THE BILL ITSELF
CS/CS/HB 849
Department of Law Enforcement
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A bill to be entitled
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An act relating to the Department of Law Enforcement;
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amending s. 112.195, F.S.; authorizing the Department
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of Law Enforcement to adopt rules relating to the
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Florida Medal of Valor and Florida Blue/Red Heart
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Medal programs; amending s. 406.02, F.S.; specifying
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that appointments and reappointments of members to the
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Medical Examiners Commission within the department are
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considered in force until certain conditions are met;
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requiring the commission to appoint district medical
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examiners by a majority vote to fill vacancies;
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amending s. 406.06, F.S.; requiring the commission,
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rather than the Governor, to appoint district medical
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examiners for medical examiner districts; providing
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that physician members of the commission are eligible
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to serve as district medical examiners upon approval
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by the commission, rather than by the Governor;
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amending s. 406.135, F.S.; authorizing an organ
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procurement organization, an eye bank, or a tissue
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bank to view or copy specified autopsy reports under
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certain circumstances; creating s. 943.0536, F.S.;
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requiring the Criminal Justice Information Program to
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collect, process, store, maintain, and disseminate
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records containing immigration detainer information
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under specified circumstances; requiring law
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enforcement agencies to capture and submit
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fingerprints of specified offenders to the department;
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requiring the department to create certain records;
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defining the terms "immigration detainer" and "law
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enforcement agency"; amending s. 943.0581, F.S.;
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authorizing the department to adopt a rule for the
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administrative expunction of specified records under
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certain circumstances; authorizing applications for
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the administrative expunction of specified records
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under certain circumstances; providing requirements
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for an application for administrative expunction of
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specified records; providing construction; amending s.
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943.11, F.S.; requiring the Criminal Justice
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Professionalism Program to provide staff support to
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the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission
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within the department; requiring the commission to act
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independently of any criminal justice agency; amending
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s. 943.1395, F.S.; providing manners of administrative
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complaint service by the Criminal Justice Standards
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and Training Commission to law enforcement,
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correctional, and correctional probation officers;
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amending ss. 943.1726, 943.17261, 943.1727, and
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943.17299, F.S.; requiring the Criminal Justice
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Standards and Training Commission, rather than the
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department, to establish online continued employment
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training components relating to diabetic emergencies,
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online initial training and continuing education
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courses relating to medical use of marijuana,
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continued employment training components relating to
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autism spectrum disorder, and online continued
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employment training components relating to Alzheimer's
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disease and related forms of dementia, respectively;
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providing effective dates.
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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Section 1. Effective upon becoming a law, subsection (4)
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is added to section 112.195, Florida Statutes, to read:
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112.195 Florida Medal of Valor and Florida Blue/Red Heart
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Medal.—
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(4) The Department of Law Enforcement may adopt rules to
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implement this section.
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Section 2. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (4) of
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section 406.02, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs
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(c) and (d), respectively, subsection (2) is amended, and a new
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paragraph (b) is added to subsection (4) of that section, to
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read:
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406.02 Medical Examiners Commission; membership; terms;
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duties; staff.—
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(2) The term of office of the physicians appointed to the
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commission shall be 4 years. The term of office of the state
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attorney, public defender, sheriff, and county commissioner each
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shall be 4 years unless she or he leaves that office sooner, in
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which case her or his appointment will terminate. The term of
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office of the funeral director shall be 4 years. Upon the
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expiration of the present terms of office, the Governor shall
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appoint two members for terms of 4 years, two members for terms
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of 3 years, two members for terms of 2 years, and one member for
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a term of 1 year. An appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for
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the unexpired portion of the term. An appointment or
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reappointment is considered in force until the appointee resigns
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or no longer qualifies for the position or until the Governor
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appoints a new member.
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(4) The Medical Examiners Commission shall:
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(b) Appoint district medical examiners by a majority vote
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to fill a vacancy.
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Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 406.06, Florida
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Statutes, is amended to read:
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406.06 District medical examiners; associates; suspension
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of medical examiners.—
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(1)(a) A district medical examiner shall be appointed by
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the Medical Examiners Commission Governor for each medical
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examiner district from nominees who are practicing physicians in
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pathology, whose nominations are submitted to the Governor by
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the Medical Examiners Commission. The term of office of each
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district medical examiner shall be 3 years. An appointment to
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fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired portion of the term.
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(b) A physician member of the Medical Examiners Commission
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shall be eligible to serve as a district medical examiner upon
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approval by the commission Governor.
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Section 4. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (3) of
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section 406.135, Florida Statutes, to read:
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406.135 Autopsies; confidentiality of photographs and
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video and audio recordings; confidentiality of reports of minor
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victims of domestic violence; exemption.—
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(3)
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(d) Notwithstanding subsection (2), in order to facilitate
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an anatomical gift or transplantation, an organ procurement
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organization, an eye bank, or a tissue bank, as those terms are
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defined in s. 765.511, may, pursuant to a written request
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containing proof of the intent of the deceased, the deceased's
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family, or the deceased's health care surrogate to make an
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anatomical gift in accordance with chapter 765:
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1. View or copy an autopsy report of a minor whose death
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was related to an act of domestic violence; and
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2. View or copy an autopsy report of a person whose manner
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of death was determined by a medical examiner to have been by
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suicide.
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Section 5. Section 943.0536, Florida Statutes, is created
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to read:
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943.0536 Immigration detainer information; collection and
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storage; fingerprinting.—
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(1) The department's Criminal Justice Information Program,
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acting as this state's central criminal justice information
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repository, shall collect, process, store, maintain, and
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disseminate immigration detainer information.
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(2)(a) A law enforcement agency shall capture and
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electronically submit to the department in the manner prescribed
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by rule the fingerprints of a qualifying offender, as defined in
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s. 943.325(2), who is in its custody and subject to an
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immigration detainer.
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(b) Upon receipt of the fingerprints required to be
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submitted under paragraph (a), the department must create a
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record containing the qualifying offender's immigration detainer
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information.
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(3) As used in this section, the terms "immigration
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detainer" and "law enforcement agency" have the same meanings as
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in s. 908.102.
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Section 6. Subsection (6) of section 943.0581, Florida
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Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (7) and amended,
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subsections (1), (2), and (3) are amended, and a new subsection
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(6) is added to that section, to read:
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943.0581 Administrative expunction for arrests or
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immigration detainer records made contrary to law or by
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mistake.—
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(1) Notwithstanding any law dealing generally with the
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preservation and destruction of public records, the department
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may adopt a rule pursuant to chapter 120 for the administrative
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expunction of any nonjudicial record of an arrest or record
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containing immigration detainer information described in s.
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943.0536 of a minor or an adult made contrary to law or by
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mistake.
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(2) A law enforcement agency shall apply to the department
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in the manner prescribed by rule for the administrative
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expunction of any nonjudicial record of any arrest or record
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containing immigration detainer information described in s.
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943.0536 of a minor or an adult who is subsequently determined
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by the agency, at its discretion, or by the final order of a
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court of competent jurisdiction, to have been arrested or
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detained contrary to law or by mistake.
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(3) An adult or, in the case of a minor child, the parent
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or legal guardian of the minor child, may apply to the
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department in the manner prescribed by rule for the
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administrative expunction of any nonjudicial record of an arrest
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or record containing immigration detainer information described
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in s. 943.0536 alleged to have been made contrary to law or by
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mistake, provided that the application is supported by the
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endorsement of the head of the arresting or detaining agency or
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his or her designee or the state attorney of the judicial
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circuit in which the arrest occurred or his or her designee.
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(6) An application for an administrative expunction for a
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record containing immigration detainer information as described
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in s. 943.0536 must include the date and time when the person
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was detained, the person's name, the offender-based tracking
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system (OBTS) number, and information relating to the
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immigration detainer. The application must be on the submitting
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agency's letterhead and must be signed by the head of the
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submitting agency or his or her designee.
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(7)(6) An application or endorsement under this section is
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not admissible as evidence in any judicial or administrative
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proceeding and may not be construed in any way as an admission
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of liability in connection with an arrest or detention.
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Section 7. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
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943.11, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
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943.11 Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission;
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membership; meetings; compensation.—
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(1)(a) There is created a Criminal Justice Standards and
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Training Commission within the Department of Law Enforcement.
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The Criminal Justice Professionalism Program shall provide staff
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support to the commission as authorized in s. 943.09; however,
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the commission must act independently of any criminal justice
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agency. The commission shall be composed of 19 members,
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consisting of the Secretary of Corrections or a designated
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assistant; the Attorney General or a designee; the Director of
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the Division of the Florida Highway Patrol; and 16 members
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appointed by the Governor, consisting of 3 sheriffs; 3 chiefs of
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police; 5 law enforcement officers who are of the rank of
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sergeant or below within the employing agency; 2 correctional
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officers, 1 of whom is an administrator of a state correctional
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institution and 1 of whom is of the rank of sergeant or below
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within the employing agency; 1 training center director; 1
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person who is in charge of a county correctional institution;
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and 1 resident of the state who falls into none of the foregoing
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classifications. Prior to the appointment, the sheriff, chief of
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police, law enforcement officer, and correctional officer
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members must have had at least 4 years' experience as law
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enforcement officers or correctional officers.
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Section 8. Subsection (11) is added to section 943.1395,
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Florida Statutes, to read:
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943.1395 Certification for employment or appointment;
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concurrent certification; reemployment or reappointment;
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inactive status; revocation; suspension; investigation.—
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(11) Notwithstanding s. 120.60(5), when an administrative
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complaint is served on a certified law enforcement officer,
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correctional officer, correctional probation officer, or
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instructor, commission staff shall provide service by certified
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mail to the certified officer's or instructor's last known
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address of record and, if possible, by e-mail. If service does
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not provide commission staff with proof of service, commission
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staff shall call the last known telephone number of record and
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cause a short, plain notice to the certified officer or
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instructor to be posted on the front page of the commission's
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website.
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Section 9. Section 943.1726, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
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943.1726 Continued employment training relating to
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diabetic emergencies.—The commission department shall establish
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an online continued employment training component relating to
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diabetic emergencies. The training component shall include, but
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need not be limited to, instruction on the recognition of
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symptoms of such an emergency, distinguishing such an emergency
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from alcohol intoxication or drug overdose, and appropriate
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first aid for such an emergency. Completion of the training
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component may count toward the 40 hours of instruction for
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continued employment or appointment as a law enforcement officer
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required under s. 943.135.
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Section 10. Section 943.17261, Florida Statutes, is
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amended to read:
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943.17261 Department of Law Enforcement; Training related
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to medical use of marijuana.—The commission Department of Law
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Enforcement shall develop a 4-hour online initial training
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course, and a 2-hour online continuing education course, which
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shall be made available for use by all law enforcement agencies
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in this state. Such training shall cover the legal parameters of
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marijuana-related activities governed by ss. 381.986 and 381.988
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relating to criminal laws governing marijuana.
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Section 11. Section 943.1727, Florida Statutes, is amended
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to read:
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943.1727 Continued employment training relating to autism
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spectrum disorder.—The commission department shall establish a
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continued employment training component relating to autism
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spectrum disorder as defined in s. 627.6686. The training
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component shall include, but need not be limited to, instruction
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on the recognition of the symptoms and characteristics of an
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individual on the autism disorder spectrum and appropriate
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responses to an individual exhibiting such symptoms and
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characteristics. Completion of the training component may count
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toward the 40 hours of instruction for continued employment or
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appointment as a law enforcement officer required under s.
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943.135.
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Section 12. Section 943.17299, Florida Statutes, is
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amended to read:
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943.17299 Continued employment training relating to
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Alzheimer's disease and related forms of dementia.—The
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commission department shall establish an online, continued
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employment training component relating to Alzheimer's disease
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and related forms of dementia. The training component must be
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developed in consultation with the Department of Elder Affairs
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and must include, but need not be limited to, instruction on
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interacting with persons with Alzheimer's disease or a related
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form of dementia, including instruction on techniques for
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recognizing behavioral symptoms and characteristics, effective
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communication, employing the use of alternatives to physical
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restraints, and identifying signs of abuse, neglect, or
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exploitation. Completion of the training component may count
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toward the 40 hours of instruction for continued employment or
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appointment as a law enforcement officer, correctional officer,
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or correctional probation officer required under s. 943.135.
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Section 13. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
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act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon
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this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect July 1,
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2026.