Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H4027 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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10	10	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
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12	12	A bill to be entitled 1
13	13	An act relating to Osceola County; amending chapter 2
14	14	2000-388, Laws of Florida; providing an additional 3
15	15	career service position; providing promotional 4
16	16	procedures; revising membership of the career service 5
17	17	appeals board; revising board responsibilities; 6
18	18	providing an effective date. 7
19	19	8
20	20	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9
21	21	10
22	22	Section 1. Sections 1, 3, and 4 of section 1 of section 3 11
23	23	of chapter 2000-388, Laws of Florida, are amended to read: 12
24	24	Section 1. Members of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office; 13
25	25	applicability of the act; career services of agency members; 14
26	26	transition; administration. — 15
27	27	(1) Applicability.—The provisions of this act shall apply 16
28	28	to all appointed deputy sheriffs and nonappointed members of the 17
29	29	Osceola County Sheriff's Office. The provisions of this act 18
30	30	shall not apply to the sheriff; nor to those above the rank of 19
31	31	captain lieutenant; nor to special deputy sheriffs appointed 20
32	32	pursuant to section 30.09(4), Florida Statutes, members of the 21
33	33	sheriff's reserve, auxiliary, posse units, volunteers, task 22
34	34	force members, and individuals appointed as part -time deputy 23
35	35	sheriffs, as defined by the Criminal Justice Standards and 24
36	36	Training Commission. As used in this act, the terms "member," 25
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47	47	"personnel," "employee," "employ," and "employment" shall refer 26
48	48	to all persons, whether employed or appointed, to whom the act 27
49	49	applies. It is not, however, the intent of this act to grant the 28
50	50	right of collective bargaining to members of the Osceola County 29
51	51	Sheriff's Office who do not otherwise have that right pursuant 30
52	52	to law. 31
53	53	(2) Career Service positions. — 32
54	54	(a) The following Career Service positions are established 33
55	55	and recognized: 34
56	56	1. Level 5 Captain. 35
57	57	2.1. Level 4 Lieutenant. 36
58	58	3.2. Level 3 Sergeant. 37
59	59	4.3. Level 2 Deputy Sheriff. 38
60	60	5.4. Level 1 nonappointed. 39
61	61	(b) Promotions ranging from above level 1 to level 4 shall 40
62	62	be made by content-valid examinations according to the agency's 41
63	63	promotional system. All promotions to the rank of sergeant and 42
64	64	lieutenant made after the effective date of this act must be as 43
65	65	a result of said competitive examinations. 44
66	66	(c) Promotions above level 4 shall be made by a resume or 45
67	67	interview process. All promotions to the rank of c aptain made 46
68	68	after the effective date of this act must be as a result of said 47
69	69	resume or interview process. 48
70	70	(3) Career Service status. — 49
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81	81	(a) After a member of the Sheriff's Office, to whom the 50
82	82	provisions of this act apply, has served for a period of one (1) 51
83	83	calendar year, such member shall have attained Career Service 52
84	84	status, unless the member is placed on extended probation for 53
85	85	just cause. 54
86	86	(b) Effective upon this act becoming a law, all current 55
87	87	nonprobationary members of the Sheriff's Office will be gr anted 56
88	88	Career Service status at the rank which they currently hold, 57
89	89	provided that said member currently holds a Career Service rank. 58
90	90	(c) If a member is separated but later rejoins the 59
91	91	Sheriff's Office, said member shall be required to complete one 60
92	92	(1) further calendar year of service before being granted the 61
93	93	right of appeal provided in section 4. 62
94	94	(d) Any member who is required to serve a probationary 63
95	95	period attendant to a promotion shall retain Career Service 64
96	96	status with the Sheriff, but may be demoted t o his/her prior 65
97	97	rank during such probationary period without the right of appeal 66
98	98	as provided in section 4. 67
99	99	(e) At the discretion of the Sheriff, the rank of captain 68
100	100	can be demoted to the last tested rank without cause. 69
101	101	(f)(e) A member demoted to a Care er Service rank from a 70
102	102	non-Career Service rank shall complete a one (1) year 71
103	103	probationary period in the Career Service rank before being 72
104	104	eligible for to protection offered with Career Services status. 73
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115	115	(g)(f) Promotions or demotions of members or creation of 74
116	116	rank to circumvent the intent of this act shall be held as 75
117	117	invalid and shall not affect the Career Service status of any 76
118	118	member affected by such invalid action. 77
119	119	(4) Transition of Career Service members. — 78
120	120	(a) When a newly elected or appointed sherif f assumes 79
121	121	office, the new sheriff shall continue the status of current 80
122	122	Career Service personnel unless cause for dismissal or demotion 81
123	123	exists. 82
124	124	(b) Cause for dismissal shall be misfeasance, nonfeasance, 83
125	125	or malfeasance of office. 84
126	126	(c) Said Career Service members shall retain their Career 85
127	127	Service ranks up to and including the rank of captain 86
128	128	lieutenant. 87
129	129	(5) Administration. —The sheriff has and shall continue to 88
130	130	have the authority to adopt such rules, regulations, and 89
131	131	procedures as are necessary for the imp lementation and 90
132	132	administration of this act, including, but not limited to, 91
133	133	appeal hearing proceedings. Nothing in this act shall be 92
134	134	construed as affecting the budgetmaking powers of the Board of 93
135	135	County Commissioners of Osceola County. 94
136	136	Section 3. Career Service Board; creation; membership 95
137	137	duties.— 96
138	138	(1) Function of the board. —A Career Service Appeals Board 97
139	139	shall be appointed herein for the purposes of hearing appeals of 98
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148	148	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
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150	150	Career Service members arising from disciplinary actions brought 99
151	151	under the sheriff's rules, procedures, or policies which result 100
152	152	in dismissal, suspension, demotion, or reduction in pay, 101
153	153	provided that oral or written reprimand, probation, and 102
154	154	suspension from work for three (3) work days or less as a result 103
155	155	of a single investigation shall no t be appealable to the board. 104
156	156	(2) Membership of the Career Service Board. —The Career 105
157	157	Service Board shall consist of five (5) members, none of whom 106
158	158	shall have been involved in the original event which resulted in 107
159	159	the disciplinary process that is the subje ct of the appeal, none 108
160	160	of whom are related to the appellant, none of whom have been 109
161	161	terminated from a law enforcement agency within Osceola County 110
162	162	due to a disciplinary action, none of whom have any ongoing 111
163	163	litigation against the Osceola County due to a disciplinary 112
164	164	action, none of whom have any ongoing litigation against the 113
165	165	Osceola Sheriff's Office, and none of whom are on probation or 114
166	166	have received discipline within the last year. A method of 115
167	167	selection and terms of office are as follows: 116
168	168	(a) The sheriff shall appoint two full -time law 117
169	169	enforcement officers from an agency within Osceola County to 118
170	170	serve on the board only with regard to the appellant's 119
171	171	particular appeal. 120
172	172	(b) The appellant shall appoint two full -time law 121
173	173	enforcement officers from an agency within Osceola County to 122
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184	184	serve on the board only with regard to the appellant's 123
185	185	particular appeal. 124
186	186	(c) The four members of the board, having been selected as 125
187	187	per paragraphs (a) and (b) shall between them select a full -time 126
188	188	law enforcement officer employ ed at the Osceola County Sheriff's 127
189	189	Office to serve as the fifth member and chairperson of the 128
190	190	board. This chairperson/member shall serve only with regard to 129
191	191	the appellant's particular appeal. 130
192	192	(d) In the event that either the sheriff or the 131
193	193	appellant's appointees to the board do not qualify as per 132
194	194	subsection (2), an alternate name shall be submitted to the 133
195	195	career service administrator by the applicable party within 134
196	196	three (3) working days of notification of the disqualification. 135
197	197	(e) The appeal board will be declared at an impasse by the 136
198	198	administrator if the four members fail to agree on a fifth 137
199	199	member/chairperson. After declaring an impasse, the 138
200	200	administrator shall notify the sheriff or his/her designated 139
201	201	representative and the appellant. To break the impa sse, the 140
202	202	administrator may utilize the following options: 141
203	203	1. The sheriff and/or appellant may choose to appoint new 142
204	204	board members or retain the present appointees. 143
205	205	2. If neither party wishes to replace their appointees, or 144
206	206	if new appointees still resul t in an impasse, the administrator 145
207	207	shall contact a circuit or county judge and request the court 146
208	208	appoint a fifth member to serve as a chairperson from a current 147
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217	217	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
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219	219	roster of law enforcement officers employed on a full -time basis 148
220	220	at the Osceola Sheriff's Offic e. 149
221	221	(f) All five members, as provided for above, shall 150
222	222	constitute a quorum. 151
223	223	(g) Seated board members may not be replaced or 152
224	224	substituted without advanced approval of the entire remaining 153
225	225	board. 154
226	226	(h) The sheriff shall select a member of the Osceola 155
227	227	County Sheriff's Office to serve as the administrator of the 156
228	228	Career Service Board. This administrator shall have no voting 157
229	229	right as to the actions of the board and shall serve only to 158
230	230	assist the board in scheduling, recording, the calling of 159
231	231	witnesses, and other such administrative duties and shall be 160
232	232	responsible for advising the board of the board's 161
233	233	responsibilities under the provisions of this act. 162
234	234	Section 4. Career Service Board appeal procedure. — 163
235	235	(1) Timeliness.—A Career Service appeal of the final 164
236	236	decision of the sheriff on a disciplinary action as specified in 165
237	237	section 3 2(3)(c) shall be made in writing to the administrator 166
238	238	of the Career Service Board. The Career Service appeal must be 167
239	239	received by the administrator no later than five (5) working 168
240	240	days after the disciplined individual is served with the 169
241	241	sheriff's final decision. Said appeal shall include the names of 170
242	242	the two members of the board selected by the appellant as 171
243	243	provided in section 3(2)(b). The Career Service Board shall meet 172
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254	254	for the purpose purposes of hearing the appeal no later than 173
255	255	thirty (30) working days after the receipt of an appeal by the 174
256	256	administrator. 175
257	257	(2) Conduct of hearing. — 176
258	258	(a) During any Career Service hearing the member filing 177
259	259	the appeal shall have the right to be heard publicly, to be 178
260	260	represented by an individual of his/her choice, other than an 179
261	261	elected or appointed official of Osceola County or an attorney 180
262	262	licensed to practice law in the State of Florida, and to present 181
263	263	any evidentiary facts in his/her behalf, however, said facts 182
264	264	shall be restricted to those presented during the disciplinary 183
265	265	procedure. 184
266	266	(b) During such hearing hearings, the technical rules of 185
267	267	evidence shall not apply. 186
268	268	(c) The board shall, in the conduct of such hearings, have 187
269	269	the power to administer o aths, issue subpoenas, compel the 188
270	270	attendance of witnesses, and require the production of books, 189
271	271	records, accounts, papers, documents, and testimony. 190
272	272	(d) In the event of disobedience by any person to comply 191
273	273	with an order of the board or a subpoena issued by the board, or 192
274	274	upon refusal of a witness to testify on any matter regarding 193
275	275	which he/she may be lawfully interrogated, a Circuit Judge of 194
276	276	the Ninth Judicial Circuit, upon application of the chairperson 195
277	277	of the board, shall compel obedience by proceeding a s for 196
278	278	contempt. 197
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287	287	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
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289	289	(e) Each witness who appears in obedience to a subpoena 198
290	290	before the board shall receive compensation for attendance fees 199
291	291	and mileage as provided witnesses in civil cases in the courts 200
292	292	of this state unless the witness is a law enforcement o fficer 201
293	293	appearing before the board during normal duty hours. Such 202
294	294	payments shall be made by the party calling the witness; except 203
295	295	that with respect to any witness called by the board, payments 204
296	296	shall be made by the sheriff upon presentation of proper 205
297	297	vouchers and approval of the chairperson and administrator. 206
298	298	(f) The board shall have the power to enact, adopt, and 207
299	299	amend rules and regulations governing procedures before the 208
300	300	board. 209
301	301	(3) Board responsibilities and findings. — 210
302	302	(a) The board shall, by majority vote, dispose of the 211
303	303	appeal by making a finding findings of fact and issuing a 212
304	304	written decision to the sheriff and the appellant. 213
305	305	(b) Such decision shall either sustain or not sustain the 214
306	306	action being appealed. 215
307	307	(c) If an action by the sheriff is not sustained by the 216
308	308	board, the board shall offer such remedial action as is 217
309	309	appropriate, which may include reinstatement with or without 218
310	310	back pay and may modify any disciplinary action which was the 219
311	311	subject of the appeal. 220
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322	322	(d) No board shall have the authori ty to impose on any 221
323	323	member any penalty which is more harsh than that which formed 222
324	324	the basis of the appeal. 223
325	325	(d)(e) The decision of the board shall be final and 224
326	326	binding on the appellant and the sheriff. 225
327	327	Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 226