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Florida Senate - 2025 CS for CS for SB 1386 By the Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice; the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Yarborough 604-03479-25 20251386c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to assault or battery on a utility 3 worker; amending s. 784.07, F.S.; defining the term 4 utility worker; providing for reclassification of 5 certain offenses committed against a utility worker 6 engaged in work on critical infrastructure; amending 7 ss. 901.15, 943.051, 985.11, and 985.644, F.S.; 8 conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 9 providing an effective date. 10 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12 13 Section 1.Subsection (2) of section 784.07, Florida 14 Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (h) is added to subsection 15 (1) of that section, to read: 16 784.07Assault or battery of law enforcement officers and 17 other specified personnel; reclassification of offenses; minimum 18 sentences. 19 (1)As used in this section, the term: 20 (h)Utility worker means a person who bears at least one 21 patch, emblem, organizational identification, or other clear 22 marking that is intended to be plainly visible, that identifies 23 the employing or contracting utility, and that clearly 24 identifies the person as a utility worker under contract with or 25 employed by an entity that owns, operates, leases, or controls a 26 plant, property, or facility for the generation, transmission, 27 distribution, or furnishing to or for the public, of 28 electricity, natural or manufactured gas or propane, water, 29 wastewater, telephone, or communications service, including two 30 or more utilities rendering joint service. 31 (2)Whenever any person is charged with knowingly 32 committing an assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer, 33 a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, hospital 34 personnel, a railroad special officer, a traffic accident 35 investigation officer as described in s. 316.640, a nonsworn law 36 enforcement agency employee who is certified as an agency 37 inspector, a blood alcohol analyst, or a breath test operator 38 while such employee is in uniform and engaged in processing, 39 testing, evaluating, analyzing, or transporting a person who is 40 detained or under arrest for DUI, a law enforcement explorer, a 41 traffic infraction enforcement officer as described in s. 42 316.640, a parking enforcement specialist as defined in s. 43 316.640, a person licensed as a security officer as defined in 44 s. 493.6101 and wearing a uniform that bears at least one patch 45 or emblem that is visible at all times that clearly identifies 46 the employing agency and that clearly identifies the person as a 47 licensed security officer, or a security officer employed by the 48 board of trustees of a community college, or a utility worker 49 engaged in work on critical infrastructure as defined in s. 50 812.141(1), while the officer, firefighter, emergency medical 51 care provider, hospital personnel, railroad special officer, 52 traffic accident investigation officer, traffic infraction 53 enforcement officer, inspector, analyst, operator, law 54 enforcement explorer, parking enforcement specialist, public 55 transit employee or agent, or security officer, or utility 56 worker is engaged in the lawful performance of his or her 57 duties, the offense for which the person is charged shall be 58 reclassified as follows: 59 (a)In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the 60 second degree to a misdemeanor of the first degree. 61 (b)In the case of battery, from a misdemeanor of the first 62 degree to a felony of the third degree. Notwithstanding any 63 other provision of law, a person convicted of battery upon a law 64 enforcement officer committed in furtherance of a riot or an 65 aggravated riot prohibited under s. 870.01 shall be sentenced to 66 a minimum term of imprisonment of 6 months. 67 (c)In the case of aggravated assault, from a felony of the 68 third degree to a felony of the second degree. Notwithstanding 69 any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated 70 assault upon a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a 71 minimum term of imprisonment of 3 years. 72 (d)In the case of aggravated battery, from a felony of the 73 second degree to a felony of the first degree. Notwithstanding 74 any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated 75 battery of a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a 76 minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years. 77 Section 2.Subsection (15) of section 901.15, Florida 78 Statutes, is amended to read: 79 901.15When arrest by officer without warrant is lawful.A 80 law enforcement officer may arrest a person without a warrant 81 when: 82 (15)There is probable cause to believe that the person has 83 committed assault upon a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, 84 an emergency medical care provider, public transit employees or 85 agents, or other specified persons officers as provided set 86 forth in s. 784.07 or has committed assault or battery upon any 87 employee of a receiving facility as defined in s. 394.455 who is 88 engaged in the lawful performance of his or her duties. 89 Section 3.Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section 90 943.051, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 91 943.051Criminal justice information; collection and 92 storage; fingerprinting. 93 (3) 94 (b)A minor who is charged with or found to have committed 95 the following offenses shall be fingerprinted and the 96 fingerprints shall be submitted electronically to the 97 department, unless the minor is issued a prearrest delinquency 98 citation pursuant to s. 985.12: 99 1.Assault, as defined in s. 784.011. 100 2.Battery, as defined in s. 784.03. 101 3.Carrying a concealed weapon, as defined in s. 790.01(2). 102 4.Unlawful use of destructive devices or bombs, as defined 103 in s. 790.1615(1). 104 5.Neglect of a child, as defined in s. 827.03(1)(e). 105 6.Assault or battery on a law enforcement officer, a 106 firefighter, or other specified persons officers, as provided 107 defined in s. 784.07 784.07(2)(a) and (b). 108 7.Open carrying of a weapon, as defined in s. 790.053. 109 8.Exposure of sexual organs, as defined in s. 800.03. 110 9.Unlawful possession of a firearm, as defined in s. 111 790.22(5). 112 10.Petit theft, as defined in s. 812.014(3). 113 11.Cruelty to animals, as defined in s. 828.12(1). 114 12.Arson, as defined in s. 806.031(1). 115 13.Unlawful possession or discharge of a weapon or firearm 116 at a school-sponsored event or on school property, as provided 117 in s. 790.115. 118 Section 4.Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 119 985.11, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 120 985.11Fingerprinting and photographing. 121 (1) 122 (b)Unless the child is issued a prearrest delinquency 123 citation pursuant to s. 985.12, a child who is charged with or 124 found to have committed one of the following offenses shall be 125 fingerprinted, and the fingerprints shall be submitted to the 126 Department of Law Enforcement as provided in s. 943.051(3)(b): 127 1.Assault, as defined in s. 784.011. 128 2.Battery, as defined in s. 784.03. 129 3.Carrying a concealed weapon, as defined in s. 790.01(2). 130 4.Unlawful use of destructive devices or bombs, as defined 131 in s. 790.1615(1). 132 5.Neglect of a child, as defined in s. 827.03(1)(e). 133 6.Assault on a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, or 134 other specified persons officers, as provided defined in s. 135 784.07 784.07(2)(a). 136 7.Open carrying of a weapon, as defined in s. 790.053. 137 8.Exposure of sexual organs, as defined in s. 800.03. 138 9.Unlawful possession of a firearm, as defined in s. 139 790.22(5). 140 10.Petit theft, as defined in s. 812.014. 141 11.Cruelty to animals, as defined in s. 828.12(1). 142 12.Arson, resulting in bodily harm to a firefighter, as 143 defined in s. 806.031(1). 144 13.Unlawful possession or discharge of a weapon or firearm 145 at a school-sponsored event or on school property as defined in 146 s. 790.115. 147 148 A law enforcement agency may fingerprint and photograph a child 149 taken into custody upon probable cause that such child has 150 committed any other violation of law, as the agency deems 151 appropriate. Such fingerprint records and photographs shall be 152 retained by the law enforcement agency in a separate file, and 153 these records and all copies thereof must be marked Juvenile 154 Confidential. These records are not available for public 155 disclosure and inspection under s. 119.07(1) except as provided 156 in ss. 943.053 and 985.04(2), but shall be available to other 157 law enforcement agencies, criminal justice agencies, state 158 attorneys, the courts, the child, the parents or legal 159 custodians of the child, their attorneys, and any other person 160 authorized by the court to have access to such records. In 161 addition, such records may be submitted to the Department of Law 162 Enforcement for inclusion in the state criminal history records 163 and used by criminal justice agencies for criminal justice 164 purposes. These records may, in the discretion of the court, be 165 open to inspection by anyone upon a showing of cause. The 166 fingerprint and photograph records shall be produced in the 167 court whenever directed by the court. Any photograph taken 168 pursuant to this section may be shown by a law enforcement 169 officer to any victim or witness of a crime for the purpose of 170 identifying the person who committed such crime. 171 Section 5.Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 172 985.644, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 173 985.644Departmental contracting powers; personnel 174 standards and investigation. 175 (3)(a)All employees of the department and all personnel of 176 contract providers for any program for children, including all 177 owners, operators, employees, persons who have access to 178 confidential juvenile records, and volunteers, must complete: 179 1.A level 2 employment screening pursuant to chapter 435 180 before employment. The security background investigation 181 conducted under this section must ensure that, in addition to 182 the disqualifying offenses listed in s. 435.04, no person 183 subject to the background screening provisions of this section 184 has an arrest awaiting final disposition for, been found guilty 185 of, regardless of adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo 186 contendere or guilty to, or been adjudicated delinquent and the 187 record has not been sealed or expunged for, any offense 188 prohibited under the following provisions of state law or 189 similar laws of another jurisdiction: 190 a.Section 784.07, relating to assault or battery of law 191 enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical care 192 providers, public transit employees or agents, or other 193 specified persons officers. 194 b.Section 817.568, relating to criminal use of personal 195 identification information. 196 2.A national criminal records check by the Federal Bureau 197 of Investigation every 5 years following the date of the 198 persons employment. 199 Section 6.This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.
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