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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to 911 public safety 2
telecommunicators; amending s. 121.0515, F.S.; 3
revising criteria in the Special Risk Class of the 4
Florida Retirement System to include members employed 5
as 911 public safety telecommunicators; specifying the 6
number of creditable years needed to receive a full 7
retirement benefit without penalty; requiring such 8
members to have their retirement benefits calculated 9
in accordance with provisions for Regular Class 10
members; making technical changes; declaring that the 11
act fulfills an important state interest; providing an 12
effective date. 13
14
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15
16
Section 1. Paragraph (h) of subs ection (2), subsection 17
(3), and paragraph (d) of subsection (8) of section 121.0515, 18
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 19
121.0515 Special Risk Class. — 20
(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 21
(h) Effective August 1, 2008, "special risk member" 22
includes any member who mee ts the special criteria for continued 23
membership set forth in paragraph (3)(k) (3)(j). 24
(3) CRITERIA.—A member, to be designated as a special risk 25
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member, must meet the following criteria: 26
(a) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed 27
as a law enforcement officer and be certified, or required to be 28
certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395 , except that; however, 29
sheriffs and elected police chiefs are not required to be 30
certified excluded from meeting the certification requirements 31
of this paragraph. In addition, the member's duties and 32
responsibilities must include the pursuit, apprehension, and 33
arrest of law violators or suspected law violators; or as of 34
July 1, 1982, the member must be an active member of a bomb 35
disposal unit whose primary responsibility is the location, 36
handling, and disposal of explosive devices; or the member must 37
be the supervisor or command officer of a member or members who 38
have such responsibilities. Administrative support personnel, 39
including, but not limited to, tho se whose primary duties and 40
responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and 41
personnel, are not included; 42
(b) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed 43
as a firefighter and be certified, or required to be certified, 44
in compliance with s. 633.408 and be employed solely within the 45
fire department of a local government employer or an agency of 46
state government with firefighting responsibilities. In 47
addition, the member's duties and responsibilities must include 48
on-the-scene fighting of fires; as of October 1, 2001, fire 49
prevention or firefighter training; as of October 1, 2001, 50
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direct supervision of firefighting units, fire prevention, or 51
firefighter training; or as of July 1, 2001, aerial firefighting 52
surveillance performed by fixed -wing aircraft pilots employed by 53
the Florida Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture and 54
Consumer Services; or the member must be the supervisor or 55
command officer of a member or members who have such 56
responsibilities. Administrative support personne l, including, 57
but not limited to, those whose primary duties and 58
responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and 59
personnel, are not included. All periods of creditable service 60
in fire prevention or firefighter training, or as the supervisor 61
or command officer of a member or members who have such 62
responsibilities, and for which the employer paid the special 63
risk contribution rate, are included; 64
(c) Effective October 1, 1978, the member must be employed 65
as a correctional officer and be certified, or required to be 66
certified, in compliance with s. 943.1395. In addition, the 67
member's primary duties and responsibilities must be the 68
custody, and physical restraint if when necessary, of prisoners 69
or inmates within a prison, jail, or other criminal dete ntion 70
facility, or while on work detail outside the facility, or while 71
being transported; or as of July 1, 1984, the member must be the 72
supervisor or command officer of a member or members who have 73
such responsibilities. Administrative support personnel, 74
including, but not limited to, those whose primary duties and 75
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responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal, and 76
personnel, are not included; however, wardens and assistant 77
wardens, as defined by rule, are included; 78
(d) Effective October 1, 1999, the member must be employed 79
by a licensed Advance Life Support (ALS) or Basic Life Support 80
(BLS) employer as an emergency medical technician or a paramedic 81
and be certified in compliance with s. 401.27. In addition, the 82
member's primary duties and responsi bilities must include on -83
the-scene emergency medical care or as of October 1, 2001, 84
direct supervision of emergency medical technicians or 85
paramedics, or the member must be the supervisor or command 86
officer of one or more members who have such responsibili ty. 87
Administrative support personnel, including, but not limited to, 88
those whose primary responsibilities are in accounting, 89
purchasing, legal, and personnel, are not included; 90
(e) Effective January 1, 2001, the member must be employed 91
as a community-based correctional probation officer and be 92
certified, or required to be certified, in compliance with s. 93
943.1395. In addition, the member's primary duties and 94
responsibilities must be the supervised custody, surveillance, 95
control, investigation, and counsel ing of assigned inmates, 96
probationers, parolees, or community controllees within the 97
community; or the member must be the supervisor of a member or 98
members who have such responsibilities. Administrative support 99
personnel, including, but not limited to, tho se whose primary 100
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duties and responsibilities are in accounting, purchasing, legal 101
services, and personnel management, are not included; however, 102
probation and parole circuit and deputy circuit administrators 103
are included; 104
(f) Effective January 1, 2001, t he member must be employed 105
in one of the following classes and must spend at least 75 106
percent of his or her time performing duties that which involve 107
contact with patients or inmates in a correctional or forensic 108
facility or institution: 109
1. Dietitian (class codes 5203 and 5204); 110
2. Public health nutrition consultant (class code 5224); 111
3. Psychological specialist (class codes 5230 and 5231); 112
4. Psychologist (class code 5234); 113
5. Senior psychologist (class codes 5237 and 5238); 114
6. Regional mental health consultant (class code 5240); 115
7. Psychological Services Director —DCF (class code 5242); 116
8. Pharmacist (class codes 5245 and 5246); 117
9. Senior pharmacist (class codes 5248 and 5249); 118
10. Dentist (class code 5266); 119
11. Senior dentist (class c ode 5269); 120
12. Registered nurse (class codes 5290 and 5291); 121
13. Senior registered nurse (class codes 5292 and 5293); 122
14. Registered nurse specialist (class codes 5294 and 123
5295); 124
15. Clinical associate (class codes 5298 and 5299); 125
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16. Advanced practice registered nurse (class codes 5297 126
and 5300); 127
17. Advanced practice registered nurse specialist (class 128
codes 5304 and 5305); 129
18. Registered nurse supervisor (class codes 5306 and 130
5307); 131
19. Senior registered nurse supervisor (class codes 5308 132
and 5309); 133
20. Registered nursing consultant (class codes 5312 and 134
5313); 135
21. Quality management program supervisor (class code 136
5314); 137
22. Executive nursing director (class codes 5320 and 138
5321); 139
23. Speech and hearing therapist (class code 5406); o r 140
24. Pharmacy manager (class code 5251); 141
(g) Effective October 1, 2005, through June 30, 2008, the 142
member must be employed by a law enforcement agency or medical 143
examiner's office in a forensic discipline recognized by the 144
International Association fo r Identification and must qualify 145
for active membership in the International Association for 146
Identification. The member's primary duties and responsibilities 147
must include the collection, examination, preservation, 148
documentation, preparation, or analysis of physical evidence or 149
testimony, or both, or the member must be the direct supervisor, 150
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quality management supervisor, or command officer of one or more 151
individuals with such responsibility. Administrative support 152
personnel, including, but not limited to, t hose whose primary 153
responsibilities are clerical or in accounting, purchasing, 154
legal, and personnel, are not included; 155
(h) Effective July 1, 2008, the member must be employed by 156
the Department of Law Enforcement in the crime laboratory or by 157
the Division of State Fire Marshal in the forensic laboratory in 158
one of the following classes: 159
1. Forensic technologist (class code 8459); 160
2. Crime laboratory technician (class code 8461); 161
3. Crime laboratory analyst (class code 8463); 162
4. Senior crime laborato ry analyst (class code 8464); 163
5. Crime laboratory analyst supervisor (class code 8466); 164
6. Forensic chief (class code 9602); or 165
7. Forensic services quality manager (class code 9603); 166
(i) Effective July 1, 2008, the member must be employed by 167
a local government law enforcement agency or medical examiner's 168
office and must spend at least 65 percent of his or her time 169
performing duties that involve the collection, examination, 170
preservation, documentation, preparation, or analysis of human 171
tissues or fluids or physical evidence having potential 172
biological, chemical, or radiological hazard or contamination, 173
or use chemicals, processes, or materials that may have 174
carcinogenic or health -damaging properties in the analysis of 175
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such evidence, or the member must be the direct supervisor of 176
one or more individuals having such responsibility. If a special 177
risk member changes to another position within the same agency, 178
he or she must submit a complete application as provided in 179
paragraph (4)(a); 180
(j) Effective July 1, 2024, the member must be employed as 181
a 911 public safety telecommunicator as defined in s. 401.465. 182
The number of creditable years for full retirement eligibility 183
for the member shall be 25 years without penalty. However, upon 184
his or her retirement, the member shall have his or her benefits 185
calculated in accordance with the Regular Class benefit 186
provisions of s. 121.091(1)(a)1.; or 187
(k)(j) The member must have already qualified for and b e 188
actively participating in special risk membership under 189
paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), must have 190
suffered a qualifying injury as defined in this paragraph, must 191
not be receiving disability retirement benefits as provided in 192
s. 121.091(4), and must satisfy the requirements of this 193
paragraph. 194
1. The ability to qualify for the class of membership 195
defined in paragraph (2)(h) occurs when two licensed medical 196
physicians, one of whom is a primary treating physician of the 197
member, certify the e xistence of the physical injury and medical 198
condition that constitute a qualifying injury as defined in this 199
paragraph and that the member has reached maximum medical 200
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improvement after August 1, 2008. The certifications from the 201
licensed medical physicians must include, at a minimum, that the 202
injury to the special risk member has resulted in a physical 203
loss, or loss of use, of at least two of the following: left 204
arm, right arm, left leg, or right leg; and that: 205
a. The That this physical loss or loss of us e is total and 206
permanent, unless except if the loss of use is due to a physical 207
injury to the member's brain, in which event the loss of use is 208
permanent with at least 75 percent loss of motor function with 209
respect to each arm or leg affected. 210
b. The That this physical loss or loss of use renders the 211
member physically unable to perform the essential job functions 212
of his or her special risk position. 213
c. That, Notwithstanding the this physical loss or loss of 214
use, the individual can perform the essential job functions 215
required by the member's new position, as provided in 216
subparagraph 3. 217
d. That Use of artificial limbs is not possible or does 218
not alter the member's ability to perform the essential job 219
functions of the member's position. 220
e. That The physical loss or loss of use is a direct 221
result of a physical injury and not a result of any mental, 222
psychological, or emotional injury. 223
2. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term 224
"qualifying injury" means an injury sustained in the line of 225
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duty, as certified by the member's employing agency, by a 226
special risk member that does not result in total and permanent 227
disability as defined in s. 121.091(4)(b). An injury is a 228
qualifying injury if the injury is a physical injury to the 229
member's physical body resul ting in a physical loss, or loss of 230
use, of at least two of the following: left arm, right arm, left 231
leg, or right leg. Notwithstanding any other provision of this 232
section, an injury that would otherwise qualify as a qualifying 233
injury is not considered a qualifying injury if and when the 234
member ceases employment with the employer for whom he or she 235
was providing special risk services on the date the injury 236
occurred. 237
3. The new position, as described in sub -subparagraph 238
1.c., which that is required for qualification as a special risk 239
member under this paragraph is not required to be a position 240
with essential job functions that entitle an individual to 241
special risk membership. Whether a new position as described in 242
sub-subparagraph 1.c. exists and is availab le to the special 243
risk member is a decision to be made solely by the employer in 244
accordance with its hiring practices and applicable law. 245
4. This paragraph does not grant or create additional 246
rights for any individual to continued employment or to be hir ed 247
or rehired by his or her employer which that are not already 248
provided within the Florida Statutes, the State Constitution, 249
the Americans with Disabilities Act, if applicable, or any other 250
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applicable state or federal law. 251
(8) SPECIAL RISK ADMINISTRATIV E SUPPORT CLASS.— 252
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 253
subsection, this subsection does not apply to any special risk 254
member who qualifies for continued membership pursuant to 255
paragraph (3)(k) (3)(j). 256
Section 2. The Legislature finds that a proper and 257
legitimate state purpose is served when employees and retirees 258
of the state and its political subdivisions, and the dependents, 259
survivors, and beneficiaries of such employees and retirees, are 260
extended the basic protections afforded by governm ental 261
retirement systems. These persons must be provided benefits that 262
are fair and adequate and are managed, administered, and funded 263
in an actuarially sound manner, as required by s. 14, Article X 264
of the State Constitution and part VII of chapter 112, Fl orida 265
Statutes. Therefore, the Legislature determines and declares 266
that this act fulfills an important state interest. 267
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 268