Florida Senate - 2023 SB 568 By Senator Rodriguez 40-01257-23 2023568__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to assault or battery on hospital 3 personnel; amending s. 784.07, F.S.; defining the term 4 hospital personnel; providing enhanced criminal 5 penalties for persons who knowingly commit assault or 6 battery upon hospital personnel; providing an 7 effective date. 8 9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10 11 Section 1.Section 784.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to 12 read: 13 784.07Assault or battery of law enforcement officers, 14 firefighters, emergency medical care providers, hospital 15 personnel, public transit employees or agents, or other 16 specified officers; reclassification of offenses; minimum 17 sentences. 18 (1)As used in this section, the term: 19 (a)Emergency medical care provider means an ambulance 20 driver, emergency medical technician, paramedic, registered 21 nurse, physician as defined in s. 401.23, medical director as 22 defined in s. 401.23, or any person authorized by an emergency 23 medical service licensed under chapter 401 who is engaged in the 24 performance of his or her duties. The term emergency medical 25 care provider also includes physicians, employees, agents, or 26 volunteers of hospitals as defined in chapter 395, who are 27 employed, under contract, or otherwise authorized by a hospital 28 to perform duties directly associated with the care and 29 treatment rendered by the hospitals emergency department or the 30 security thereof. 31 (b)Firefighter means any person employed by any public 32 employer of this state whose duty it is to extinguish fires; to 33 protect life or property; or to enforce municipal, county, and 34 state fire prevention codes, as well as any law pertaining to 35 the prevention and control of fires. 36 (c)Hospital personnel means a health care practitioner 37 as defined in s. 456.001 or an employee, an agent, or a 38 volunteer who is employed by, under contract with, or otherwise 39 authorized by a hospital as defined in s. 395.002 to perform 40 duties directly associated with the care and treatment rendered 41 by any department of a hospital or with the security thereof. 42 (d)(c)Law enforcement explorer means any person who is a 43 current member of a law enforcement agencys explorer program 44 and who is performing functions other than those required to be 45 performed by sworn law enforcement officers on behalf of a law 46 enforcement agency while under the direct physical supervision 47 of a sworn officer of that agency and wearing a uniform that 48 bears at least one patch that clearly identifies the law 49 enforcement agency that he or she represents. 50 (e)(d)Law enforcement officer includes a law enforcement 51 officer, a correctional officer, a correctional probation 52 officer, a part-time law enforcement officer, a part-time 53 correctional officer, an auxiliary law enforcement officer, and 54 an auxiliary correctional officer, as those terms are 55 respectively defined in s. 943.10, and any county probation 56 officer; an employee or agent of the Department of Corrections 57 who supervises or provides services to inmates; an officer of 58 the Florida Commission on Offender Review; a federal law 59 enforcement officer as defined in s. 901.1505; and law 60 enforcement personnel of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation 61 Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, or the 62 Department of Law Enforcement. 63 (f)(e)Public transit employees or agents means bus 64 operators, train operators, revenue collectors, security 65 personnel, equipment maintenance personnel, or field 66 supervisors, who are employees or agents of a transit agency as 67 described in s. 812.015(1)(l). 68 (g)(f)Railroad special officer means a person employed 69 by a Class I, Class II, or Class III railroad and appointed or 70 pending appointment by the Governor pursuant to s. 354.01. 71 (2)Whenever any person is charged with knowingly 72 committing an assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer, 73 a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, hospital 74 personnel, a railroad special officer, a traffic accident 75 investigation officer as described in s. 316.640, a nonsworn law 76 enforcement agency employee who is certified as an agency 77 inspector, a blood alcohol analyst, or a breath test operator 78 while such employee is in uniform and engaged in processing, 79 testing, evaluating, analyzing, or transporting a person who is 80 detained or under arrest for DUI, a law enforcement explorer, a 81 traffic infraction enforcement officer as described in s. 82 316.640, a parking enforcement specialist as defined in s. 83 316.640, a person licensed as a security officer as defined in 84 s. 493.6101 and wearing a uniform that bears at least one patch 85 or emblem that is visible at all times that clearly identifies 86 the employing agency and that clearly identifies the person as a 87 licensed security officer, or a security officer employed by the 88 board of trustees of a community college, while the officer, 89 firefighter, emergency medical care provider, hospital 90 personnel, railroad special officer, traffic accident 91 investigation officer, traffic infraction enforcement officer, 92 inspector, analyst, operator, law enforcement explorer, parking 93 enforcement specialist, public transit employee or agent, or 94 security officer is engaged in the lawful performance of his or 95 her duties, the offense for which the person is charged shall be 96 reclassified as follows: 97 (a)In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the 98 second degree to a misdemeanor of the first degree. 99 (b)In the case of battery, from a misdemeanor of the first 100 degree to a felony of the third degree. Notwithstanding any 101 other provision of law, a person convicted of battery upon a law 102 enforcement officer committed in furtherance of a riot or an 103 aggravated riot prohibited under s. 870.01 shall be sentenced to 104 a minimum term of imprisonment of 6 months. 105 (c)In the case of aggravated assault, from a felony of the 106 third degree to a felony of the second degree. Notwithstanding 107 any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated 108 assault upon a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a 109 minimum term of imprisonment of 3 years. 110 (d)In the case of aggravated battery, from a felony of the 111 second degree to a felony of the first degree. Notwithstanding 112 any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated 113 battery of a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a 114 minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years. 115 (3)Any person who is convicted of a battery under 116 paragraph (2)(b) and, during the commission of the offense, such 117 person possessed: 118 (a)A firearm or destructive device as those terms are 119 defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a minimum term of 120 imprisonment of 3 years. 121 (b)A semiautomatic firearm and its high-capacity 122 detachable box magazine, as defined in s. 775.087(3), or a 123 machine gun as defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a 124 minimum term of imprisonment of 8 years. 125 126 Notwithstanding s. 948.01, adjudication of guilt or imposition 127 of sentence shall not be suspended, deferred, or withheld, and 128 the defendant is not eligible for statutory gain-time under s. 129 944.275 or any form of discretionary early release, other than 130 pardon or executive clemency, or conditional medical release 131 under s. 947.149, prior to serving the minimum sentence. 132 Section 2.This act shall take effect October 1, 2023.