| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to juvenile civil citations; amending s. |
| 3 | 985.12, F.S.; requiring that a juvenile civil citation |
| 4 | program be established at the local level with the |
| 5 | concurrence of the chief judge of the circuit and other |
| 6 | designated persons; authorizing a law enforcement agency, |
| 7 | the Department of Juvenile Justice, a juvenile assessment |
| 8 | center, the county or municipality, or an entity selected |
| 9 | by the county or municipality to operate the program; |
| 10 | authorizing a law enforcement officer, upon making contact |
| 11 | with a juvenile who admits to having committed a |
| 12 | misdemeanor, to require participation in intervention |
| 13 | services based upon an assessment of the needs of the |
| 14 | juvenile; restricting eligibility of participants for the |
| 15 | civil citation program to first-time misdemeanor |
| 16 | offenders; requiring the issuing agency to report on the |
| 17 | outcome to the Department of Juvenile Justice at the |
| 18 | conclusion of a youth's civil citation program; providing |
| 19 | that the issuance of a civil citation is not considered a |
| 20 | referral to the department; requiring the department to |
| 21 | develop a civil citation model that includes intervention |
| 22 | services and is based upon proven civil citation programs |
| 23 | within the state; requiring a law enforcement officer to |
| 24 | issue a report if the child has not complied with the |
| 25 | requirements of the civil citation program; providing an |
| 26 | effective date. |
| 27 |
|
| 28 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 29 |
|
| 30 | Section 1. Section 985.12, Florida Statutes, is amended to |
| 31 | read: |
| 32 | 985.12 Civil citation.- |
| 33 | (1) There is established a juvenile civil citation process |
| 34 | for the purpose of providing an efficient and innovative |
| 35 | alternative to custody by the Department of Juvenile Justice for |
| 36 | of children who commit nonserious delinquent acts and to ensure |
| 37 | swift and appropriate consequences. The civil citation program |
| 38 | shall may be established at the local level with the concurrence |
| 39 | of the chief judge of the circuit, state attorney, public |
| 40 | defender, and the head of each local law enforcement agency |
| 41 | involved and may be operated by a law enforcement agency, the |
| 42 | department, a juvenile assessment center, the county or |
| 43 | municipality, or an entity selected by the county or |
| 44 | municipality. Under such a juvenile civil citation program, any |
| 45 | law enforcement officer, upon making contact with a juvenile who |
| 46 | admits having committed a misdemeanor, may issue a civil |
| 47 | citation assessing not more than 50 community service hours, and |
| 48 | may require participation in intervention services as indicated |
| 49 | by an assessment of the appropriate to identified needs of the |
| 50 | juvenile, including family counseling, urinalysis monitoring, |
| 51 | and substance abuse and mental health treatment services. A copy |
| 52 | of each citation issued under this section shall be provided to |
| 53 | the department, and the department shall enter appropriate |
| 54 | information into the juvenile offender information system. Only |
| 55 | first-time misdemeanor offenders are eligible for the civil |
| 56 | citation program. At the conclusion of a youth's civil citation |
| 57 | program, the issuing agency shall report the outcome to the |
| 58 | department. The issuance of a civil citation is not considered a |
| 59 | referral to the department. |
| 60 | (2) The department shall develop a civil citation model |
| 61 | that includes intervention services and is based upon proven |
| 62 | civil citation programs within Florida. |
| 63 | (3)(2) Upon issuing such citation, the law enforcement |
| 64 | officer shall send a copy to the county sheriff, state attorney, |
| 65 | the appropriate intake office of the department, the community |
| 66 | service performance monitor designated by the department, the |
| 67 | parent or guardian of the child, and the victim. |
| 68 | (4)(3) The child shall report to the community service |
| 69 | performance monitor within 7 working days after the date of |
| 70 | issuance of the citation. The work assignment shall be |
| 71 | accomplished at a rate of not less than 5 hours per week. The |
| 72 | monitor shall advise the intake office immediately upon |
| 73 | reporting by the child to the monitor, that the child has in |
| 74 | fact reported and the expected date upon which completion of the |
| 75 | work assignment will be accomplished. |
| 76 | (5)(4) If the child juvenile fails to report timely for a |
| 77 | work assignment, complete a work assignment, or comply with |
| 78 | assigned intervention services within the prescribed time, or if |
| 79 | the juvenile commits a third or subsequent misdemeanor, the law |
| 80 | enforcement officer shall issue a report stating that the child |
| 81 | has not complied with the requirements of the civil citation |
| 82 | alleging the child has committed a delinquent act, at which |
| 83 | point a juvenile probation officer shall process the original |
| 84 | delinquent act as a referral to the department perform a |
| 85 | preliminary determination as provided under s. 985.145. |
| 86 | (6)(5) At the time of issuance of the citation by the law |
| 87 | enforcement officer, such officer shall advise the child that |
| 88 | the child has the option to refuse the citation and to be |
| 89 | referred to the intake office of the department. That option may |
| 90 | be exercised at any time prior to completion of the work |
| 91 | assignment. |
| 92 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |