HB 27

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to disabled parking permits; amending
3	s. 318.18, F.S.; providing for a parking enforcement
4	specialist or agency to validate compliance for the
5	disposition of a citation issued for illegally parking
6	in a space provided for people who have disabilities;
7	amending s. 320.0848, F.S.; revising requirements for
8	renewal or replacement of a disabled parking permit;
9	prohibiting applying for a new disabled parking permit
10	for a certain period of time upon a second finding of
11	guilt or plea of nolo contendere to unlawful use of
12	such permit; requiring the Department of Highway
13	Safety and Motor Vehicles to audit disabled parking
14	permit holders, verify certain information, and
15	invalidate the permit of a deceased permitholder;
16	directing the department to implement a means for
17	reporting abuse of disabled parking permits; providing
18	for the department to conduct a public awareness
19	campaign; providing an effective date.
20
21	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23	Section 1.  Subsection (6) of section 318.18, Florida
24	Statutes, is amended to read:
25	318.18  Amount of penalties.-The penalties required for a
26	noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 or a criminal
27	offense listed in s. 318.17 are as follows:
28	(6)  One hundred dollars or the fine amount designated by
29	county ordinance, plus court costs for illegally parking, under
30	s. 316.1955, in a parking space provided for people who have
31	disabilities. However, this fine will be waived if a person
32	provides to the law enforcement agency or parking enforcement
33	specialist or agency that issued the citation for such a
34	violation proof that the person committing the violation has a
35	valid parking permit or license plate issued pursuant to s.
36	316.1958, s. 320.0842, s. 320.0843, s. 320.0845, or s. 320.0848
37	or a signed affidavit that the owner of the disabled parking
38	permit or license plate was present at the time the violation
39	occurred, and that such a parking permit or license plate was
40	valid at the time the violation occurred. The law enforcement
41	officer or agency or the parking enforcement specialist or
42	agency, upon determining that all required documentation has
43	been submitted verifying that the required parking permit or
44	license plate was valid at the time of the violation, must sign
45	an affidavit of compliance. Upon provision of the affidavit of
46	compliance and payment of a dismissal fee of up to $7.50 to the
47	clerk of the circuit court, the clerk shall dismiss the
48	citation.
49	Section 2.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (1), paragraph (e)
50	of subsection (2), and subsection (8) of section 320.0848,
51	Florida Statutes, are amended, subsections (9) and (10) are
52	renumbered as subsections (11) and (12), respectively, and new
53	subsections (9) and (10) are added to that section, to read:
54	320.0848  Persons who have disabilities; issuance of
55	disabled parking permits; temporary permits; permits for certain
56	providers of transportation services to persons who have
57	disabilities.-
58	(1)
59	(d)  Beginning October 1, 2012 April 1, 1999, the
60	department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall renew the
61	disabled parking permit of any person certified as permanently
62	disabled on the application if the person applies for renewal in
63	person and provides a current certificate of disability pursuant
64	to this subsection.
65	(2)  DISABLED PARKING PERMIT; PERSONS WITH LONG-TERM
66	MOBILITY PROBLEMS.-
67	(e)  To obtain a replacement for a disabled parking permit
68	that has been lost or stolen, a person must appear in person,
69	submit an application on a form prescribed by the department,
70	and must pay a replacement fee in the amount of $1.00, to be
71	retained by the issuing agency. If the person submits with the
72	application a police report documenting that the permit was
73	stolen, there is no replacement fee.
74	(8)  A law enforcement officer or a parking enforcement
75	specialist may confiscate the disabled parking permit from any
76	person who fraudulently obtains or unlawfully uses such a
77	permit. A law enforcement officer or a parking enforcement
78	specialist may confiscate any disabled parking permit that is
79	expired, reported as lost or stolen, or defaced, or that does
80	not display a personal identification number.
81	(a)  Beginning April 1, 1999, The permit number of each
82	confiscated permit must be submitted to the department of
83	Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the fact that the permit
84	has been confiscated must be noted on the permitholder's record.
85	If two permits issued to the same person have been confiscated,
86	the department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall refer
87	the information to the central abuse hotline of the Department
88	of Children and Family Services for an investigation of
89	potential abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the permit owner.
90	(b)  A confiscated permit must be held as evidence until a
91	judicial decision about the violation has been made. After a
92	finding of guilt has been made or a plea of nolo contendere has
93	been entered, the charging agency shall destroy the confiscated
94	permit. A confiscated permit may not, under any circumstances,
95	be returned to its registered owner after a finding of guilt has
96	been made or a plea of nolo contendere has been entered in
97	court. If a finding of guilt has been made or a plea of nolo
98	contendere has been entered for fraudulent or other unlawful use
99	of a disabled parking permit after a prior finding of guilt or
100	plea of nolo contendere for fraudulent or other unlawful use of
101	a disabled parking permit issued to the same registered permit
102	owner, the permit owner may not apply for a new disabled parking
103	permit for a period of 4 years. The permit number of each
104	destroyed permit must be reported to the department, and the
105	department must record in the real-time disabled parking permit
106	database that the permit has been invalidated.
107	(9)(a)  At least once every 6 months, the department shall
108	randomly audit disabled parking permit holders to ensure that
109	all required criteria for the ownership and possession of such
110	permit are still valid. As a component of the audit, the
111	department shall, at a minimum:
112	1.  Review death records maintained by the Department of
113	Health to ensure that the permitholder has not died.
114	2.  Review the number of times the permit has been
115	confiscated for fraudulent or unlawful use, if at all.
116	3.  Determine if the permit has ever been reported lost or
117	stolen and, if so, determine the current status of the permit.
118	(b)  At least annually, the department shall verify that
119	the owner of each disabled parking permit has not died. Such
120	verification shall include, but is not limited to, consultation
121	with death records maintained by the Department of Health. If a
122	disabled parking permit owner is found to be deceased, the
123	department shall promptly invalidate the decedent's disabled
124	parking permit.
125	(10)  The department shall develop and implement a means by
126	which persons can report abuse of disabled parking permits by
127	telephone hotline or by submitting a form online or by mail.
128	Section 3.  (1)  The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
129	Vehicles shall make a public announcement and conduct a public
130	awareness campaign regarding the abuses of disabled parking
131	permits and the burdens such abuses inflict on disabled persons
132	throughout the state. The public awareness campaign shall also
133	inform the public about:
134	(a)  The requirement to appear in person to renew an
135	expired disabled parking permit or replace a lost or stolen
136	disabled parking permit.
137	(b)  The implementation of the new periodic disabled
138	parking permit audit system.
139	(c)  The implementation of the new complaint process for
140	reporting abuses of disabled parking permits.
141	(2)  The public awareness campaign shall commence within 30
142	days after the effective date of this act and shall continue for
143	not less than 6 months.
144	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.