HB 1551 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 the Florida State Guard; amending 2
s. 251.001, F.S.; removing the requirement that the 3
Florida State Guard be used exclusively within the 4
state; providing definitions; requiring the Governor 5
to commission officers of the Florida State Gua rd; 6
revising requirements for the submission of 7
fingerprints for a criminal history record check; 8
requiring fees therefor to be borne by the Florida 9
State Guard; requiring the Department of Law 10
Enforcement to retain fingerprints in accordance with 11
certain provisions; requiring an arrest record to be 12
reported to the Division of the State Guard within the 13
Department of Military Affairs; revising provisions 14
relating to minimal standards for age, physical health 15
and condition, and physical fitness; revising tra ining 16
requirements; authorizing the director to call 17
volunteers to duty for training and administrative 18
tasks under certain circumstances; revising 19
requirements for activation of the Florida State 20
Guard; authorizing, rather than requiring, 21
compensation for per diem and travel expenses; 22
applying provisions relating to officers' and 23
employees' leaves of absence for reserve or guard 24
training to volunteers of the Florida State Guard; 25
HB 1551 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
providing procedures and requirements for an action or 26
proceeding against a vo lunteer of the Florida State 27
Guard; providing an effective date. 28
29
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 30
31
Section 1. Section 251.001, Florida Statutes, is amended 32
to read: 33
251.001 Florida State Guard Act. — 34
(1) SHORT TITLE AND SCOPE.—This chapter may be cited as 35
the "Florida State Guard Act." This chapter shall be 36
supplemental to provisions relating to the organized militia in 37
chapter 250 other than the Florida National Guard. 38
(2) CREATION AND AUTHORIZATION. —The Florida State Guard is 39
created to protect and defend the people of Florida from all 40
threats to public safety and to augment all existing state and 41
local agencies. The Florida State Guard is created as authorized 42
under federal law for use exclusively within the state, 43
activated only by the Governor, and is at all times under the 44
final command and control of the Governor as commander in chief 45
of all military and guard forces of the state. The Florida State 46
Guard shall be used exclusively within the state, or to provide 47
support to other states, for the purposes stated in this section 48
and may not be called, ordered, or drafted into the armed forces 49
of the United States. The authorized maximum number of volunteer 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
personnel that may be commissioned, enrolled, or employed as 51
volunteers members of the Florida State Guard is 1,500. 52
(3) DIVISION OF THE STATE GUARD. —The Division of the State 53
Guard is created within the Department of Military Affairs and 54
shall be headed by a director who shall be appointed by and 55
serve at the pleasure of the Governor, subject to confirmation 56
by the Senate. The director must have served at least 5 years as 57
a servicemember of the United States Armed Forces, United States 58
Reserve Forces, or Florida National Guard. The division shall be 59
a separate budget entity, and the director shall be its agency 60
head for all purposes. The Department of Military Affairs shall 61
provide administrative support and service to the division to 62
the extent requested by the director. The division shall not be 63
subject to control, supervision, or direction by the Department 64
of Military Affairs in any manner, including, but not limited 65
to, personnel, purchasing, transactions involving real or 66
personal property, and budgetary matters. The division is 67
responsible for the organization, recruitment, training, 68
equipping, management, and functions of the Florida State Guard. 69
The director may establish a command, operational, and 70
administrative services structure to assist, manage, and support 71
the Florida State Guard in operating the progra m and delivering 72
services. 73
(4) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 74
(a) The terms "active duty," "armed forces," and "National 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
Guard" have the same meanings as in s. 250.01. 76
(b) The term "department" means the Department of Military 77
Affairs. 78
(c) The term "director" means the director of the Division 79
of the State Guard. 80
(d) The term "division" means the Division of the State 81
Guard within the Department of Military Affairs. 82
(e) The term "enlisted volunteer" means a person who has 83
been approved by the director to serve in the Florida State 84
Guard. 85
(f) The term "officer" means an enlisted volunteer who, 86
due to special trust and confidence, is commissioned by the 87
Governor as an officer of the Florida State Guard. 88
(g) The term "volunteer" means an officer or an enlisted 89
volunteer. 90
(5) PERSONNEL.— 91
(a) Subject to approval by the Governor, the director 92
shall determine the number of volunteers volunteer personnel 93
necessary to meet the staffing and operational requirements of 94
the Florida State Guard , and determine the volunteer structure 95
and number of volunteers volunteer personnel within each 96
component unit of such structure. 97
(b) The Governor shall commission all officers volunteer 98
personnel of the Florida State Guard. 99
(c) Each applicant for the Florida State Guard shall meet 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
the following qualifications: 101
1. The applicant must be a citizen of the United States 102
and a resident of the state. 103
2. The applicant may not have a felony conviction. Each 104
applicant must shall submit a complete set of fing erprints to 105
the division or to the vendor, entity, or agency authorized by 106
s. 943.053(13) to accept electronic fingerprints. The division, 107
vendor, entity, or agency shall forward the fingerprints to the 108
Department of Law Enforcement for state processing, a nd 109
thereafter the Department of Law Enforcement shall forward the 110
fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a 111
national criminal history record check. Fees for state and 112
federal fingerprint processing and retention shall be borne by 113
the Florida State Guard. The state cost for fingerprint 114
processing shall be as provided in s. 943.053(3)(e). 115
Fingerprints submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement 116
pursuant to this paragraph shall be retained by the Department 117
of Law Enforcement as provided in s. 943.05(2)(g) and (h) along 118
with the enrollment in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 119
national retained fingerprint arrest notification program. Any 120
arrest record identified shall be reported to the division and 121
all information required by state and f ederal law to process 122
fingerprints for purposes of conducting a criminal background 123
check. 124
3. The applicant may not be an active duty servicemember, 125
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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 member of the armed forces reserves, or a member of the 126
Florida National Guard. 127
4. If the applicant i s a former member of the armed forces 128
or of any military or naval organization of this state or 129
another state, the applicant must have been separated under 130
terms no less than a general discharge under honorable 131
conditions. 132
(d) The director shall establis h minimum standards for the 133
age, physical and health condition, and physical fitness of 134
applicants based upon the component unit of the Florida State 135
Guard structure in which the applicant is being considered for 136
placement. However, an applicant being cons idered for placement 137
in a component unit that serves in an active duty capacity 138
within the Florida State Guard must be subject to standards that 139
are no less than the standards required for recruitment, 140
enrollment, and retention in the Florida National Guar d. 141
(e) The director shall develop and implement a code of 142
regulations for the administration and discipline of volunteers 143
members of the Florida State Guard that provides shall provide 144
no less protection and imposes impose no more severe sanctions 145
than as provided in s. 250.35, except that the director may 146
shall not have authority to impose any term of incarceration. 147
(6) SPECIALIZED UNIT. —The director shall organize a 148
specialized unit within the Florida State Guard. All volunteers 149
members of the specialized unit are vested with the authority to 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
bear arms, detect, and apprehend while activated. In addition to 151
the requirements set forth in paragraph (5)(c), only those 152
volunteers members of the specialized unit who meet the 153
requirements in s. 943.13 and are certified as law enforcement 154
officers as defined in s. 943.10(1) may are authorized to have 155
the same law enforcement authority as the law enforcement agency 156
in conjunction with which they are working when activated. 157
(7) TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT. —The director shall develop and 158
implement a program for training for volunteers members of the 159
Florida State Guard. 160
(a) All training programs for the Florida State Guard 161
shall be at least equivalent to the training requirements for 162
members of the Florida National Guard under applicable federal 163
law at the time the training is conducted. As required by the 164
director, all volunteers members of the Florida State Guard 165
shall complete initial training within 180 days after their 166
appointment or enrollment and periodic ongo ing training. 167
(b) The director may provide for staff to prepare and 168
conduct training required in this section. The staff may include 169
members of the Florida National Guard whose duty assignments may 170
include conducting training under this section but who m ay not 171
be considered volunteers members of the Florida State Guard. 172
(c) The division shall provide all equipment necessary for 173
the training and service of volunteers members of the Florida 174
State Guard and shall arrange and contract for the use of 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
sufficient and adequate facilities for training, organizing, and 176
all other purposes of the Florida State Guard. Section 250.44 177
applies to the allocation, delegation, use of, and accounting 178
for all equipment furnished under this section. 179
(d) The director may call volunteers of the Florida State 180
Guard to duty for purposes of training and administrative tasks, 181
subject to annual appropriation, when not activated by order of 182
the Governor. 183
(8) ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF THE FLORIDA STATE 184
GUARD.— 185
(a) The Florida State Guard, by component units or in 186
total, may be activated by order of the Governor: 187
1. During any period when any part of the Florida National 188
Guard is in active federal service and the Governor has declared 189
a declared state of emergency, period of civil unrest, or any 190
other time deemed necessary and appropriate. Such order must be 191
a written communication from the Governor to the director ; 192
2. To preserve the public peace, execute the laws of the 193
state, enhance domestic security, respond to terrorist threats 194
or attacks, protect and defend the people of Florida from 195
threats to public safety, respond to an emergency as defined in 196
s. 252.34 or imminent danger thereof, or respond to any need for 197
emergency aid to civil authorities as specified in s. 252.38; 198
3. To augment any existing state or local agency; or 199
4. To provide support to other states under the Emergency 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
Management Assistance Compact as provided for in part III of 201
chapter 252. 202
(b) The Florida State Guard shall be deactivated by th e 203
expiration of the order of activation or by a separate order by 204
the Governor deactivating the Florida State Guard. 205
(9) REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION. — 206
(a) The division may shall reimburse volunteers members of 207
the Florida State Guard for per diem an d travel expenses 208
incurred to attend required training or in the course of active 209
service as provided in s. 112.061. 210
(b) Volunteers Members of the Florida State Guard may be 211
compensated for time spent training or in the course of active 212
service at rates established by the director, subject to 213
appropriation. 214
(c) A volunteer member of the Florida State Guard may not 215
make any purchase or enter into any contract or agreement for 216
purchases or services as a charge against the state without the 217
authority of the director. 218
(10) EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION, SUSPENSION OF PROCEEDINGS, 219
LIABILITY, AND WORKERS' COMPENSATION. — 220
(a) The protections for members of the Florida National 221
Guard provided in ss. 115.07, 250.48-250.483, and 250.5201 -222
250.5205 ss. 250.48-250.483 and 250.5201-250.5205 apply to each 223
volunteer member of the Florida State Guard engaged in required 224
training or active service. 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
(b) Volunteers Members of the Florida State Guard ordered 226
into active service or engaged in required training are not 227
liable for any lawful act done in performance of their duties 228
under this section while acting in good faith within the scope 229
of those duties. 230
(c) In any action or proceeding of any nature, civil or 231
criminal, commenced in any court by any person or by the state 232
against any volunteer of the Florida State Guard for any act 233
occurring in that volunteer's scope of duty, the defendant in 234
such action or proceeding, upon his or her request, may be 235
defended at the expense of the state by a qualified attorney 236
designated by the Department of Legal Affairs. However, this 237
paragraph does not prohibit such defendant from employing his or 238
her own private counsel at the defendant's own expense. 239
(d) A defendant may be ordered to state active duty with 240
full active duty compensation fo r the time his or her presence 241
is required in defense of such actions or proceedings. 242
(e) In any such action or proceeding, if the plaintiff 243
dismisses his or her suit, or a verdict or judgment in favor of 244
the defendant is entered, the court shall award c osts and 245
reasonable attorney fees incurred by the state and the defendant 246
in the defense of such action or proceeding. 247
(f)(c) While activated or in training, volunteers members 248
of the Florida State Guard are considered volunteers for the 249
state, as defined in s. 440.02(18)(d)6., and are entitled to 250
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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
workers' compensation protections pursuant to chapter 440. 251
(11) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. —The director, as head of the 252
division, shall adopt rules to implement this section. 253
Section 2. This act shall take effe ct July 1, 2024. 254