Florida Senate - 2024 SB 576 By Senator Ingoglia 11-00323-24 2024576__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the investigation of complaints 3 against law enforcement and correctional officers; 4 amending s. 112.533, F.S.; providing legislative 5 intent; revising the definition of political 6 subdivision; prohibiting a political subdivision from 7 adopting or attempting to enforce certain ordinances 8 relating to the receipt, processing, or investigation 9 of complaints against law enforcement officers or 10 correctional officers, or relating to civilian 11 oversight of law enforcement agency investigations of 12 complaints of misconduct by such officers; making 13 technical changes; amending s. 112.532, F.S.; 14 conforming a cross-reference; making technical 15 changes; providing an effective date. 16 17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18 19 Section 1.Section 112.533, Florida Statutes, is amended to 20 read: 21 112.533Receipt and processing of complaints. 22 (1)It is the intent of the Legislature to make the process 23 for receiving, processing, and investigation of complaints 24 against law enforcement or correctional officers, and the rights 25 and privileges provided in this part while under investigation, 26 apply uniformly throughout this state and its political 27 subdivisions. 28 (2)As used in this section, the term political 29 subdivision means a separate agency or unit of local government 30 created or established by law or ordinance and the officers 31 thereof and includes, but is not limited to, an authority, a 32 board, a branch, a bureau, a city, a commission, a consolidated 33 government, a county, a department, a district, an institution, 34 a metropolitan government, a municipality, an office, an 35 officer, a public corporation, a town, or a village. 36 (3)A political subdivision may not adopt or attempt to 37 enforce any ordinance relating to either of the following: 38 (a)The receipt, processing, or investigation by any 39 political subdivision of this state of complaints of misconduct 40 by law enforcement or correctional officers, except as expressly 41 provided in this section. 42 (b)Civilian oversight of law enforcement agencies 43 investigations of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement or 44 correctional officers. 45 (4)(a)Every law enforcement agency and correctional agency 46 shall establish and put into operation a system for the receipt, 47 investigation, and determination of complaints received by such 48 agency from any person, which must shall be the procedure for 49 investigating a complaint against a law enforcement or and 50 correctional officer and for determining whether to proceed with 51 disciplinary action or to file disciplinary charges, 52 notwithstanding any other law or ordinance to the contrary. When 53 law enforcement or correctional agency personnel assigned the 54 responsibility of investigating the complaint prepare an 55 investigative report or summary, regardless of form, the person 56 preparing the report shall, at the time the report is completed: 57 1.Verify pursuant to s. 92.525 that the contents of the 58 report are true and accurate based upon the persons personal 59 knowledge, information, and belief. 60 2.Include the following statement, sworn and subscribed to 61 pursuant to s. 92.525: 62 63 I, the undersigned, do hereby swear, under penalty of perjury, 64 that, to the best of my personal knowledge, information, and 65 belief, I have not knowingly or willfully deprived, or allowed 66 another to deprive, the subject of the investigation of any of 67 the rights contained in ss. 112.532 and 112.533, Florida 68 Statutes. 69 70 The requirements of subparagraphs 1. and 2. must shall be 71 completed before prior to the determination as to whether to 72 proceed with disciplinary action or to file disciplinary 73 charges. This subsection does not preclude the Criminal Justice 74 Standards and Training Commission from exercising its authority 75 under chapter 943. 76 (b)1.Any political subdivision that initiates or receives 77 a complaint against a law enforcement officer or correctional 78 officer shall must within 5 business days forward the complaint 79 to the employing agency of the officer who is the subject of the 80 complaint for review or investigation. 81 2.For purposes of this paragraph, the term political 82 subdivision means a separate agency or unit of local government 83 created or established by law or ordinance and the officers 84 thereof and includes, but is not limited to, an authority, 85 board, branch, bureau, city, commission, consolidated 86 government, county, department, district, institution, 87 metropolitan government, municipality, office, officer, public 88 corporation, town, or village. 89 90 Notwithstanding the rights and privileges provided under this 91 part or any provisions provided in a collective bargaining 92 agreement, the agency head or the agency heads designee may 93 request a sworn or certified investigator from a separate law 94 enforcement or correctional agency to conduct the investigation 95 when a conflict is identified with having an investigator 96 conduct the investigation of an officer of the same employing 97 agency; the employing agency does not have an investigator 98 trained to conduct such investigations; or the agencys 99 investigator is the subject of, or a witness in, the 100 investigation and such agency is composed of any combination of 101 35 or fewer law enforcement officers or correctional officers. 102 The employing agency must document the identified conflict. Upon 103 completion of the investigation, the investigator shall present 104 the findings without any disciplinary recommendation to the 105 employing agency. 106 (5)(a)(2)(a)A complaint filed against a law enforcement 107 officer or correctional officer with a law enforcement agency or 108 correctional agency and all information obtained pursuant to the 109 investigation by the agency of the complaint is confidential and 110 exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) until the 111 investigation ceases to be active, or until the agency head or 112 the agency heads designee provides written notice to the 113 officer who is the subject of the complaint, either personally 114 or by mail, that the agency has concluded the investigation with 115 either a finding: 116 1.Concluded the investigation with a finding Not to 117 proceed with disciplinary action or to file charges; or 118 2.Concluded the investigation with a finding To proceed 119 with disciplinary action or to file charges. 120 121 Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the officer who is the 122 subject of the complaint, along with legal counsel or any other 123 representative of his or her choice, may review the complaint 124 and all statements regardless of form made by the complainant 125 and witnesses and all existing evidence, including, but not 126 limited to, incident reports, analyses, GPS locator information, 127 and audio or video recordings relating to the investigation, 128 immediately before beginning the investigative interview. All 129 statements, regardless of form, provided by a law enforcement 130 officer or correctional officer during the course of a complaint 131 investigation of that officer must shall be made under oath 132 pursuant to s. 92.525. Knowingly false statements given by a law 133 enforcement officer or correctional officer under investigation 134 may subject the law enforcement officer or correctional officer 135 to prosecution for perjury. If a witness to a complaint is 136 incarcerated in a correctional facility and may be under the 137 supervision of, or have contact with, the officer under 138 investigation, only the names and written statements of the 139 complainant and nonincarcerated witnesses may be reviewed by the 140 officer under investigation immediately before prior to the 141 beginning of the investigative interview. 142 (b)This subsection does not apply to any public record 143 which is exempt from public disclosure pursuant to chapter 119. 144 For the purposes of this subsection, an investigation is shall 145 be considered active as long as it is continuing with a 146 reasonable, good faith anticipation that an administrative 147 finding will be made in the foreseeable future. An investigation 148 is shall be presumed to be inactive if no finding is made within 149 45 days after the complaint is filed. 150 (c)Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the 151 complaint and information must shall be available to law 152 enforcement agencies, correctional agencies, and state attorneys 153 in the conduct of a lawful criminal investigation. 154 (6)(3)A law enforcement officer or correctional officer 155 has the right to review his or her official personnel file at 156 any reasonable time under the supervision of the designated 157 records custodian. A law enforcement officer or correctional 158 officer may attach to the file a concise statement in response 159 to any items included in the file identified by the officer as 160 derogatory, and copies of such items must be made available to 161 the officer. 162 (7)(4)Any person who is a participant in an internal 163 investigation, including the complainant, the subject of the 164 investigation and the subjects legal counsel or a 165 representative of his or her choice, the investigator conducting 166 the investigation, and any witnesses in the investigation, who 167 willfully discloses any information obtained pursuant to the 168 agencys investigation, including, but not limited to, the 169 identity of the officer under investigation, the nature of the 170 questions asked, information revealed, or documents furnished in 171 connection with a confidential internal investigation of an 172 agency, before such complaint, document, action, or proceeding 173 becomes a public record as provided in this section commits a 174 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 175 775.082 or s. 775.083. However, this subsection does not limit a 176 law enforcement or correctional officers ability to gain access 177 to information under paragraph (5)(a) (2)(a). Additionally, a 178 sheriff, police chief, or other head of a law enforcement 179 agency, or his or her designee, is not precluded by this section 180 from acknowledging the existence of a complaint and the fact 181 that an investigation is underway. 182 Section 2.Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 183 112.532, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 184 112.532Law enforcement officers and correctional 185 officers rights.All law enforcement officers and correctional 186 officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or 187 a correctional agency shall have the following rights and 188 privileges: 189 (4)NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION; COPY OF AND OPPORTUNITY 190 TO ADDRESS CONTENTS OF INVESTIGATIVE FILE; CONFIDENTIALITY. 191 (b)Notwithstanding s. 112.533(5) s. 112.533(2), whenever a 192 law enforcement officer or correctional officer is subject to 193 disciplinary action consisting of suspension with loss of pay, 194 demotion, or dismissal, the officer or the officers 195 representative must shall, upon request, be provided with a 196 complete copy of the investigative file, including the final 197 investigative report and all evidence, and with the opportunity 198 to address the findings in the report with the employing law 199 enforcement agency before imposing disciplinary action 200 consisting of suspension with loss of pay, demotion, or 201 dismissal. The contents of the complaint and investigation must 202 shall remain confidential until such time as the employing law 203 enforcement agency makes a final determination whether or not to 204 issue a notice of disciplinary action consisting of suspension 205 with loss of pay, demotion, or dismissal. This paragraph does 206 not provide law enforcement officers with a property interest or 207 expectancy of continued employment, employment, or appointment 208 as a law enforcement officer. 209 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.