer from a
diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.
16
One in six youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health
disorder each year.
17
These range in severity from illnesses that mildly impair functioning to illnesses
such as schizophrenia that involve hallucinations and delusions, incoherent speech, and inappropriate
behavior.
18
Interactions with Law Enforcement
9
Alzheimer’s Association, 2021 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, available at https://www.alz.org/media/documents/alzheimers-
facts-and-figures.pdf (last accessed March 15, 2023).
10
Florida Department of Elder Affairs, 2021 Alzheimer’s Disease Advisory Committee Annual Report, available at
https://elderaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/ADAC-Report-2021_FINAL.pdf (last accessed March 15, 2023).
11
Id.
12
National Institute on Aging, Parkinson’s Disease: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments, available at
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/parkinsons-disease (last accessed March 15, 2023).
13
Willis, A.W., Roberts, E., Beck, J.C. et al., Incidence of Parkinson Disease In North America, NPJ Parkinson’s Disease, Article 170
(2022), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-022-00410-y (last accessed March 15, 2023).
14
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, available at
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/progressive-supranuclear-palsy-psp (last accessed March 15, 2023).
15
S. 394.455(29), F.S.
16
Johns Hopkins Medicine, Mental Health Disorder Statistics, available at https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-
prevention/mental-health-disorder-statistics (last accessed March 15, 2023).
17
National Alliance on Mental Health, Mental Health by the Numbers, available at https://www.nami.org/mhstats (last accessed March
15, 2023).
18
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Mental Health, Understanding Psychosis,
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/understanding-psychosis (last accessed March 17, 2023). STORAGE NAME: h1275e.HHS PAGE: 4
DATE: 4/11/2023
All of the conditions discussed above have attributes that may mislead a law enforcement officer to
think that an individual is under the influence of drugs or alcohol—such as speech impairment, vision
impairment, uncontrollable body movements, and memory loss.
Because of this, such a condition may make interactions with law enforcement more challenging. For
example, identifying that a person has ASD can be difficult for a person unfamiliar with the condition,
including law enforcement officers.
19
The signs of autism may mislead a law enforcement officer to
think the person is being aggressive or disobedient, which might cause the officer to approach the
situation in the same manner they would when dealing with a suspected criminal.
20
Common attributes
of autism are communication differences and behaviors or thinking that are repetitive or restricted to an
area of interest. These traits could be interpreted by law enforcement as not being compliant with
questioning or direct instructions.
A characteristic of ASD known as escalation poses a particular problem in encounters with law
enforcement.
21
Escalation describes the response of a person with ASD under stress or in an unfamiliar
situation. Overwhelmed by the barrage of sensory information, a person with ASD may attempt to flee
an uncomfortable situation, become combative, or simply shut down. The individual may cover his or
her ears and shriek, not knowing how or where to get help.
22
The presence of police lights and sirens,
uniforms, loud and unfamiliar voices, or barking dogs often makes a difficult situation worse by
contributing to the individual's sensory overload.
23
Registries of Persons with Disabilities
Some local law enforcement agencies have developed and implemented programs in an attempt to
create safer interactions with individuals with certain impairments. These include registries to allow
individuals with certain conditions to voluntarily enroll by submitting certain identifying information and
indicating the condition they have that may be relevant to their interactions with law enforcement
officers.
24
The information from these registries is then shared with law enforcement when an officer interacts with
an individual listed in the registry. For example, a dispatcher can inform an officer of an individual’s
condition prior to the officer interacting with that individual or an officer may search the registry prior to
interacting with an individual.
19
Bernard J. Farber, Police Interaction With Autistic Persons: The Need For Training, Aele Monthly Law Journal, 101, 102 (2009),
available at https://www.aele.org/law/2009all07/2009-07MLJ101.pdf (last accessed Mach 15, 2023).
20
Lambert, Randy (2018) "How Changing the Wes Kleinert Fair Interview Act and Establishing Law Enforcement Academy Training
Standards Will Help the Autism Community," Child and Family Law Journal: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1 , Article 3,
available at: https://lawpublications.barry.edu/cflj/vol6/iss1/3 (last accessed March 15, 2023).
21
Supra at note 19.
22
Id.
23
Id.
24
See Seminole County Sheriff’s Office-County Autism Response & Enhanced Services Program (CARES), available at
https://www.seminolesheriff.org/page.aspx?id=157, City of Jacksonville Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security-Registry for
Endangered, Vulnerable, and Missing Persons (REVAMP), available at https://www.jaxready.com/REVAMP, City of Davie Police
Department-Special Needs Registry, available at https://www.davie-fl.gov/1451/Special-Needs-Registry, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s
Office-Project Safe Encounter, available at https://teamhcso.com/News/PressRelease/f0f3d53b-cf10-4740-9112-ab88284a1e49/21-023
(last accessed March 15, 2023). See also Town of Jupiter, Pembroke Pines, Miami Shores, Town of Miami Lakes, Palm Beach
Gardens, City of Lake Mary, and Polk County. STORAGE NAME: h1275e.HHS PAGE: 5
DATE: 4/11/2023
Effect of the Bill
CS/HB 1275 creates s. 402.88, F.S., to create uniform requirements for the operation of Persons with
Disabilities Registries by law enforcement agencies. The bill requires a person’s condition to be
diagnosed and certified by a specified professional prior to being eligible for enrollment in a registry.
Such diagnosis and certification must be provided by a licensed physician, physician assistant,
advanced practice registered nurse, psychologist, mental health counselor, or psychiatrist.
The bill defines “condition” as a developmental, mental, neurological, psychological, emotional, or
cognitive impairment, illness, or disability, including, but not limited to autism spectrum disorder,
Alzheimer’s disease or a dementia-related disorder, Parkinson’s disease, progressive supranuclear
palsy, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, or Down syndrome. The bill specifies that conditions manifested by
substance abuse are not authorized conditions for inclusion in a Persons with Disabilities Registry.
The bill requires law enforcement agencies to ensure that individuals are enrolled and disenrolled in
Persons with Disabilities Registries as follows:
An adult may enroll and disenroll themselves;
An incapacitated adult
25
with a disability may be enrolled and disenrolled by their legal
guardian—the local law enforcement agency must notify such adults of their enrollment in
writing within 5 business days; and
A minor may be enrolled and disenrolled by their parent or legal guardian—the local law
enforcement agency must notify such individuals of their enrollment in writing within 5 business
days of the enrollee’s 18
th
birthday.
The bill requires a parent or legal guardian of a child or an incapacitated adult to provide documentation
of their legal authority to enroll the child or incapacitated adult in a registry. Documentation may be in
the form of a birth certificate, power of attorney,
26
court order establishing parental rights or
guardianship, or letters of guardianship.
27
A local law enforcement agency must remove an individual from a registry within 5 business days of an
enrollee’s verbal or written request for removal.
The bill authorizes a registry to include certain information, including, but not limited to:
The enrollee’s name, address, contact information, personal identifying information, and
condition that may be relevant to interactions with law enforcement officers;
The name, address, contact information, and personal identifying information of a parent, legal
guardian, or guardian advocate who enrolled an individual; and
The certification of the condition.
The bill authorizes a local law enforcement agency to provide access to its disability registry, and
relevant information from the registry, to a law enforcement officer engaged in the his or her official
duties.
The bill provides an effective date of January 1, 2024.
25
S. 744.102, F.S., an incapacitated person is an individual who has been judicially determined to lack the capacity to manage at least
some of their own property or to meet at least some of the essential requirements for the individual’s health and safety. See also s.
744.3201, F.S., the process to determine an individual’s incapacity and the subsequent appointment of a guardian begins with a verified
petition detailing the factual information supporting the reasons the petitioner believes the individual to be incapacitated, including the
rights the alleged incapacitated person is incapable of exercising.
26
S. 709.2102(1),(9), F.S., a power of attorney is a writing that grants authority to an attorney or other individual to act in the place of
the incapacitated adult.
27
S. 744.345, F.S., letters of guardianship issued to a guardian must specify whether the guardianship pertains to the person, or
property, or both of the ward. The letters must state whether the guardianship is plenary or limited, and, if limited, the letters must state
the powers and duties of the guardian. The letters are also required to state whether or not and to what extent the guardian is
authorized to act on behalf of the ward with regard to any advance directive previously executed by the ward. STORAGE NAME: h1275e.HHS PAGE: 6
DATE: 4/11/2023
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1: Cites the act as the “Protect Our Loved Ones Act.”
Section 2: Creates s. 402.88, F.S., relating to Persons with Disabilities Registry.
Section 3: Provides an effective date of January 1, 2024.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
None.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
Not applicable. This bill does not appear to require counties or municipalities to spend funds or take
action requiring the expenditures of funds; reduce the authority that counties or municipalities have
to raise revenues in the aggregate; or reduce the percentage of state tax shared with counties or
municipalities.
2. Other:
None.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
Rule-making is not necessary to implement the provisions of the bill.
STORAGE NAME: h1275e.HHS PAGE: 7
DATE: 4/11/2023
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
The bill is linked to CS/HB 1277, which creates a public record exemption for all records and personal
identifying information relating to the enrollment of individuals in a persons with disabilities registry held
by a local law enforcement agency.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES
On April 10, 2023, the Health & Human Services Committee adopted an amendment and reported the bill
favorably as a committee substitute. The amendment:
Required a parent or legal guardian of a child or an incapacitated adult to provide documentation of
their legal authority to enroll the child or incapacitated adult in a registry; and
Changed all references of a single registry to registries.
This analysis is drafted to the committee substitute as passed by the Health & Human Services Committee.