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| 1 | A bill to be entitled | ||
| 2 | An act relating to vessel safety; amending s. 327.73, | ||
| 3 | F.S.; providing civil penalties for violations of | ||
| 4 | described regulations; providing for liability for payment | ||
| 5 | of citations for certain infractions; providing an | ||
| 6 | effective date. | ||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: | ||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | Section 1. Paragraph (v) is added to subsection (1) of | ||
| 11 | section 327.73, Florida Statutes, and paragraphs (d) and (e) are | ||
| 12 | added to subsection (9) of said section, to read: | ||
| 13 | 327.73 Noncriminal infractions.-- | ||
| 14 | (v) Violations relating to a vessel within 500 feet of a | ||
| 15 | pier established by local government authorities pursuant to s. | ||
| 16 | 327.22 or s. 327.60, for which the civil penalty is $250. | ||
| 17 | |||
| 18 | Any person cited for a violation of any such provision shall be | ||
| 19 | deemed to be charged with a noncriminal infraction, shall be | ||
| 20 | cited for such an infraction, and shall be cited to appear | ||
| 21 | before the county court. The civil penalty for any such | ||
| 22 | infraction is $50, except as otherwise provided in this section. | ||
| 23 | Any person who fails to appear or otherwise properly respond to | ||
| 24 | a uniform boating citation shall, in addition to the charge | ||
| 25 | relating to the violation of the boating laws of this state, be | ||
| 26 | charged with the offense of failing to respond to such citation | ||
| 27 | and, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second | ||
| 28 | degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A | ||
| 29 | written warning to this effect shall be provided at the time | ||
| 30 | such uniform boating citation is issued. | ||
| 31 | (9) | ||
| 32 | (d) The owner of a vessel is responsible and liable for | ||
| 33 | payment of any citation unless the owner can furnish evidence | ||
| 34 | that the vessel was, at the time of the violation, in the care, | ||
| 35 | custody, or control of another person. In such instance, the | ||
| 36 | owner of the vessel is required, within a reasonable time after | ||
| 37 | notification of the violation, to furnish to the appropriate law | ||
| 38 | enforcement authorities an affidavit stating the name, address, | ||
| 39 | and driver's license number of the person who leased, rented, or | ||
| 40 | otherwise had the care, custody, or control of the vessel. The | ||
| 41 | affidavit submitted under this paragraph is admissible in a | ||
| 42 | proceeding charging a violation and raises the rebuttable | ||
| 43 | presumption that the person identified in the affidavit is | ||
| 44 | responsible for payment of the citation. The owner of a vessel | ||
| 45 | is not responsible for a violation if the vessel involved was, | ||
| 46 | at the time, stolen or in the care, custody, or control of a | ||
| 47 | person who did not have permission of the owner to use the | ||
| 48 | vessel. | ||
| 49 | (e) Any county or municipality may provide by ordinance | ||
| 50 | that the clerk of the court or the traffic violations bureau | ||
| 51 | shall supply the department with a magnetically encoded computer | ||
| 52 | tape reel or cartridge or send by other electronic means data | ||
| 53 | which is machine readable by the installed computer system at | ||
| 54 | the department, listing persons who have outstanding violations. | ||
| 55 | The department shall mark the appropriate registration records | ||
| 56 | of persons who are so reported. Section 320.03(8) applies to | ||
| 57 | each person whose name appears on the list. | ||
| 58 | Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2003. | ||