Florida Senate - 2022                             CS for SB 1736
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Hooper
       
       
       
       
       
       591-02278-22                                          20221736c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to records of physical examinations;
    3         amending s. 112.18, F.S.; authorizing a specified
    4         medical examination to serve as a certain required
    5         physical examination for firefighters; making
    6         technical changes; amending s. 943.13, F.S.; requiring
    7         an employing agency to maintain records of employee
    8         physical examinations for a specified period of time
    9         after employee separation from the agency; creating a
   10         presumption that applies to employees whose records
   11         are not maintained for that period of time; providing
   12         an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   17  112.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   18         112.18 Firefighters and law enforcement or correctional
   19  officers; special provisions relative to disability.—
   20         (1)(a) Any condition or impairment of health of any Florida
   21  state, municipal, county, port authority, special tax district,
   22  or fire control district firefighter or any law enforcement
   23  officer, correctional officer, or correctional probation officer
   24  as defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3) caused by tuberculosis,
   25  heart disease, or hypertension resulting in total or partial
   26  disability or death shall be presumed to have been accidental
   27  and to have been suffered in the line of duty unless the
   28  contrary be shown by competent evidence. However, any such
   29  firefighter, or law enforcement officer, correctional officer,
   30  or correctional probation officer must have successfully passed
   31  a physical examination upon entering into any such service as a
   32  firefighter, or law enforcement officer, correctional officer,
   33  or correctional probation officer, which examination failed to
   34  reveal any evidence of any such condition. The medical
   35  examination required by s. 633.412(5) may serve as a physical
   36  examination upon entering service for a firefighter if the
   37  employer did not retain or conduct a physical examination upon
   38  entering service. Such presumption does not apply to benefits
   39  payable under or granted in a policy of life insurance or
   40  disability insurance, unless the insurer and insured have
   41  negotiated for such additional benefits to be included in the
   42  policy contract.
   43         Section 2. Subsection (6) of section 943.13, Florida
   44  Statutes, is amended to read:
   45         943.13 Officers’ minimum qualifications for employment or
   46  appointment.—On or after October 1, 1984, any person employed or
   47  appointed as a full-time, part-time, or auxiliary law
   48  enforcement officer or correctional officer; on or after October
   49  1, 1986, any person employed as a full-time, part-time, or
   50  auxiliary correctional probation officer; and on or after
   51  October 1, 1986, any person employed as a full-time, part-time,
   52  or auxiliary correctional officer by a private entity under
   53  contract to the Department of Corrections, to a county
   54  commission, or to the Department of Management Services shall:
   55         (6) Have passed a physical examination by a licensed
   56  physician, physician assistant, or licensed advanced practice
   57  registered nurse, based on specifications established by the
   58  commission. In order to be eligible for the presumption set
   59  forth in s. 112.18 while employed with an employing agency, a
   60  law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or correctional
   61  probation officer must have successfully passed the physical
   62  examination required by this subsection upon entering into
   63  service as a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or
   64  correctional probation officer with the employing agency, which
   65  examination must have failed to reveal any evidence of
   66  tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension. A law enforcement
   67  officer, correctional officer, or correctional probation officer
   68  may not use a physical examination from a former employing
   69  agency for purposes of claiming the presumption set forth in s.
   70  112.18 against the current employing agency. An employing agency
   71  shall maintain records of the physical examination required
   72  under this subsection for at least 5 years after the employee’s
   73  separation from that agency. If an employing agency fails to
   74  maintain such records for the required period of time, it is
   75  presumed that the law enforcement officer, correctional officer,
   76  or correctional probation officer satisfied the requirement of
   77  this subsection of having passed a physical examination.
   78         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.