Florida Senate - 2009                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1892
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 940922                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/15/2009           .                                
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       The Committee on Criminal Justice (Crist) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 775.0862, Florida Statutes, is created
    6  to read:
    7         775.0862Sexual battery offenses against students by
    8  authority figures; reclassification.—
    9         (1)For purposes of this section, the term:
   10         (a)“Authority figure” means a school officer, a teacher or
   11  other instructional person, an administrator or other school
   12  administrative person, a school volunteer, an educational
   13  support employee, or an education service provider who is
   14  employed by, under contract with, working at, or providing
   15  volunteer services to an educational institution.
   16         (b)“Educational institution” means an entity providing
   17  instructional programs of study by means of regular classes,
   18  activities, or courses, including virtual courses, to students
   19  in early learning programs or in prekindergarten through grade
   20  12.
   21         (c)“Student” means any early learning or prekindergarten
   22  through grade 12 child who is enrolled in an educational
   23  institution.
   24         (2)The felony degree of any violation of:
   25         (a)Any offense listed in s. 775.21(4)(a)1.; or
   26         (b)Any offense listed in s. 943.0435(1)(a)1.a.
   27  
   28  shall be, unless the offense falls within s. 794.011(4)(g),
   29  reclassified as provided in this section if the offense is
   30  committed by an authority figure of any educational institution
   31  against a student of any educational institution.
   32         (3)(a)In the case of a felony of the third degree, the
   33  offense is reclassified to a felony of the second degree.
   34         (b)In the case of a felony of the second degree, the
   35  offense is reclassified to a felony of the first degree.
   36         (c)In the case of a felony of the first degree, the
   37  offense is reclassified to a life felony.
   38  
   39  For purposes of sentencing under chapter 921 and determining
   40  incentive gain-time eligibility under chapter 944, a felony
   41  offense that is reclassified under this subsection is ranked one
   42  level above the ranking under s. 921.0022 or s. 921.0023 of the
   43  offense committed.
   44         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 921.0022, Florida
   45  Statutes, is amended to read:
   46         921.0022 Criminal Punishment Code; offense severity ranking
   47  chart.—
   48         (2) The offense severity ranking chart has 10 offense
   49  levels, ranked from least severe, which are level 1 offenses, to
   50  most severe, which are level 10 offenses, and each felony
   51  offense is assigned to a level according to the severity of the
   52  offense. For purposes of determining which felony offenses are
   53  specifically listed in the offense severity ranking chart and
   54  which severity level has been assigned to each of these
   55  offenses, the numerical statutory references in the left column
   56  of the chart and the felony degree designations in the middle
   57  column of the chart are controlling; the language in the right
   58  column of the chart is provided solely for descriptive purposes.
   59  Reclassification of the degree of the felony through the
   60  application of s. 775.0845, s. 775.0861, s. 775.0862, s.
   61  775.087, s. 775.0875, s. 794.023, or any other law that provides
   62  an enhanced penalty for a felony offense, to any offense listed
   63  in the offense severity ranking chart in this section shall not
   64  cause the offense to become unlisted and is not subject to the
   65  provisions of s. 921.0023.
   66         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2009.
   67  
   68  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   69         And the title is amended as follows:
   70         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   71  and insert:
   72                        A bill to be entitled                      
   73         An act relating to sexual misconduct with students by
   74         authority figures; creating s. 775.0862, F.S.;
   75         providing definitions; providing for reclassification
   76         of specified sexual offenses committed against
   77         students by an authority figure; providing for
   78         severity ranking of offenses; amending s. 921.0022,
   79         F.S.; providing for application of the severity
   80         ranking chart of the Criminal Punishment Code;
   81         providing an effective date.