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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 V E S
1
An act relating to law enforcement and correctional 2
officers; creating s. 30.61, F.S.; authorizing county 3
sheriffs to establish civilian oversight boards to 4
review the policies and procedures of the sheriff's 5
office and its subdivisions; providing for membership 6
of such boards; amending s. 112.533, F.S.; providing 7
legislative intent; revising the definition of 8
"political subdivision"; prohibiting a political 9
subdivision from adopting or attempting to enforce 10
certain ordinances relating to the receipt, 11
processing, or investigation of complaints against law 12
enforcement officers or correctional officers, or 13
relating to civilian oversight of law enforcement 14
agency investigations of complaints of misconduct by 15
such officers; making technical changes; amending s. 16
112.532, F.S.; conforming a cross -reference; making 17
technical changes; amending s. 145.071, F.S.; revising 18
the base salary for sheriffs; providing a declarat ion 19
of important state interest; creating s. 166.0486, 20
F.S.; authorizing the chief of a municipal police 21
department to establish a civilian oversight board to 22
review the policies and procedures of the chief's 23
department and its subdivisions; providing for 24
membership of such boards; providing an effective 25
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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 V E S
date. 26
27
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 28
29
Section 1. Section 30.61, Florida Statutes, is created to 30
read: 31
30.61 Establishment of civilian oversight boards. — 32
(1) A county sheriff may establish a civilian oversight 33
board to review the policies and procedures of his or her office 34
and its subdivisions. 35
(2) The board must be composed of at least three and up to 36
seven members appointed by the sheriff, one of which shall be a 37
retired law enforcement officer. 38
Section 2. Section 112.533, Florida Statutes, is amended 39
to read: 40
112.533 Receipt and processing of complaints. — 41
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature to make the 42
process for receiving, processing, and investigatio n of 43
complaints against law enforcement or correctional officers, and 44
the rights and privileges provided in this part while under 45
investigation, apply uniformly throughout this state and its 46
political subdivisions. 47
(2) As used in this section, the term " political 48
subdivision" means a separate agency or unit of local government 49
created or established by law or ordinance and the officers 50
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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 V E S
thereof and includes, but is not limited to, an authority, a 51
board, a branch, a bureau, a city, a commission, a consolida ted 52
government, a county, a department, a district, an institution, 53
a metropolitan government, a municipality, an office, an 54
officer, a public corporation, a town, or a village. 55
(3) A political subdivision may not adopt or attempt to 56
enforce any ordinanc e relating to either of the following: 57
(a) The receipt, processing, or investigation by any 58
political subdivision of this state of complaints of misconduct 59
by law enforcement or correctional officers, except as expressly 60
provided in this section. 61
(b) Civilian oversight of law enforcement agencies' 62
investigations of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement or 63
correctional officers. 64
(4)(a) Every law enforcement agency and correctional 65
agency shall establish and put into operation a system for the 66
receipt, investigation, and determination of complaints received 67
by such agency from any person, which must shall be the 68
procedure for investigating a complaint against a law 69
enforcement or and correctional officer and for determining 70
whether to proceed with disciplinary action or to file 71
disciplinary charges, notwithstanding any other law or ordinance 72
to the contrary. When law enforcement or correctional agency 73
personnel assigned the responsibility of investigating the 74
complaint prepare an investigative repor t or summary, regardless 75
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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 V E S
of form, the person preparing the report shall, at the time the 76
report is completed: 77
1. Verify pursuant to s. 92.525 that the contents of the 78
report are true and accurate based upon the person's personal 79
knowledge, information, and belief. 80
2. Include the following statement, sworn and subscribed 81
to pursuant to s. 92.525: 82
83
"I, the undersigned, do hereby swear, under penalty of perjury, 84
that, to the best of my personal knowledge, information, and 85
belief, I have not knowingly or w illfully deprived, or allowed 86
another to deprive, the subject of the investigation of any of 87
the rights contained in ss. 112.532 and 112.533, Florida 88
Statutes." 89
90
The requirements of subparagraphs 1. and 2. must shall be 91
completed before prior to the determination as to whether to 92
proceed with disciplinary action or to file disciplinary 93
charges. This subsection does not preclude the Criminal Justice 94
Standards and Training Commission from exercising its authority 95
under chapter 943. 96
(b)1. Any political subdivision that initiates or receives 97
a complaint against a law enforcement officer or correctional 98
officer shall must within 5 business days forward the complaint 99
to the employing agency of the officer who is the subject of the 100
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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 V E S
complaint for review or investi gation. 101
2. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "political 102
subdivision" means a separate agency or unit of local government 103
created or established by law or ordinance and the officers 104
thereof and includes, but is not limited to, an authority, 105
board, branch, bureau, city, commission, consolidated 106
government, county, department, district, institution, 107
metropolitan government, municipality, office, officer, public 108
corporation, town, or village. 109
110
Notwithstanding the rights and privileges provided under th is 111
part or any provisions provided in a collective bargaining 112
agreement, the agency head or the agency head's designee may 113
request a sworn or certified investigator from a separate law 114
enforcement or correctional agency to conduct the investigation 115
when a conflict is identified with having an investigator 116
conduct the investigation of an officer of the same employing 117
agency; the employing agency does not have an investigator 118
trained to conduct such investigations; or the agency's 119
investigator is the subject of, or a witness in, the 120
investigation and such agency is composed of any combination of 121
35 or fewer law enforcement officers or correctional officers. 122
The employing agency must document the identified conflict. Upon 123
completion of the investigation, the in vestigator shall present 124
the findings without any disciplinary recommendation to the 125
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employing agency. 126
(5)(a)(2)(a) A complaint filed against a law enforcement 127
officer or correctional officer with a law enforcement agency or 128
correctional agency and all i nformation obtained pursuant to the 129
investigation by the agency of the complaint is confidential and 130
exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) until the 131
investigation ceases to be active, or until the agency head or 132
the agency head's designee provides wri tten notice to the 133
officer who is the subject of the complaint, either personally 134
or by mail, that the agency has concluded the investigation with 135
either a finding: 136
1. Concluded the investigation with a finding Not to 137
proceed with disciplinary action or to file charges; or 138
2. Concluded the investigation with a finding To proceed 139
with disciplinary action or to file charges. 140
141
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the officer who is the 142
subject of the complaint, along with legal counsel or any other 143
representative of his or her choice, may review the complaint 144
and all statements regardless of form made by the complainant 145
and witnesses and all existing evidence, including, but not 146
limited to, incident reports, analyses, GPS locator information, 147
and audio or video recordings relating to the investigation, 148
immediately before beginning the investigative interview. All 149
statements, regardless of form, provided by a law enforcement 150
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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 V E S
officer or correctional officer during the course of a complaint 151
investigation of that officer must shall be made under oath 152
pursuant to s. 92.525. Knowingly false statements given by a law 153
enforcement officer or correctional officer under investigation 154
may subject the law enforcement officer or correctional officer 155
to prosecution for perjury. If a witness to a complaint is 156
incarcerated in a correctional facility and may be under the 157
supervision of, or have contact with, the officer under 158
investigation, only the names and written statements of the 159
complainant and noni ncarcerated witnesses may be reviewed by the 160
officer under investigation immediately before prior to the 161
beginning of the investigative interview. 162
(b) This subsection does not apply to any public record 163
which is exempt from public disclosure pursuant to chapter 119. 164
For the purposes of this subsection, an investigation is shall 165
be considered active as long as it is continuing with a 166
reasonable, good faith anticipation that an administrative 167
finding will be made in the foreseeable future. An investigation 168
is shall be presumed to be inactive if no finding is made within 169
45 days after the complaint is filed. 170
(c) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the 171
complaint and information must shall be available to law 172
enforcement agencies, correctional a gencies, and state attorneys 173
in the conduct of a lawful criminal investigation. 174
(6)(3) A law enforcement officer or correctional officer 175
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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 V E S
has the right to review his or her official personnel file at 176
any reasonable time under the supervision of the design ated 177
records custodian. A law enforcement officer or correctional 178
officer may attach to the file a concise statement in response 179
to any items included in the file identified by the officer as 180
derogatory, and copies of such items must be made available to 181
the officer. 182
(7)(4) Any person who is a participant in an internal 183
investigation, including the complainant, the subject of the 184
investigation and the subject's legal counsel or a 185
representative of his or her choice, the investigator conducting 186
the investigation, and any witnesses in the investigation, who 187
willfully discloses any information obtained pursuant to the 188
agency's investigation, including, but not limited to, the 189
identity of the officer under investigation, the nature of the 190
questions asked, info rmation revealed, or documents furnished in 191
connection with a confidential internal investigation of an 192
agency, before such complaint, document, action, or proceeding 193
becomes a public record as provided in this section commits a 194
misdemeanor of the first de gree, punishable as provided in s. 195
775.082 or s. 775.083. However, this subsection does not limit a 196
law enforcement or correctional officer's ability to gain access 197
to information under paragraph (5)(a) (2)(a). Additionally, a 198
sheriff, police chief, or oth er head of a law enforcement 199
agency, or his or her designee, is not precluded by this section 200
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from acknowledging the existence of a complaint and the fact 201
that an investigation is underway. 202
Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 203
112.532, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 204
112.532 Law enforcement officers' and correctional 205
officers' rights.—All law enforcement officers and correctional 206
officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or 207
a correctional agency shall have th e following rights and 208
privileges: 209
(4) NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION; COPY OF AND OPPORTUNITY 210
TO ADDRESS CONTENTS OF INVESTIGATIVE FILE; CONFIDENTIALITY. — 211
(b) Notwithstanding s. 112.533(5) s. 112.533(2), whenever 212
a law enforcement officer or correction al officer is subject to 213
disciplinary action consisting of suspension with loss of pay, 214
demotion, or dismissal, the officer or the officer's 215
representative must shall, upon request, be provided with a 216
complete copy of the investigative file, including the final 217
investigative report and all evidence, and with the opportunity 218
to address the findings in the report with the employing law 219
enforcement agency before imposing disciplinary action 220
consisting of suspension with loss of pay, demotion, or 221
dismissal. The contents of the complaint and investigation must 222
shall remain confidential until such time as the employing law 223
enforcement agency makes a final determination whether or not to 224
issue a notice of disciplinary action consisting of suspension 225
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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 V E S
with loss of pay, demotion, or dismissal. This paragraph does 226
not provide law enforcement officers with a property interest or 227
expectancy of continued employment, employment, or appointment 228
as a law enforcement officer. 229
Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 145.071, F lorida 230
Statutes, is amended to read: 231
145.071 Sheriff.— 232
(1) Each sheriff shall receive as salary the amount 233
indicated, based on the population of his or her county. In 234
addition, a compensation shall be made for population increments 235
over the minimum for each group, which shall be determined by 236
multiplying the population in excess of the minimum for the 237
group times the group rate. 238
239
Pop.
Group County Pop. Range
Base Salary Group Rate
240
Minimum Maximum
241
I
-0- 49,999
$33,350
$28,350 $0.07875
242
II
50,000 99,999
36,500
31,500 0.06300
243
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III
100,000 199,999
39,650
34,650 0.02625
244
IV
200,000 399,999
42,275
37,275 0.01575
245
V
400,000 999,999
45,425
40,425 0.00525
246
VI
1,000,000
48,575
43,575 0.00400
247
248
Section 5. The Legislature hereby determines and declares 249
that this act fulfills an important state interest. 250
Section 6. Section 166.0486, Florida Statutes, is created 251
to read: 252
166.0486 Establishment of civilian oversight boards. — 253
(1) The chief of a municipal police department may 254
establish a civilian oversight board to review the policies and 255
procedures of his or her department and its subdivisions. 256
(2) The board must be composed of at least three and up to 257
seven members appointed by the chief o f the municipal police 258
department, one of which shall be a retired law enforcement 259
officer. 260
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Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 261