SB 1108 full text · Session Watch

Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1108 By Senator Truenow 13-01243A-26 20261108__

1 A bill to be entitled

2 An act relating to the Capitol Center and Complex;

3 amending ss. 272.09 and 943.60, F.S.; revising the

4 definition of the term “Capitol Complex”; amending s.

5 272.12, F.S.; providing that the Department of

6 Management Services is responsible for the aesthetics

7 of the Capitol Center for visitors; authorizing the

8 department to close certain streets if certain

9 conditions are met; amending s. 272.121, F.S.;

10 requiring the department to consider certain factors

11 when developing a specified plan; amending s. 272.16,

12 F.S.; requiring the department, in consultation with

13 the Capitol Police, to establish enhanced security

14 measures in certain parking areas; making a technical

15 change; amending s. 943.61, F.S.; requiring the

16 Capitol Police to ensure that the Capitol Complex is

17 safe for specified persons; providing a requirement

18 for certain operational plans; requiring the Capitol

19 Police to provide a certain report to the Legislature;

20 amending s. 943.64, F.S.; authorizing certain ex

21 officio agents to patrol the Capital Complex and

22 surrounding areas; authorizing specified positions for

23 a certain purpose; providing an effective date.

25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

27 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 272.09, Florida

28 Statutes, is amended to read:

29 272.09 Management, maintenance, and upkeep of Capitol

30 Center.—

31 (1) For purposes of this section, the term “Capitol

32 Complex” means the portion of the Capitol Center commonly

33 referred to as the Capitol, the Historic Capitol, the Senate

34 Office Building, the House Office Building, the Knott Building,

35 the Pepper Building, the Holland Building, the Elliot Building,

36 the R.A. Gray Building, and the associated parking garages and

37 curtilage of each, including the state-owned lands and public

38 streets adjacent thereto within an area bounded by and including

39 Calhoun Street, East Pensacola Street, Monroe Street, East Park

40 Avenue, West Park Avenue ~~Jefferson Street, West Pensacola~~

41 ~~Street~~ , Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Gaines Street. The

42 term does not include the Supreme Court Building or the public

43 streets adjacent thereto. The portion of the Capitol Complex

44 existing between and including the Elliot Building and the

45 Holland Building within an area bounded by and including Monroe

46 Street, Gaines Street, Calhoun Street, and East Pensacola Street

47 shall be known as “Memorial Park.”

48 Section 2. Subsections (3) and (4) are added to section

49 272.12, Florida Statutes, to read:

50 272.12 Florida Capitol Center Planning District.—

51 (3) The Department of Management Services is responsible

52 for the aesthetics of the Capitol Center for visitors.

53 (4) The Department of Management Services may close any

54 street within or adjoining the Capitol Complex with the consent

55 of the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of

56 the House of Representatives.

57 Section 3. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (1) of

58 section 272.121, Florida Statutes, to read:

59 272.121 Capitol Center long-range planning.—

60 (1) The Department of Management Services shall develop a

61 comprehensive and long-range plan for the development of state

62 owned property within the Capitol Center. In developing this

63 plan, the department shall consider:

64 (e) The security of the Capitol Center and surrounding

65 areas and the need to keep the Capitol Center and surrounding

66 areas safe for visitors.

67 Section 4. Present subsection (4) of section 272.16,

68 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (5) and amended,

69 and a new subsection (4) is added to that section, to read:

70 272.16 Parking areas within Capitol Center area.—

71 (4) The Department of Management Services, in consultation

72 with the Capitol Police, shall establish enhanced security

73 measures to protect members of the Legislature, state officers,

74 employees, and visitors in such parking areas.

75 (5) ~~(4)~~ The Department of Management Services shall adopt

76 ~~such~~ rules as ~~are~~ necessary to implement this section ~~carry out~~

77 ~~the purposes of subsections (1) and (3)~~ .

78 Section 5. Section 943.60, Florida Statutes, is amended to

79 read:

80 943.60 Definitions.—For the purposes of ss. 943.60-943.68,

81 the term “Capitol Complex” means that portion of Tallahassee,

82 Leon County, Florida, commonly referred to as the Capitol, the

83 Historic Capitol, the Senate Office Building, the House Office

84 Building, the Knott Building, the Pepper Building, the Holland

85 Building, the Elliot Building, the R.A. Gray Building, and the

86 associated parking garages and curtilage of each, including the

87 state-owned lands and public streets adjacent thereto within an

88 area bounded by and including Calhoun Street, East Pensacola

89 Street, Monroe Street, East Park Avenue, West Park Avenue

90 ~~Jefferson Street, West Pensacola Street~~ , Martin Luther King Jr.

91 Boulevard, and Gaines Street. The term includes the State

92 Capital Circle Office Complex located in Leon County, Florida.

93 The term does not include the Supreme Court Building or the

94 public streets adjacent thereto. The portion of the Capitol

95 Complex existing between and including the Elliot Building and

96 the Holland Building within an area bounded by and including

97 Monroe Street, Gaines Street, Calhoun Street, and East Pensacola

98 Street shall be known as “Memorial Park.”

99 Section 6. Section 943.61, Florida Statutes, is amended to

100 read:

101 943.61 Powers and duties of the Capitol Police.—

102 (1) There is created the Capitol Police within the

103 Department of Law Enforcement, to serve the safety and security

104 needs of both the legislative and executive branches of state

105 government. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Capitol

106 Police serve as a specially trained and highly effective

107 security and law enforcement agency serving the Capitol Complex

108 and the state. It shall be the primary responsibility of the

109 Capitol Police to protect the security of the Governor, the

110 Lieutenant Governor, the members of the Cabinet, and the members

111 of the Senate and of the House of Representatives, and those

112 employees assigned to assist such state officials in the

113 performance of their official duties, and to ensure their access

114 to buildings and premises within the Capitol Complex, thereby

115 providing for the continuous operation of the government of the

116 State of Florida. It shall also be the responsibility of the

117 Capitol Police to ensure that the Capitol Complex and

118 surrounding areas are safe for members of the Senate and of the

119 House of Representatives and those employees assigned to assist

120 such state officials in the performance of their official

121 duties.

122 (2) The Capitol Police shall also provide security and

123 protection for other state officials, employees, and visitors to

124 the Capitol Complex and shall maintain a reasonable degree of

125 safety and security within the Capitol Complex and surrounding

126 areas while ensuring reasonable access to buildings and premises

127 within the Capitol Complex by state officials, employees, and

128 visitors. The Capitol Police shall also ensure that adequate

129 signs and personnel are in place to inform and assist the

130 occupants of and visitors to buildings within the Capitol

131 Complex.

132 (3) Nothing herein limits the ability of the Capitol Police

133 to provide mutual aid to other law enforcement agencies as

134 authorized by law unless such a limitation is expressly included

135 in the operational security plans provided for herein.

136 (4) The Capitol Police shall have the following

137 responsibilities, powers, and duties:

138 (a) To develop, in consultation with the Governor, Cabinet

139 officers, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the

140 House of Representatives, written operational plans for basic

141 and enhanced security measures and actions related to the

142 Capitol Complex. Such plans shall address crime and vagrancy in

143 the streets surrounding the Capitol Complex. Such plans and any

144 changes or amendments thereto may ~~shall~~ not be implemented

145 unless presented in writing in final form to the Governor, the

146 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of

147 Representatives and all three grant their approval in writing.

148 The approval of any officer required herein shall expire 60 days

149 after such officer vacates his or her office, and the written

150 approval of the successor in office must be obtained before

151 ~~prior to~~ the continuation of operations under such plans. Upon

152 the request of the Governor, a Cabinet officer, the President of

153 the Senate, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the

154 Capitol Police shall activate previously approved enhanced

155 security measures and actions in accordance with the approved

156 operational plans specific to the requesting officer’s

157 responsibilities and to the facilities occupied by such officer

158 and employees responsible to such officer. Upon an emergency

159 threatening the immediate safety and security of occupants of

160 the Capitol Complex, so declared by the Governor, plans not

161 approved as required by this paragraph may be implemented for a

162 period not to exceed 15 days, provided such plans do not

163 substantially interfere with the ability of the Senate and the

164 House of Representatives to assemble for any constitutional

165 purpose.

166 (b) To provide and maintain the security of all property

167 located in the Capitol Complex in a manner consistent with the

168 security plans developed and approved under paragraph (a) and,

169 in consultation with the State Fire Marshal, to provide for

170 evacuations, information, and training required for firesafety

171 on such property in a manner consistent with s. 633.218.

172 (c) To develop plans for reporting incidents involving

173 buildings and property within the Capitol Complex, emergency

174 procedures and evacuation routes in the event of fire, security

175 threats, incidents prompting a need for evacuation, acts of

176 terrorism, or natural or manmade disaster and to make such

177 procedures and routes known to those persons occupying such

178 buildings.

179 (d) To employ officers who hold certification as law

180 enforcement officers in accordance with the minimum standards

181 and qualifications as set forth in s. 943.13 and ~~the provisions~~

182 of chapter 110, and who have the authority to bear arms, make

183 arrests, except as may be limited in the security plans

184 established under paragraph (a), and apply for arrest warrants.

185 (e) To hire guards and administrative, clerical, technical,

186 and other personnel as may be required.

187 (f) To train all officers and other employees in fire

188 prevention, firesafety, emergency medical procedures, and

189 preventing and responding to acts of terrorism.

190 (g) To respond to all complaints relating to criminal

191 activity or security threats within the Capitol Complex, or

192 against the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a member of the

193 Cabinet, a member of the Senate or of the House of

194 Representatives, or an employee assisting such official.

195 (h) As provided by the security plans developed and

196 approved under paragraph (a), upon request of the presiding

197 officer of either house of the Legislature, the director may

198 assign one or more officers for the protection of a member of

199 the house served by such presiding officer. Per diem and

200 subsistence allowance for department employees traveling with a

201 member of the Legislature away from Tallahassee shall be

202 computed by payment of a sum up to the amounts permitted in s.

203 112.061 for meals, plus actual expenses for lodging to be

204 substantiated by paid bills therefor.

205 (i) To enforce rules of the Department of Management

206 Services governing the regulation of traffic and parking within

207 the Capitol Complex and to impound illegally or wrongfully

208 parked vehicles.

209 (j) To establish policies for the organizational structure,

210 principles of command, and internal operations of the Capitol

211 Police, provided that such policies are not inconsistent with

212 ~~the provisions of~~ ss. 943.61-943.68 or the security plans

213 developed and approved under paragraph (a).

214 (k) To carry out the transportation and protective services

215 functions described in s. 943.68.

216 (l) To provide to the Legislature a report with

217 recommendations to enhance the safety of areas surrounding the

218 Capitol Complex.

219 (5) Officers of the Capitol Police may make lawful arrests,

220 consistent with the purposes, responsibilities, and limitations

221 set forth in ss. 943.60-943.68. However, except with the prior

222 approval of the appropriate presiding officer, officers of the

223 Capitol Police shall have no power to prevent the convening or

224 continuation of any meeting of the Legislature, legislative

225 committees, or staff, nor shall they have the power to interfere

226 with the legislative duties or rights of a member of the

227 Legislature, or to interfere with the constitutional duties or

228 rights of the Governor or a member of the Cabinet, except as may

229 be necessary to protect the health and safety of any person from

230 a clear and present danger, or as may be otherwise provided in

231 the security plans developed and approved for fire prevention,

232 firesafety, and emergency medical procedures under paragraph

233 (4)(a). No employee of the Capitol Police shall be permitted in

234 either legislative chamber without the specific permission of

235 the presiding officer of that house of the Legislature, but may

236 enter in the case of an emergency when the presiding officer is

237 not able or available to consent.

238 Section 7. Section 943.64, Florida Statutes, is amended to

239 read:

240 943.64 Ex officio agents.—Law enforcement officers of the

241 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, special agents

242 or inspectors of the Department of Law Enforcement, and law

243 enforcement officers of other state agencies, counties, and

244 municipalities are ex officio agents of the Capitol Police, and

245 may, when authorized by the executive director of the department

246 or the executive director’s designee, enforce rules and laws

247 applicable to the powers and duties of the Capitol Police to

248 provide and maintain the security required by ss. 943.61-943.68 ,

249 including patrolling the Capitol Complex and surrounding areas .

250 Section 8. Six full-time equivalent positions, for five

251 officers and one sergeant, are authorized to establish an

252 outreach policing community group within the Capitol Police.

253 Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.