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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 Osceola County; amending chapter 2
2000-388, Laws of Florida; providing an additional 3
career service position; providing promotional 4
procedures; revising membership of the career service 5
appeals board; revising board responsibilities; 6
providing an effective date. 7
8
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9
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Section 1. Sections 1, 3, and 4 of section 1 of section 3 11
of chapter 2000-388, Laws of Florida, are amended to read: 12
Section 1. Members of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office; 13
applicability of the act; career services of agency members; 14
transition; administration. — 15
(1) Applicability.—The provisions of this act shall apply 16
to all appointed deputy sheriffs and nonappointed members of the 17
Osceola County Sheriff's Office. The provisions of this act 18
shall not apply to the sheriff; nor to those above the rank of 19
captain lieutenant; nor to special deputy sheriffs appointed 20
pursuant to section 30.09(4), Florida Statutes, members of the 21
sheriff's reserve, auxiliary, posse units, volunteers, task 22
force members, and individuals appointed as part -time deputy 23
sheriffs, as defined by the Criminal Justice Standards and 24
Training Commission. As used in this act, the terms "member," 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
"personnel," "employee," "employ," and "employment" shall refer 26
to all persons, whether employed or appointed, to whom the act 27
applies. It is not, however, the intent of this act to grant the 28
right of collective bargaining to members of the Osceola County 29
Sheriff's Office who do not otherwise have that right pursuant 30
to law. 31
(2) Career Service positions. — 32
(a) The following Career Service positions are established 33
and recognized: 34
1. Level 5 Captain. 35
2.1. Level 4 Lieutenant. 36
3.2. Level 3 Sergeant. 37
4.3. Level 2 Deputy Sheriff. 38
5.4. Level 1 nonappointed. 39
(b) Promotions ranging from above level 1 to level 4 shall 40
be made by content-valid examinations according to the agency's 41
promotional system. All promotions to the rank of sergeant and 42
lieutenant made after the effective date of this act must be as 43
a result of said competitive examinations. 44
(c) Promotions above level 4 shall be made by a resume or 45
interview process. All promotions to the rank of c aptain made 46
after the effective date of this act must be as a result of said 47
resume or interview process. 48
(3) Career Service status. — 49
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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) After a member of the Sheriff's Office, to whom the 50
provisions of this act apply, has served for a period of one (1) 51
calendar year, such member shall have attained Career Service 52
status, unless the member is placed on extended probation for 53
just cause. 54
(b) Effective upon this act becoming a law, all current 55
nonprobationary members of the Sheriff's Office will be gr anted 56
Career Service status at the rank which they currently hold, 57
provided that said member currently holds a Career Service rank. 58
(c) If a member is separated but later rejoins the 59
Sheriff's Office, said member shall be required to complete one 60
(1) further calendar year of service before being granted the 61
right of appeal provided in section 4. 62
(d) Any member who is required to serve a probationary 63
period attendant to a promotion shall retain Career Service 64
status with the Sheriff, but may be demoted t o his/her prior 65
rank during such probationary period without the right of appeal 66
as provided in section 4. 67
(e) At the discretion of the Sheriff, the rank of captain 68
can be demoted to the last tested rank without cause. 69
(f)(e) A member demoted to a Care er Service rank from a 70
non-Career Service rank shall complete a one (1) year 71
probationary period in the Career Service rank before being 72
eligible for to protection offered with Career Services status. 73
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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
(g)(f) Promotions or demotions of members or creation of 74
rank to circumvent the intent of this act shall be held as 75
invalid and shall not affect the Career Service status of any 76
member affected by such invalid action. 77
(4) Transition of Career Service members. — 78
(a) When a newly elected or appointed sherif f assumes 79
office, the new sheriff shall continue the status of current 80
Career Service personnel unless cause for dismissal or demotion 81
exists. 82
(b) Cause for dismissal shall be misfeasance, nonfeasance, 83
or malfeasance of office. 84
(c) Said Career Service members shall retain their Career 85
Service ranks up to and including the rank of captain 86
lieutenant. 87
(5) Administration. —The sheriff has and shall continue to 88
have the authority to adopt such rules, regulations, and 89
procedures as are necessary for the imp lementation and 90
administration of this act, including, but not limited to, 91
appeal hearing proceedings. Nothing in this act shall be 92
construed as affecting the budgetmaking powers of the Board of 93
County Commissioners of Osceola County. 94
Section 3. Career Service Board; creation; membership 95
duties.— 96
(1) Function of the board. —A Career Service Appeals Board 97
shall be appointed herein for the purposes of hearing appeals of 98
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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
Career Service members arising from disciplinary actions brought 99
under the sheriff's rules, procedures, or policies which result 100
in dismissal, suspension, demotion, or reduction in pay, 101
provided that oral or written reprimand, probation, and 102
suspension from work for three (3) work days or less as a result 103
of a single investigation shall no t be appealable to the board. 104
(2) Membership of the Career Service Board. —The Career 105
Service Board shall consist of five (5) members, none of whom 106
shall have been involved in the original event which resulted in 107
the disciplinary process that is the subje ct of the appeal, none 108
of whom are related to the appellant, none of whom have been 109
terminated from a law enforcement agency within Osceola County 110
due to a disciplinary action, none of whom have any ongoing 111
litigation against the Osceola County due to a disciplinary 112
action, none of whom have any ongoing litigation against the 113
Osceola Sheriff's Office, and none of whom are on probation or 114
have received discipline within the last year. A method of 115
selection and terms of office are as follows: 116
(a) The sheriff shall appoint two full -time law 117
enforcement officers from an agency within Osceola County to 118
serve on the board only with regard to the appellant's 119
particular appeal. 120
(b) The appellant shall appoint two full -time law 121
enforcement officers from an agency within Osceola County to 122
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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
serve on the board only with regard to the appellant's 123
particular appeal. 124
(c) The four members of the board, having been selected as 125
per paragraphs (a) and (b) shall between them select a full -time 126
law enforcement officer employ ed at the Osceola County Sheriff's 127
Office to serve as the fifth member and chairperson of the 128
board. This chairperson/member shall serve only with regard to 129
the appellant's particular appeal. 130
(d) In the event that either the sheriff or the 131
appellant's appointees to the board do not qualify as per 132
subsection (2), an alternate name shall be submitted to the 133
career service administrator by the applicable party within 134
three (3) working days of notification of the disqualification. 135
(e) The appeal board will be declared at an impasse by the 136
administrator if the four members fail to agree on a fifth 137
member/chairperson. After declaring an impasse, the 138
administrator shall notify the sheriff or his/her designated 139
representative and the appellant. To break the impa sse, the 140
administrator may utilize the following options: 141
1. The sheriff and/or appellant may choose to appoint new 142
board members or retain the present appointees. 143
2. If neither party wishes to replace their appointees, or 144
if new appointees still resul t in an impasse, the administrator 145
shall contact a circuit or county judge and request the court 146
appoint a fifth member to serve as a chairperson from a current 147
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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
roster of law enforcement officers employed on a full -time basis 148
at the Osceola Sheriff's Offic e. 149
(f) All five members, as provided for above, shall 150
constitute a quorum. 151
(g) Seated board members may not be replaced or 152
substituted without advanced approval of the entire remaining 153
board. 154
(h) The sheriff shall select a member of the Osceola 155
County Sheriff's Office to serve as the administrator of the 156
Career Service Board. This administrator shall have no voting 157
right as to the actions of the board and shall serve only to 158
assist the board in scheduling, recording, the calling of 159
witnesses, and other such administrative duties and shall be 160
responsible for advising the board of the board's 161
responsibilities under the provisions of this act. 162
Section 4. Career Service Board appeal procedure. — 163
(1) Timeliness.—A Career Service appeal of the final 164
decision of the sheriff on a disciplinary action as specified in 165
section 3 2(3)(c) shall be made in writing to the administrator 166
of the Career Service Board. The Career Service appeal must be 167
received by the administrator no later than five (5) working 168
days after the disciplined individual is served with the 169
sheriff's final decision. Said appeal shall include the names of 170
the two members of the board selected by the appellant as 171
provided in section 3(2)(b). The Career Service Board shall meet 172
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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
for the purpose purposes of hearing the appeal no later than 173
thirty (30) working days after the receipt of an appeal by the 174
administrator. 175
(2) Conduct of hearing. — 176
(a) During any Career Service hearing the member filing 177
the appeal shall have the right to be heard publicly, to be 178
represented by an individual of his/her choice, other than an 179
elected or appointed official of Osceola County or an attorney 180
licensed to practice law in the State of Florida, and to present 181
any evidentiary facts in his/her behalf, however, said facts 182
shall be restricted to those presented during the disciplinary 183
procedure. 184
(b) During such hearing hearings, the technical rules of 185
evidence shall not apply. 186
(c) The board shall, in the conduct of such hearings, have 187
the power to administer o aths, issue subpoenas, compel the 188
attendance of witnesses, and require the production of books, 189
records, accounts, papers, documents, and testimony. 190
(d) In the event of disobedience by any person to comply 191
with an order of the board or a subpoena issued by the board, or 192
upon refusal of a witness to testify on any matter regarding 193
which he/she may be lawfully interrogated, a Circuit Judge of 194
the Ninth Judicial Circuit, upon application of the chairperson 195
of the board, shall compel obedience by proceeding a s for 196
contempt. 197
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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
(e) Each witness who appears in obedience to a subpoena 198
before the board shall receive compensation for attendance fees 199
and mileage as provided witnesses in civil cases in the courts 200
of this state unless the witness is a law enforcement o fficer 201
appearing before the board during normal duty hours. Such 202
payments shall be made by the party calling the witness; except 203
that with respect to any witness called by the board, payments 204
shall be made by the sheriff upon presentation of proper 205
vouchers and approval of the chairperson and administrator. 206
(f) The board shall have the power to enact, adopt, and 207
amend rules and regulations governing procedures before the 208
board. 209
(3) Board responsibilities and findings. — 210
(a) The board shall, by majority vote, dispose of the 211
appeal by making a finding findings of fact and issuing a 212
written decision to the sheriff and the appellant. 213
(b) Such decision shall either sustain or not sustain the 214
action being appealed. 215
(c) If an action by the sheriff is not sustained by the 216
board, the board shall offer such remedial action as is 217
appropriate, which may include reinstatement with or without 218
back pay and may modify any disciplinary action which was the 219
subject of the appeal. 220
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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
(d) No board shall have the authori ty to impose on any 221
member any penalty which is more harsh than that which formed 222
the basis of the appeal. 223
(d)(e) The decision of the board shall be final and 224
binding on the appellant and the sheriff. 225
Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 226