HB 1509 2024
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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 public records; amending s. 30.15, 2
F.S.; providing that certain information relating to 3
school guardians which is held and reported by any 4
school district, charter school, private school, or 5
sheriff to the Department of Law Enforcement is exempt 6
from public records requirements; providing a 7
contingent effective date. 8
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10
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Section 1. Paragraph (k) of subsection (1) of section 12
30.15, Florida Statutes, as amended by HB 1473, 2024 Regular 13
Session, is amended to read: 14
30.15 Powers, duties, and obligations ; public records 15
exemption.— 16
(1) Sheriffs, in their respective counties, in per son or 17
by deputy, shall: 18
(k) Assist district school boards and charter school 19
governing boards in complying with, or private schools in 20
exercising options in, s. 1006.12. A sheriff must, at a minimum, 21
provide access to a Chris Hixon, Coach Aaron Feis, an d Coach 22
Scott Beigel Guardian Program to aid in the prevention or 23
abatement of active assailant incidents on school premises, as 24
required under this paragraph. Persons certified as school 25
HB 1509 2024
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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
guardians pursuant to this paragraph have no authority to act in 26
any law enforcement capacity except to the extent necessary to 27
prevent or abate an active assailant incident. 28
1.a. If a local school board has voted by a majority to 29
implement a guardian program, the sheriff in that county shall 30
establish a guardian program to provide training, pursuant to 31
subparagraph 2., to school district, charter school, or private 32
school employees, either directly or through a contract with 33
another sheriff's office that has established a guardian 34
program. 35
b. A charter school governing board in a school district 36
that has not voted, or has declined, to implement a guardian 37
program may request the sheriff in the county to establish a 38
guardian program for the purpose of training the charter school 39
employees. If the county sheriff denies th e request, the charter 40
school governing board may contract with a sheriff that has 41
established a guardian program to provide such training. The 42
charter school governing board must notify the superintendent 43
and the sheriff in the charter school's county of the contract 44
prior to its execution. 45
c. A private school in a school district that has not 46
voted, or has declined, to implement a guardian program may 47
request that the sheriff in the county of the private school 48
establish a guardian program for the purpo se of training private 49
school employees. If the county sheriff denies the request, the 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
private school may contract with a sheriff from another county 51
who has established a guardian program to provide such training. 52
The private school must notify the sherif f in the private 53
school's county of the contract with a sheriff from another 54
county before its execution. The private school is responsible 55
for all training and screening -related costs for a school 56
guardian program. The sheriff providing such training must 57
ensure that any moneys paid by a private school are not 58
commingled with any funds provided by the state to the sheriff 59
as reimbursement for screening -related and training -related 60
costs of any school district or charter school employee. 61
d. The training program required in sub -subparagraph 2.b. 62
is a standardized statewide curriculum, and each sheriff 63
providing such training shall adhere to the course of 64
instruction specified in that sub -subparagraph. This 65
subparagraph does not prohibit a sheriff from provi ding 66
additional training. A school guardian who has completed the 67
training program required in sub -subparagraph 2.b. may not be 68
required to attend another sheriff's training program pursuant 69
to that sub-subparagraph unless there has been at least a 1 -year 70
break in his or her appointment as a guardian. 71
e. The sheriff conducting the training pursuant to 72
subparagraph 2. for school district and charter school employees 73
will be reimbursed for screening -related and training -related 74
costs and for providing a one -time stipend of $500 to each 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
school guardian who participates in the school guardian program. 76
f. The sheriff may waive the training and screening -77
related costs for a private school for a school guardian 78
program. 79
g. A person who is certified under the Florida Criminal 80
Justice Standards and Training Commission, who meets the 81
qualifications established in s. 943.13, and who is otherwise 82
qualified for the position of a school guardian may be certified 83
as a school guardian by the sheriff without completing the 84
training requirements of sub -subparagraph 2.b. However, a person 85
certified as a school guardian under this sub -subparagraph must 86
meet the requirements of sub -subparagraphs 2.c.-e. 87
2. A sheriff who establishes a program shall consult with 88
the Department of Law Enforcement on programmatic guiding 89
principles, practices, and resources, and shall certify as 90
school guardians, without the power of arrest, school employees, 91
as specified in s. 1006.12(3), who: 92
a. Hold a valid license issued under s. 790.06. 93
b. Complete a 144-hour training program, consisting of 12 94
hours of certified nationally recognized diversity training and 95
132 total hours of comprehensive firearm safety and proficiency 96
training conducted by Criminal Justice Standards and Training 97
Commission-certified instructors, which must include: 98
(I) Eighty hours of firearms instruction based on the 99
Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission's Law 100
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Enforcement Academy training model, which must include at least 101
10 percent but no more than 20 percent more rounds fired than 102
associated with academy training. Program participants must 103
achieve an 85 percent pass rate on the firearms training. 104
(II) Sixteen hours of instruction in precision pistol. 105
(III) Eight hours of discretionary shooting inst ruction 106
using state-of-the-art simulator exercises. 107
(IV) Sixteen hours of instruction in active shooter or 108
assailant scenarios. 109
(V) Eight hours of instruction in defensive tactics. 110
(VI) Four hours of instruction in legal issues. 111
c. Pass a psycholog ical evaluation administered by a 112
psychologist licensed under chapter 490 and designated by the 113
Department of Law Enforcement and submit the results of the 114
evaluation to the sheriff's office. The Department of Law 115
Enforcement is authorized to provide the s heriff's office with 116
mental health and substance abuse data for compliance with this 117
paragraph. 118
d. Submit to and pass an initial drug test and subsequent 119
random drug tests in accordance with the requirements of s. 120
112.0455 and the sheriff's office. 121
e. Successfully complete ongoing training, weapon 122
inspection, and firearm qualification on at least an annual 123
basis. 124
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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
The sheriff who conducts the guardian training or waives the 126
training requirements for a person under sub -subparagraph 1.g. 127
shall issue a school guardian certificate to persons who meet 128
the requirements of this section to the satisfaction of the 129
sheriff, and shall maintain documentation of weapon and 130
equipment inspections, as well as the training, certification, 131
inspection, and qualification re cords of each school guardian 132
certified by the sheriff. A person who is certified under this 133
paragraph may serve as a school guardian under s. 1006.12(3) 134
only if he or she is appointed by the applicable school district 135
superintendent, charter school princi pal, or private school head 136
of school. 137
3.a.(I) Within 30 days after issuing a school guardian 138
certificate, the sheriff who issued the certificate must report 139
to the Department of Law Enforcement the name, date of birth, 140
and certification date of the scho ol guardian. 141
(II) By August 1, 2024, each sheriff who issued a school 142
guardian certificate must report to the Department of Law 143
Enforcement the name, date of birth, and certification date of 144
each school guardian who received a certificate from the 145
sheriff. 146
b.(I) Annually, by February 1 and September 1, each school 147
district, charter school, and private school must report to the 148
Department of Law Enforcement the name, date of birth, and 149
appointment date of each person appointed as a school guardian. 150
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The school district, charter school, and private school must 151
also report to the Department of Law Enforcement the date such 152
person ends his or her appointment as a school guardian. 153
(II) By August 1, 2024, each school district, charter 154
school, and private scho ol must report to the Department of Law 155
Enforcement the name, date of birth, and appointment date of 156
each person appointed as a school guardian. Within 30 days after 157
a school guardian ends his or her appointment, the school 158
district, charter school, and pr ivate school must report to the 159
Department of Law Enforcement the date such person ended his or 160
her appointment as a school guardian. 161
c. The Department of Law Enforcement shall maintain a list 162
of each person appointed as a school guardian in the state. T he 163
list must include the name and certification date of each school 164
guardian and the date the person was appointed as a school 165
guardian, including the name of the school district, charter 166
school, or private school in which the school guardian is 167
appointed and, if applicable, the date such person ended his or 168
her appointment as a school guardian. The Department of Law 169
Enforcement shall remove from the list any person whose training 170
has expired pursuant to sub -subparagraph 1.d. 171
d.(I) Any information held by the department or a law 172
enforcement agency, school district, or charter school pursuant 173
to sub-subparagraphs a.-c. that would identify an individual who 174
has been certified to serve as a school guardian is exempt from 175
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s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of t he State Constitution. 176
(II) This sub-subparagraph is subject to the Open 177
Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and 178
shall stand repealed on October 2, 2029, unless reviewed and 179
saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 180
e.d. Each sheriff must report on a quarterly basis to the 181
Department of Law Enforcement the schedule for upcoming school 182
guardian trainings, including the dates of the training, the 183
training locations, a contact person to register for the 184
training, and the class capacity. The Department of Law 185
Enforcement shall publish on its website a list of the upcoming 186
school guardian trainings. The Department of Law Enforcement 187
must update such list quarterly. 188
f.e. A sheriff who fails to report the information 189
required by this subparagraph may not receive reimbursement from 190
the Department of Education for school guardian trainings. Upon 191
the submission of the required information, a sheriff is deemed 192
eligible for such funding and is authorized to continue to 193
receive reimbursement for school guardian training. 194
g.f. A school district, charter school, or private school 195
that fails to report the information required by this 196
subparagraph may not operate a school guardian program. Upon the 197
submission of the required inform ation, the school district, 198
charter school, or private school is authorized to resume 199
operation of the school guardian program. 200
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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
h.g. Annually, by March 1 and October 1, the Department of 201
Law Enforcement shall notify the Department of Education of any 202
sheriff, school district, charter school, or private school that 203
has not complied with the reporting requirements of this 204
subparagraph. 205
Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 206
necessity that any information held and reported by any school 207
district, charter school, private school, or sheriff to the 208
Department of Law Enforcement that may identify whether a 209
particular person is or has been certified or appointed as a 210
school guardian be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida 211
Statutes, and s. 24(a) , Article I of the State Constitution. 212
School security and student safety are fundamental priorities in 213
the state. The safety of people serving or who have served as 214
school guardians is also an important priority in the state. 215
School guardians serve a crit ical role as safe-school officers 216
and first responders, and their presence on school grounds 217
serves as a deterrent against incidents threatening the lives of 218
students and school personnel. Disclosure of the identity of 219
school guardians, whether there is a school guardian on a school 220
campus, and the number of school guardians on any school campus 221
may compromise their safety and adversely affect their ability 222
to adequately respond to an active assailant incident. 223
Accordingly, it is necessary to protect the id entity of school 224
guardians from public records requirements in order to 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
effectively and efficiently implement the purpose and intent of 226
a school guardian program. 227
Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date 228
that HB 1473 or similar legislatio n takes effect, if such 229
legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an 230
extension thereof and becomes a law. 231