Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0443 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11
22
33 HB 443 2024
44
55
66
77 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
88 hb0443-00
99 Page 1 of 8
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
1111
1212
1313
1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to law enforcement officers and 2
1616 correctional officers; amending s. 112.532, F.S.; 3
1717 removing provisions relating to complaint review 4
1818 boards; authorizing law enforcement officers and 5
1919 correctional officers to pursue administrative relief 6
2020 or file a civil action if the officer is disciplined 7
2121 for certain violations; amending s. 112.534, F.S.; 8
2222 removing the requirement that certain violations by 9
2323 agencies or investigators be intentional; providing 10
2424 that an interview of an officer may not begin or must 11
2525 cease under certain circumstances; providing that the 12
2626 third member of a compliance review panel may not be 13
2727 employed by the agency head; requiring the compliance 14
2828 review panel to determine if a violation occurred; 15
2929 removing the requirement for an agency head to 16
3030 initiate an investigation against an investigator; 17
3131 requiring sustained allegations of an intentional 18
3232 violation to be forwarded to the Criminal Justice 19
3333 Standards and Training Commission for review; 20
3434 providing for administrative and civil relief; 21
3535 providing that an employing agency is responsible for 22
3636 certain monetary expenses under certain circumstances; 23
3737 amending s. 112.533, F.S.; removing a criminal 24
3838 penalty; conforming provisions to changes made by the 25
3939
4040 HB 443 2024
4141
4242
4343
4444 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
4545 hb0443-00
4646 Page 2 of 8
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
4848
4949
5050
5151 act; providing an effective date. 26
5252 27
5353 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 28
5454 29
5555 Section 1. Subsections (3) through (7) of section 112.532, 30
5656 Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (2) through (6), 31
5757 respectively, and present subsections (2) and (3) of that 32
5858 section are amended, to rea d: 33
5959 112.532 Law enforcement officers' and correctional 34
6060 officers' rights.—All law enforcement officers and correctional 35
6161 officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or 36
6262 a correctional agency shall have the following rights and 37
6363 privileges: 38
6464 (2) COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARDS. —A complaint review board 39
6565 shall be composed of three members: One member selected by the 40
6666 chief administrator of the agency or unit; one member selected 41
6767 by the aggrieved officer; and a third member to be selected by 42
6868 the other two members. Agencies or units having more than 100 43
6969 law enforcement officers or correctional officers shall utilize 44
7070 a five-member board, with two members being selected by the 45
7171 administrator, two members being selected by the aggrieved 46
7272 officer, and the fifth member being selected by the other four 47
7373 members. The board members shall be law enforcement officers or 48
7474 correctional officers selected from any state, county, or 49
7575 municipal agency within the county. There shall be a board for 50
7676
7777 HB 443 2024
7878
7979
8080
8181 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
8282 hb0443-00
8383 Page 3 of 8
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
8585
8686
8787
8888 law enforcement officers and a board for correctional officers 51
8989 whose members shall be from the same discipline as the aggrieved 52
9090 officer. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to 53
9191 sheriffs or deputy sheriffs. 54
9292 (2)(3) ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF AND CIVIL SUITS FOR BROUGHT 55
9393 BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OR CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS. —Every law 56
9494 enforcement officer or correctional officer has shall have the 57
9595 right to bring civil suit against any person, group of persons, 58
9696 or organization or corporation, or the head of such organization 59
9797 or corporation, for damages, either pecuniary or otherwise, 60
9898 suffered during the performance of the officer's official 61
9999 duties, for abridgment of the officer's civil rights arising out 62
100100 of the officer's performance of official duties, or for filing a 63
101101 complaint against the officer which the person knew was false 64
102102 when it was filed. An officer may pursue appropriate 65
103103 administrative relief or file a civil action in a court of 66
104104 competent jurisdiction if he or she is subject to disciplinary 67
105105 action in violation of this section. This section does not 68
106106 establish a separate civil action against the officer's 69
107107 employing law enforcement agency for the investigation and 70
108108 processing of a complaint filed under this part. 71
109109 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 112.534, Florida 72
110110 Statutes, is amended to read: 73
111111 112.534 Failure to comply; official misconduct. — 74
112112 (1) Notwithstanding s. 112.532(5), if any law enforcement 75
113113
114114 HB 443 2024
115115
116116
117117
118118 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
119119 hb0443-00
120120 Page 4 of 8
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
122122
123123
124124
125125 agency or correctional agency, including investigators in its 76
126126 internal affairs or professional standards division, or an 77
127127 assigned investigating supervisor, violates intentionally fails 78
128128 to comply with the requirements of this part, the following 79
129129 procedures apply. For purposes of this section, the term "law 80
130130 enforcement officer" or "correctional officer" includes the 81
131131 officer's representative or legal counsel, except in application 82
132132 of paragraph (d). 83
133133 (a) The law enforcement officer or correctional officer 84
134134 must notify shall advise the investigator of the alleged 85
135135 intentional violation of the requirements of this part which is 86
136136 alleged to have occurred. The officer's notice of violation is 87
137137 sufficient to notify the investigator of the requirements of 88
138138 this part which are alleged to have been violated and the 89
139139 factual basis of each violation. 90
140140 (b) If the investigator fails to cure the alleged 91
141141 violation or continues the alleged violation after being 92
142142 notified by the law enforcement officer or correctional officer, 93
143143 the officer must shall request that the agency head or his or 94
144144 her designee be informed of the alleged intentional violation. 95
145145 If the alleged violation is discovered before or during the 96
146146 interview of the officer Once this request is made , the 97
147147 interview of the officer may not begin or must shall cease, and 98
148148 the officer's refusal to respond to further investigative 99
149149 questions does not consti tute insubordination or any similar 100
150150
151151 HB 443 2024
152152
153153
154154
155155 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
156156 hb0443-00
157157 Page 5 of 8
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
159159
160160
161161
162162 type of policy violation. 101
163163 (c) Thereafter, within 3 working days, a written notice of 102
164164 alleged violation and request for a compliance review hearing 103
165165 must shall be filed with the agency head or designee and which 104
166166 must contain sufficient information to identify the requirements 105
167167 of this part which are alleged to have been violated and the 106
168168 factual basis of each violation. All evidence related to the 107
169169 investigation must be preserved for review and presentation at 108
170170 the compliance review hearing. For purposes of confidentiality, 109
171171 the compliance review panel hearing is shall be considered part 110
172172 of the original investigation. 111
173173 (d) Unless otherwise remedied by the agency before the 112
174174 compliance review hearing, the a compliance review hea ring must 113
175175 be conducted within 10 working days after the request for a 114
176176 compliance review hearing is filed, unless, by mutual agreement 115
177177 of the officer and agency or for extraordinary reasons, an 116
178178 alternate date is chosen. A compliance review The panel shall 117
179179 review the circumstances and facts surrounding the alleged 118
180180 intentional violation. The three-member compliance review panel 119
181181 consists of shall be made up of three members: one member 120
182182 selected by the agency head, one member selected by the office r 121
183183 filing the request, and a third member who is not employed by 122
184184 the agency head and is to be selected by the other two members. 123
185185 The compliance review panel members must shall be law 124
186186 enforcement officers or correctional officers who are active 125
187187
188188 HB 443 2024
189189
190190
191191
192192 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
193193 hb0443-00
194194 Page 6 of 8
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
196196
197197
198198
199199 from the same law enforcement discipline as the officer 126
200200 requesting the hearing. Compliance review panel members may be 127
201201 selected from any state, county, or municipal agency within the 128
202202 county in which the officer works. The compliance review hearing 129
203203 shall be conducted in the county in which the officer works. 130
204204 (e) It is the responsibility of the compliance review 131
205205 panel to determine whether a violation occurred and if or not 132
206206 the investigator or agency intentionally violated the 133
207207 requirements provided under this part. It ma y hear evidence, 134
208208 review relevant documents, and hear argument before making such 135
209209 a determination; however, all evidence received must shall be 136
210210 strictly limited to the allegation under consideration and may 137
211211 not be related to the disciplinary charges pending against the 138
212212 officer. The investigative materials are considered confidential 139
213213 for purposes of the compliance review hearing and determination. 140
214214 (f) The officer bears the burden of proof to establish 141
215215 that the alleged violation of this part was intentional. The 142
216216 standard of proof for such a determination is by a preponderance 143
217217 of the evidence. The determination of the compliance review 144
218218 panel must be made at the conclusion of the compliance review 145
219219 hearing, in writing, and filed with the agency head and the 146
220220 officer. 147
221221 (g) If the alleged violation is sustained as intentional 148
222222 by the compliance review panel, the agency head must shall 149
223223 immediately remove the investigator from any further involvement 150
224224
225225 HB 443 2024
226226
227227
228228
229229 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
230230 hb0443-00
231231 Page 7 of 8
232232 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
233233
234234
235235
236236 with the investigation of the officer if the investigation is 151
237237 still ongoing. Additionally, the agency head shall direct an 152
238238 investigation be initiated against the investigator determined 153
239239 to have intentionally violated the requirements provided under 154
240240 this part for purposes of agency disciplinary action. if the 155
241241 compliance review panel sustains the violation as intentional 156
242242 against the investigator or any other officer involved in the 157
243243 violation that investigation is sustained , the violation must 158
244244 sustained allegations against the investigator shall be 159
245245 forwarded to the Criminal Ju stice Standards and Training 160
246246 Commission for review as an act of official misconduct or misuse 161
247247 of position. 162
248248 (h) If an officer is disciplined after a violation of this 163
249249 part, the violation may be addressed and remedied 164
250250 administratively or in a court of comp etent jurisdiction. If a 165
251251 disciplinary action is directly connected to an intentional 166
252252 violation of this part and the intentional violation results in 167
253253 the reversal of the disciplinary action, the employing agency is 168
254254 responsible for the monetary expenses incu rred by the aggrieved 169
255255 officer, including attorney fees and costs, hardship draws from 170
256256 the officer's retirement accounts, loss of income, and loss of 171
257257 personal property. 172
258258 Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 112.533, Florida 173
259259 Statutes, is amended to read: 174
260260 112.533 Receipt and processing of complaints. — 175
261261
262262 HB 443 2024
263263
264264
265265
266266 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
267267 hb0443-00
268268 Page 8 of 8
269269 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
270270
271271
272272
273273 (4) Any person who is a participant in an internal 176
274274 investigation, including the complainant, the subject of the 177
275275 investigation and the subject's legal counsel or a 178
276276 representative of his or her choice, the i nvestigator conducting 179
277277 the investigation, and any witnesses in the investigation, who 180
278278 willfully discloses any information obtained pursuant to the 181
279279 agency's investigation, including, but not limited to, the 182
280280 identity of the officer under investigation, the n ature of the 183
281281 questions asked, information revealed, or documents furnished in 184
282282 connection with a confidential internal investigation of an 185
283283 agency, before such complaint, document, action, or proceeding 186
284284 becomes a public record as provided in this section com mits a 187
285285 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 188
286286 775.082 or s. 775.083. However, this subsection does not limit a 189
287287 law enforcement or correctional officer's ability to gain access 190
288288 to information under paragraph (2)(a). Additionally, a sh eriff, 191
289289 police chief, or other head of a law enforcement agency, or his 192
290290 or her designee, is not precluded by this section from 193
291291 acknowledging the existence of a complaint and the fact that an 194
292292 investigation is underway. 195
293293 Section 4. This act shall take effe ct July 1, 2024. 196