Florida Senate - 2025 SB 516 By Senator Collins 14-00414B-25 2025516__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to complaints against law enforcement 3 and correctional officers; amending s. 112.532, F.S.; 4 requiring that a copy of a complaint, signed by the 5 complainant under oath, be provided to law enforcement 6 officers and correctional officers who are under 7 investigation; prohibiting certain personnel actions 8 from being taken against a law enforcement officer or 9 correctional officer unless such officer receives a 10 copy of the complaint signed by the complainant under 11 oath; prohibiting the investigative file of certain 12 investigations of law enforcement officers or 13 correctional officers from being included in such 14 officers personnel file; prohibiting the existence of 15 certain investigations from affecting an officers 16 ability to receive a promotion, a raise, or any other 17 commendation; amending s. 112.533, F.S.; requiring a 18 complaint against a law enforcement officer or 19 correctional officer to be in writing and signed under 20 oath by the person filing the complaint; providing 21 penalties for making a false complaint; providing an 22 effective date. 23 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 26 Section 1.Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) and subsection 27 (4) of section 112.532, Florida Statutes, are amended, and 28 subsection (8) is added to that section, to read: 29 112.532Law enforcement officers and correctional 30 officers rights.All law enforcement officers and correctional 31 officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or 32 a correctional agency shall have the following rights and 33 privileges: 34 (1)RIGHTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND CORRECTIONAL 35 OFFICERS WHILE UNDER INVESTIGATION.Whenever a law enforcement 36 officer or correctional officer is under investigation and 37 subject to interrogation by members of his or her agency for any 38 reason that could lead to disciplinary action, suspension, 39 demotion, or dismissal, the interrogation must be conducted 40 under the following conditions: 41 (d)The law enforcement officer or correctional officer 42 under investigation must be informed of the nature of the 43 investigation and the names of all complainants and also be 44 provided a copy of the complaint, signed by the complainant 45 under oath, before any interrogation begins, and he or she must 46 be informed of the names of all complainants. All identifiable 47 witnesses shall be interviewed, whenever possible, prior to the 48 beginning of the investigative interview of the accused officer. 49 The complaint, all witness statements, including all other 50 existing subject officer statements, and all other existing 51 evidence, including, but not limited to, incident reports, GPS 52 locator information, and audio or video recordings relating to 53 the incident under investigation, must be provided to each 54 officer who is the subject of the complaint before the beginning 55 of any investigative interview of that officer. An officer, 56 after being informed of the right to review witness statements, 57 may voluntarily waive the provisions of this paragraph and 58 provide a voluntary statement at any time. 59 (4)NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION; COPY OF AND OPPORTUNITY 60 TO ADDRESS CONTENTS OF INVESTIGATIVE FILE; CONFIDENTIALITY. 61 (a)A dismissal, demotion, transfer, reassignment, or other 62 personnel action that might result in loss of pay or benefits or 63 that might otherwise be considered a punitive measure may not be 64 taken against any law enforcement officer or correctional 65 officer unless the law enforcement officer or correctional 66 officer is notified of the action and the reason or reasons for 67 the action and he or she is provided a copy of the complaint 68 signed by the complainant under oath before the effective date 69 of the action. 70 (b)Notwithstanding s. 112.533(5), whenever a law 71 enforcement officer or correctional officer is subject to 72 disciplinary action consisting of suspension with loss of pay, 73 demotion, or dismissal, the officer or the officers 74 representative must, upon request, be provided with a complete 75 copy of the investigative file, including the complaint signed 76 by the complainant under oath, the final investigative report, 77 and all evidence, and with the opportunity to address the 78 findings in the report with the employing law enforcement agency 79 before imposing disciplinary action consisting of suspension 80 with loss of pay, demotion, or dismissal. The contents of the 81 complaint and investigation must remain confidential until such 82 time as the employing law enforcement agency makes a final 83 determination whether to issue a notice of disciplinary action 84 consisting of suspension with loss of pay, demotion, or 85 dismissal. This paragraph does not provide law enforcement 86 officers with a property interest or expectancy of continued 87 employment, employment, or appointment as a law enforcement 88 officer. 89 (8)RIGHTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND CORRECTIONAL 90 OFFICERS AFTER AN INVESTIGATION.The investigative file of an 91 investigation of a law enforcement or correctional officer which 92 does not result in the imposition of disciplinary action on the 93 officer may not be included in the personnel file of such 94 officer. Such investigation may not affect the ability of such 95 officer to receive a promotion, a raise, or any other 96 commendation. 97 Section 2.Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 98 112.533, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 99 112.533Receipt and processing of complaints. 100 (4)(a)Every law enforcement agency and correctional agency 101 shall establish and put into operation a system for the receipt, 102 investigation, and determination of complaints received by such 103 agency from any person, which must be the procedure for 104 investigating a complaint against a law enforcement or 105 correctional officer and for determining whether to proceed with 106 disciplinary action or to file disciplinary charges, 107 notwithstanding any other law or ordinance to the contrary. A 108 complaint against a law enforcement or correctional officer must 109 be in writing and signed under oath as provided in s. 92.525(2) 110 by the person filing the complaint. A complainant who makes a 111 false complaint is subject to the penalties in s. 92.525(3). 112 When law enforcement or correctional agency personnel assigned 113 the responsibility of investigating the complaint prepare an 114 investigative report or summary, regardless of form, the person 115 preparing the report shall, at the time the report is completed: 116 1.Verify pursuant to s. 92.525 that the contents of the 117 report are true and accurate based upon the persons personal 118 knowledge, information, and belief. 119 2.Include the following statement, sworn and subscribed to 120 pursuant to s. 92.525: 121 I, the undersigned, do hereby swear, under penalty of perjury, 122 that, to the best of my personal knowledge, information, and 123 belief, I have not knowingly or willfully deprived, or allowed 124 another to deprive, the subject of the investigation of any of 125 the rights contained in ss. 112.532 and 112.533, Florida 126 Statutes. 127 128 The requirements of subparagraphs 1. and 2. must be completed 129 before the determination as to whether to proceed with 130 disciplinary action or to file disciplinary charges. This 131 subsection does not preclude the Criminal Justice Standards and 132 Training Commission from exercising its authority under chapter 133 943. 134 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.