ENROLLED
       2016 Legislature                    CS for SB 230, 1st Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                                              2016230er
    1  
    2         An act relating to missing persons with special needs;
    3         creating s. 937.041, F.S.; creating pilot projects in
    4         specified counties to provide personal devices to aid
    5         search-and-rescue efforts for persons with special
    6         needs; providing for administration of the projects;
    7         requiring reports; providing for expiration; providing
    8         appropriations; providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Section 937.041, Florida Statutes, is created to
   13  read:
   14         937.041 Missing persons with special needs pilot projects.—
   15         (1)(a) There is created a pilot project in Alachua, Baker,
   16  Columbia, Hamilton, and Suwannee Counties, to be known as
   17  “Project Leo,” to provide personal devices to aid search-and
   18  rescue efforts for persons with special needs in the case of
   19  elopement.
   20         (b) There is created an additional pilot project in Palm
   21  Beach County to provide personal devices to aid search-and
   22  rescue efforts for persons with special needs in the case of
   23  elopement.
   24         (c) There is created an additional pilot project in
   25  Hillsborough County to provide personal devices to aid search
   26  and-rescue efforts for persons with special needs in the case of
   27  elopement.
   28         (2)(a)1. Participants for the pilot project specified in
   29  paragraph (1)(a) shall be selected based on criteria developed
   30  by the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at the
   31  University of Florida.
   32         2. Participants for the pilot project specified in
   33  paragraph (1)(b) shall be selected based on criteria developed
   34  by the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at Florida
   35  Atlantic University.
   36         3. Participants for the pilot project specified in
   37  paragraph (1)(c) shall be selected based on criteria developed
   38  by the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at the
   39  University of South Florida.
   40         (b) Criteria for participation in the pilot projects must
   41  include, at a minimum, the person’s risk of elopement. The
   42  qualifying participants shall be selected on a first-come,
   43  first-served basis by the respective centers to the extent of
   44  available funding within their existing resources. Each project
   45  must be voluntary and free of charge to participants.
   46         (3) Under each pilot project, personal devices to aid
   47  search-and-rescue efforts which are attachable to clothing or
   48  otherwise worn shall be provided by the respective center to the
   49  sheriff’s offices of the participating counties. The devices
   50  shall be distributed to project participants by the county
   51  sheriff’s offices in conjunction with the respective center. The
   52  respective center shall fund any costs associated with
   53  monitoring the devices.
   54         (4) Each center shall submit a preliminary report by
   55  December 1, 2016, and a final report by December 15, 2017, to
   56  the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
   57  the House of Representatives describing the implementation and
   58  operation of its pilot project. At a minimum, each report must
   59  include the criteria used to select participants, the number of
   60  participants, the nature of the participants’ special needs, the
   61  number of participants who elope, the amount of time taken to
   62  rescue such participants following elopement, and the outcome of
   63  any rescue attempts. Each final report shall also provide
   64  recommendations for modification or continued implementation of
   65  the project.
   66         (5) Each project shall operate to the extent of available
   67  funding within the respective center’s existing resources.
   68         (6) This section expires June 30, 2018.
   69         Section 2. For the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the sum of
   70  $100,000 in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the General
   71  Revenue Fund to the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities
   72  at the University of Florida, the sum of $100,000 in
   73  nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund
   74  to the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at Florida
   75  Atlantic University, and the sum of $100,000 in nonrecurring
   76  funds is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the
   77  Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at the University of
   78  South Florida. The funds provided to each center shall be used
   79  for the purchase of personal devices to aid search-and-rescue
   80  efforts for persons with special needs in the case of elopement.
   81         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.