| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to sexual misconduct with students by |
| 3 | authority figures; creating s. 775.0862, F.S.; providing |
| 4 | definitions; providing for reclassification of specified |
| 5 | sexual offenses committed against students by authority |
| 6 | figures; providing for severity ranking of offenses; |
| 7 | amending s. 921.0022, F.S.; providing for application of |
| 8 | the severity ranking chart of the Criminal Punishment |
| 9 | Code; providing an effective date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Section 775.0862, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 14 | to read: |
| 15 | 775.0862 Sexual battery offenses against students by |
| 16 | authority figures; reclassification.- |
| 17 | (1) For purposes of this section, the term: |
| 18 | (a) "Authority figure" means a school officer, a teacher |
| 19 | or other instructional person, an administrator or other school |
| 20 | administrative person, a school volunteer, an educational |
| 21 | support employee, or an education service provider who is |
| 22 | employed by, under contract with, working at, or providing |
| 23 | volunteer services to an educational institution. |
| 24 | (b) "Educational institution" means an entity providing |
| 25 | instructional programs of study by means of regular classes, |
| 26 | activities, or courses, including virtual courses, to students |
| 27 | in early learning programs or in prekindergarten through grade |
| 28 | 12. |
| 29 | (c) "Student" means any early learning or prekindergarten |
| 30 | through grade 12 child who is enrolled in an educational |
| 31 | institution. |
| 32 | (2) The felony degree of any violation of: |
| 33 | (a) Any offense listed in s. 775.21(4)(a)1.; or |
| 34 | (b) Any offense listed in s. 943.0435(1)(a)1.a. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | shall be, unless the offense falls within s. 794.011(4)(g), |
| 37 | reclassified as provided in this section if the offense is |
| 38 | committed by an authority figure of any educational institution |
| 39 | against a student of any educational institution. |
| 40 | (3)(a) In the case of a felony of the third degree, the |
| 41 | offense is reclassified to a felony of the second degree. |
| 42 | (b) In the case of a felony of the second degree, the |
| 43 | offense is reclassified to a felony of the first degree. |
| 44 | (c) In the case of a felony of the first degree, the |
| 45 | offense is reclassified to a life felony. |
| 46 | |
| 47 | For purposes of sentencing under chapter 921 and determining |
| 48 | incentive gain-time eligibility under chapter 944, a felony |
| 49 | offense that is reclassified under this subsection is ranked one |
| 50 | level above the ranking under s. 921.0022 or s. 921.0023 of the |
| 51 | offense committed. |
| 52 | Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 921.0022, Florida |
| 53 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 54 | 921.0022 Criminal Punishment Code; offense severity |
| 55 | ranking chart.- |
| 56 | (2) The offense severity ranking chart has 10 offense |
| 57 | levels, ranked from least severe, which are level 1 offenses, to |
| 58 | most severe, which are level 10 offenses, and each felony |
| 59 | offense is assigned to a level according to the severity of the |
| 60 | offense. For purposes of determining which felony offenses are |
| 61 | specifically listed in the offense severity ranking chart and |
| 62 | which severity level has been assigned to each of these |
| 63 | offenses, the numerical statutory references in the left column |
| 64 | of the chart and the felony degree designations in the middle |
| 65 | column of the chart are controlling; the language in the right |
| 66 | column of the chart is provided solely for descriptive purposes. |
| 67 | Reclassification of the degree of the felony through the |
| 68 | application of s. 775.0845, s. 775.0861, s. 775.0862, s. |
| 69 | 775.087, s. 775.0875, s. 794.023, or any other law that provides |
| 70 | an enhanced penalty for a felony offense, to any offense listed |
| 71 | in the offense severity ranking chart in this section shall not |
| 72 | cause the offense to become unlisted and is not subject to the |
| 73 | provisions of s. 921.0023. |
| 74 | Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2010. |