Florida Senate - 2023                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 618
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì1860460Î186046                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/20/2023           .                                
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       The Committee on Criminal Justice (Yarborough) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Present subsections (1) and (2) of section
    6  112.531, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (2)
    7  and (3), respectively, and a new subsection (1) and subsection
    8  (4) are added to that section, to read:
    9         112.531 Definitions.—As used in this part, the term:
   10         (1)“Brady identification system” means a list or
   11  identification, in whatever form, of the name or names of law
   12  enforcement or correctional officers about whom a prosecuting
   13  agency is in possession of impeachment evidence as defined by
   14  decision, statute, or rule.
   15         (4)“Prosecuting agency” means the Attorney General or an
   16  assistant attorney general, the statewide prosecutor or an
   17  assistant statewide prosecutor, a state attorney or an assistant
   18  state attorney, a city or county attorney, a special prosecutor,
   19  or any other person or entity charged with the prosecution of a
   20  criminal case.
   21         Section 2. Subsection (7) is added to section 112.532,
   22  Florida Statutes, to read:
   23         112.532 Law enforcement officers’ and correctional
   24  officers’ rights.—All law enforcement officers and correctional
   25  officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or
   26  a correctional agency shall have the following rights and
   27  privileges:
   28         (7)RIGHTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND CORRECTIONAL
   29  OFFICERS RELATING TO A BRADY IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.—
   30         (a)A law enforcement officer or correctional officer has
   31  all of the rights specified in s. 112.536 relating to the
   32  inclusion of the name and information of the officer in a Brady
   33  identification system.
   34         (b)A law enforcement officer or correctional officer may
   35  not be discharged, suspended, demoted, or otherwise disciplined,
   36  or threatened with discharge, suspension, demotion, or other
   37  discipline, by his or her employing agency solely as a result of
   38  a prosecuting agency determining that the officer’s name and
   39  information should be included in a Brady identification system.
   40  This paragraph does not prohibit an officer’s employing agency
   41  from discharging, suspending, demoting, or taking other
   42  disciplinary action against a law enforcement officer or
   43  correctional officer based on the underlying actions of the
   44  officer which resulted in his or her inclusion in a Brady
   45  identification system. If a collective bargaining agreement
   46  applies, the actions taken by the officer’s employing agency
   47  must conform to the rules and procedures adopted by the
   48  collective bargaining agreement.
   49         Section 3. Section 112.536, Florida Statutes, is created to
   50  read:
   51         112.536Requirements for maintaining a Brady identification
   52  system.—
   53         (1)A prosecuting agency is not required to maintain a
   54  Brady identification system. A prosecuting agency may determine
   55  that its obligations under the Brady decision are better
   56  discharged through such procedures as that agency chooses to
   57  use.
   58         (2)A prosecuting agency that maintains a Brady
   59  identification system shall adopt written policies that, at a
   60  minimum, require all of the following:
   61         (a)The right of a law enforcement officer or a
   62  correctional officer to receive written notice through United
   63  States mail or e-mail to the current or last known employing
   64  agency of the officer, before or contemporaneously with a
   65  prosecuting agency including the name and information of the
   66  officer in a Brady identification system, unless a pending case
   67  requires immediate disclosure or providing notice would
   68  jeopardize a pending investigation.
   69         (b)The right of a law enforcement officer or correctional
   70  officer to receive written notice before a prosecuting agency
   71  includes the name and information of the officer in a Brady
   72  identification system.
   73         (c)The right of a law enforcement officer or correctional
   74  officer to request reconsideration of the prosecuting agency’s
   75  decision to include the name and information of the officer in a
   76  Brady identification system and his or her right to submit
   77  documents and evidence in support of the request for
   78  reconsideration.
   79         (3)If, after the policy provided in subsection (2) is
   80  followed, it is determined that the law enforcement officer or
   81  correctional officer in question should not be included in a
   82  Brady identification system, the prosecuting agency must send
   83  notice to the law enforcement officer or correctional officer
   84  and his or her employing agency that he or she has been removed
   85  from the Brady identification system.
   86         (4)If, after the policy provided in subsection (2) is
   87  followed, it is determined that the law enforcement officer or
   88  correctional officer in question should not be included in a
   89  Brady identification system, but his or her name was disclosed
   90  in a pending case, the prosecuting agency must take the
   91  necessary steps to notify the parties involved in the pending
   92  case of the law enforcement officer’s or correctional officer’s
   93  removal from the Brady identification system.
   94         (5)If a prosecuting agency fails to comply with this
   95  section, a law enforcement officer or a correctional officer may
   96  petition the court for a writ of mandamus to compel the
   97  prosecuting agency to act in accordance with this section. The
   98  scope of such a hearing may not include a judicial review of the
   99  evidence or merits of an officer’s inclusion in a Brady
  100  identification system, but instead must be limited to whether
  101  the prosecuting agency acted in accordance with the procedural
  102  requirements of this section. This section does not preclude the
  103  law enforcement officer or correctional officer from pursuing
  104  whatever administrative or judicial remedies are otherwise
  105  available to him or her in relation to any other action or
  106  remedy outside of this section.
  107         (6)This section does not:
  108         (a)Limit the duty of a prosecuting agency to produce Brady
  109  evidence in all cases as required by the United States
  110  Constitution, the State Constitution, and the Florida Rules of
  111  Criminal Procedure and relevant case law;
  112         (b)Limit or restrict a prosecuting agency’s ability to
  113  remove the name and information of a law enforcement officer or
  114  correctional officer from a Brady identification system if, at
  115  any time, the prosecuting agency determines that the name and
  116  information of the officer are no longer proper for
  117  identification; or
  118         (c)Create a private cause of action against a prosecuting
  119  agency or any employee of a prosecuting agency, other than the
  120  writ described in subsection (5).
  121         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.
  122  
  123  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  124  And the title is amended as follows:
  125         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  126  and insert:
  127                        A bill to be entitled                      
  128         An act relating to rights of law enforcement officers
  129         and correctional officers; amending s. 112.531, F.S.;
  130         defining terms; amending s. 112.532, F.S.; providing
  131         rights of law enforcement officers and correctional
  132         officers relating to a Brady identification system;
  133         prohibiting a law enforcement officer or correctional
  134         officer from being discharged, suspended, demoted, or
  135         otherwise disciplined for certain reasons; providing
  136         construction; requiring the employing agency of a law
  137         enforcement officer or correctional officer to conform
  138         to certain rules and procedures; creating s. 112.536,
  139         F.S.; providing that a prosecuting agency is not
  140         required to maintain a Brady identification system;
  141         authorizing a prosecuting agency to choose different
  142         procedures to discharge its obligations under the
  143         Brady decision; requiring a prosecuting agency that
  144         maintains a Brady identification system to adopt
  145         written policies; providing minimum requirements for
  146         such policies; requiring a prosecuting agency to
  147         provide certain notices to certain law enforcement
  148         officers or correctional officers and their employing
  149         agency under certain conditions; requiring the
  150         prosecuting agency to notify specified parties in a
  151         pending case of the removal of the name of a law
  152         enforcement officer or a correctional officer from the
  153         Brady identification system under certain conditions;
  154         authorizing a law enforcement officer or a
  155         correctional officer to petition for a writ of
  156         mandamus under certain circumstances; providing the
  157         scope of the judicial review; providing construction;
  158         providing an effective date.