CS/HB 1595 2023
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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 VE S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to law enforcement operations; 2
amending s. 30.15, F.S.; revising the powers, duties, 3
and obligations of a sheriff; amending s. 166.241, 4
F.S.; authorizing certain persons to file a petition 5
with the Division of Administrative Hearings, rather 6
than an appeal to the Administration Commission, if 7
the tentative budget of a municipality contains a 8
certain reduction; providing requirements for such 9
petition and a reply to such petition; providing 10
procedures for hearings on such petitions; specifying 11
the administrative law judge's considerations during 12
the hearing; requiring the administrative law judge to 13
issue a specified recommended order within a cer tain 14
timeframe; providing that the recommended order is 15
subject to appeal; specifying that the recommended 16
order becomes final under certain circumstances; 17
providing that the division must close the case under 18
certain circumstances; providing the effects o f the 19
final order; providing an effective date. 20
21
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22
23
Section 1. Subsection (5) is added to section 30.15, 24
Florida Statutes, to read: 25
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30.15 Powers, duties, and obligations. — 26
(5) As required by s. 1(d), Art. VIII of the State 27
Constitution, there shall be an elected sheriff in each Florida 28
county and the transfer of the sheriff's duties to another 29
officer or office is prohibited. 30
(a) The sheriff shall have exclusive policing jurisdiction 31
in the unincorporated areas of each county. The sheriff's 32
jurisdiction and powers must run throughout the entire county 33
regardless of whether there are incorporated cities or other 34
independent districts or governmental entities in the county. 35
The sheriff's jurisdiction is concurrent with any city, 36
district, or other law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction 37
in a city or district. 38
(b) A police department or other policing entity may not 39
be maintained or established by the county's board of county 40
commissioners, or any other county legislative body, to provide 41
any policing in the unincorporated area of any county. Only the 42
duly elected sheriff may provide such policing and police 43
functions in the unincorporated areas of any county. A county 44
may not contract with or engage in any manner with an 45
incorporated city's or district's police department to provide 46
any services provided by the sheriff, including policing or 47
police functions in the unincorporated areas of any county. 48
Nothing in this paragraph affects the jurisdiction or powers of 49
any agency of the State of Florida or the United States or 50
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prohibits mutual aid agreements between the sheriff and any 51
other police department. 52
Section 2. Present subsections (6), (7), and (8) of 53
section 166.241, Florida Stat utes, are renumbered as subsections 54
(8), (9), and (10), respectively, new subsections (6) and (7) 55
are added to that section, and subsections (4) and (5) and 56
present subsection (8) of that section are amended to read: 57
166.241 Fiscal years, budgets, appeal of municipal law 58
enforcement agency budget, and budget amendments. — 59
(4)(a) If the tentative budget of a municipality contains 60
a funding reduction to the operating budget of the municipal law 61
enforcement agency of more than 5 percent compared to the 62
current fiscal year's approved budget , the state attorney for 63
the judicial circuit in which the municipality is located , or a 64
member of the governing body who objects to the funding 65
reduction, may file a petition with an appeal by petition to the 66
Division of Administrative Hearings pursuant to ss. 120.569 and 67
120.57, with a copy served on the affected local government, to 68
request a formal hearing to challenge the reduction in the 69
municipal law enforcement agency's operating budget. The 70
petition must be filed wi th the division Administration 71
Commission within 30 days after the day the tentative budget is 72
posted to the official website of the municipality under 73
subsection (3). The petition must set forth the tentative budget 74
proposed by the municipality, in the fo rm and manner prescribed 75
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by the division Executive Office of the Governor and approved by 76
the Administration Commission , and the operating budget of the 77
municipal law enforcement agency as approved by the municipality 78
for the previous year, and must state the reasons or grounds for 79
the petition appeal. The petition shall be filed with the 80
Executive Office of the Governor and a copy served upon the 81
governing body of the municipality or to the clerk of the 82
circuit court of the county in which the municipality is 83
located. 84
(b) The governing body of the municipality shall file a 85
reply with the division and shall serve a copy of the reply on 86
the petitioner within has 5 working days after receipt of 87
service of a copy of the petition to file a reply with the 88
Executive Office of the Governor and shall serve a copy of such 89
reply to the petitioner . 90
(5) Upon receipt of the petition, the division Executive 91
Office of the Governor shall hold provide for a budget hearing 92
at which the matters presented in the petition and the reply 93
shall be considered. A report of the findings and 94
recommendations of the Executive Office of the Governor thereon 95
shall be promptly submitted to the Administration Commission, 96
which, within 30 days, shall approve the action of the governing 97
body of the municipality or amend or modify the budget as to 98
each separate item within the operating budget of the municipal 99
law enforcement agency. The budget as approved, amended, or 100
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modified by the Administration Commission shall be final. 101
(a) During the hearing, the petitioner and municipality 102
may present to the administrative law judge all information 103
relevant to the municipal law enforcement agency's budgetary 104
needs and requirements, including, but not limited to: 105
1. The grounds for the petition filed by the petitioner; 106
2. The grounds for opposing the petition; 107
3. The municipality's reasons for proposing a reduction in 108
funding in the current fiscal year's operating budget; 109
4. The operating budget approved by the municipality; 110
5. A comparison of the municipal law enforcement agency's 111
operating budget to the operating budgets of other entities 112
within the municipality; 113
6. A comparison of the municipal law enforcement agency's 114
operating budget to operating budgets of law enforcement 115
agencies in nearby municipalities that are of comparable size; 116
7. Data and all other information describing the municipal 117
law enforcement agency's staffing needs and budgetary 118
requirements from the current fiscal year and the 2 previous 119
fiscal years; 120
8. The draft municipal law enforcement agency operating 121
budgets, budget amendments, or budget meeting minutes from the 122
current fiscal year and the 2 previous fiscal years; 123
9. The revenue and projected revenue available to the 124
municipality and the change in the amount o f revenue collected 125
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over the last 3 fiscal years; and 126
10. Any other information provided by the petitioner or 127
municipality relevant to the municipal law enforcement agency's 128
operating budget. 129
(b) In making a determination, the administrative law 130
judge may consider whether: 131
1. The law enforcement agency can fully perform its duties 132
despite the budget reduction; 133
2. The proposed level of funding will endanger the safety 134
of the municipality's residents; and 135
3. The proposed operating budget for the mun icipal law 136
enforcement agency will have a substantially negative effect on 137
the effectiveness of the law enforcement agency. 138
(6)(a) The administrative law judge, within 30 days after 139
the hearing on the petition, shall issue a recommended order 140
either approving or rejecting the proposed operating budget for 141
the municipal law enforcement agency. The recommended order must 142
list the administrative law judge's findings and explain its 143
decision with reference to the information presented or 144
discussed during the hearing. The recommended order is subject 145
to appeal in accordance with chapter 120. 146
(b) The recommended order submitted under this subsection 147
becomes a final order 90 days after its issuance unless the 148
petitioner and municipality voluntarily enter into a n agreement 149
resolving the issues raised in the hearing. Before the execution 150
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of the agreement, the municipality must approve the agreement at 151
a public hearing noticed in accordance with this chapter. Upon 152
the filing of an executed agreement, the division m ust close the 153
case. 154
(7)(a) If the final order approves the tentative budget of 155
a municipality which contains a funding reduction to the 156
operating budget of the municipal law enforcement agency, that 157
portion of the operating budget is valid. 158
(b) If the final order rejects the tentative budget of a 159
municipality which contains a funding reduction to the operating 160
budget of the municipal law enforcement agency, the municipality 161
must approve a budget that does not reduce funding to the 162
municipal law enforcem ent agency as prescribed in paragraph 163
(4)(a). 164
(10)(8) If the governing body of a municipality amends the 165
budget pursuant to paragraph (9)(c) (7)(c), the adopted 166
amendment must be posted on the official website of the 167
municipality within 5 days after adop tion and must remain on the 168
website for at least 2 years. If the municipality does not 169
operate an official website, the municipality must, within a 170
reasonable period of time as established by the county or 171
counties in which the municipality is located, tra nsmit the 172
adopted amendment to the manager or administrator of such county 173
or counties who shall post the adopted amendment on the county's 174
website. 175
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Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 176