Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 710
       
       
        
       By Senator Ingoglia
       
       
       
       
       
       11-00364A-24                                           2024710__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to law enforcement officers and
    3         correctional officers; amending s. 112.532, F.S.;
    4         deleting provisions relating to complaint review
    5         boards; authorizing law enforcement officers and
    6         correctional officers to pursue appropriate
    7         administrative relief or file a civil action if the
    8         officer is disciplined for certain violations;
    9         amending s. 112.534, F.S.; deleting the requirement
   10         that certain violations by agencies or investigators
   11         be intentional; providing that an interview of an
   12         officer may not begin or must cease under certain
   13         circumstances; providing that the third member of a
   14         compliance review panel may not be employed by the
   15         agency head; requiring the compliance review panel to
   16         determine if a violation occurred; providing that if
   17         the alleged violation is sustained as intentional, the
   18         investigator must be removed from the investigation if
   19         such investigation is still ongoing; deleting the
   20         requirement for an agency head to initiate an
   21         investigation against an investigator; requiring that
   22         sustained allegations of an intentional violation be
   23         forwarded to the Criminal Justice Standards and
   24         Training Commission for review; providing for
   25         administrative and civil relief; providing that an
   26         employing agency is responsible for certain monetary
   27         expenses under certain circumstances; amending s.
   28         112.533, F.S.; deleting a criminal penalty; conforming
   29         provisions to changes made by the act; providing an
   30         effective date.
   31          
   32  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   33  
   34         Section 1. Subsections (3) through (7) of section 112.532,
   35  Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (2) through (6),
   36  respectively, and present subsections (2) and (3) of that
   37  section are amended, to read:
   38         112.532 Law enforcement officers’ and correctional
   39  officers’ rights.—All law enforcement officers and correctional
   40  officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or
   41  a correctional agency shall have the following rights and
   42  privileges:
   43         (2)COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARDS.—A complaint review board shall
   44  be composed of three members: One member selected by the chief
   45  administrator of the agency or unit; one member selected by the
   46  aggrieved officer; and a third member to be selected by the
   47  other two members. Agencies or units having more than 100 law
   48  enforcement officers or correctional officers shall utilize a
   49  five-member board, with two members being selected by the
   50  administrator, two members being selected by the aggrieved
   51  officer, and the fifth member being selected by the other four
   52  members. The board members shall be law enforcement officers or
   53  correctional officers selected from any state, county, or
   54  municipal agency within the county. There shall be a board for
   55  law enforcement officers and a board for correctional officers
   56  whose members shall be from the same discipline as the aggrieved
   57  officer. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to
   58  sheriffs or deputy sheriffs.
   59         (2)(3)ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF AND CIVIL SUITS FOR BROUGHT BY
   60  LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OR CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS.—Every law
   61  enforcement officer or correctional officer has shall have the
   62  right to bring civil suit against any person, group of persons,
   63  or organization or corporation, or the head of such organization
   64  or corporation, for damages, either pecuniary or otherwise,
   65  suffered during the performance of the officer’s official
   66  duties, for abridgment of the officer’s civil rights arising out
   67  of the officer’s performance of official duties, or for filing a
   68  complaint against the officer which the person knew was false
   69  when it was filed. An officer may pursue appropriate
   70  administrative relief or file a civil action in a court of
   71  competent jurisdiction if he or she is subject to disciplinary
   72  action in violation of this section. This section does not
   73  establish a separate civil action against the officer’s
   74  employing law enforcement agency for the investigation and
   75  processing of a complaint filed under this part.
   76         Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 112.534, Florida
   77  Statutes, is amended to read:
   78         112.534 Failure to comply; official misconduct.—
   79         (1) Notwithstanding s. 112.532(5), if any law enforcement
   80  agency or correctional agency, including investigators in its
   81  internal affairs or professional standards division, or an
   82  assigned investigating supervisor, violates intentionally fails
   83  to comply with the requirements of this part, the following
   84  procedures apply. For purposes of this section, the term “law
   85  enforcement officer” or “correctional officer” includes the
   86  officer’s representative or legal counsel, except in application
   87  of paragraph (d).
   88         (a) The law enforcement officer or correctional officer
   89  must notify shall advise the investigator of the alleged
   90  intentional violation of the requirements of this part which is
   91  alleged to have occurred. The officer’s notice of violation is
   92  sufficient to notify the investigator of the requirements of
   93  this part which are alleged to have been violated and the
   94  factual basis of each violation.
   95         (b) If the investigator fails to cure the alleged violation
   96  or continues the alleged violation after being notified by the
   97  law enforcement officer or correctional officer, the officer
   98  must shall request that the agency head or his or her designee
   99  be informed of the alleged intentional violation. If the alleged
  100  violation is discovered before or during the interview of the
  101  officer Once this request is made, the interview of the officer
  102  may not begin or must shall cease, and the officer’s refusal to
  103  respond to further investigative questions does not constitute
  104  insubordination or any similar type of policy violation.
  105         (c) Thereafter, within 3 working days, a written notice of
  106  alleged violation and request for a compliance review hearing
  107  must shall be filed with the agency head or designee and which
  108  must contain sufficient information to identify the requirements
  109  of this part which are alleged to have been violated and the
  110  factual basis of each violation. All evidence related to the
  111  investigation must be preserved for review and presentation at
  112  the compliance review hearing. For purposes of confidentiality,
  113  the compliance review panel hearing is shall be considered part
  114  of the original investigation.
  115         (d) Unless otherwise remedied by the agency before the
  116  compliance review hearing, the a compliance review hearing must
  117  be conducted within 10 working days after the request for a
  118  compliance review hearing is filed, unless, by mutual agreement
  119  of the officer and agency or for extraordinary reasons, an
  120  alternate date is chosen. A compliance review The panel shall
  121  review the circumstances and facts surrounding the alleged
  122  intentional violation. The three-member compliance review panel
  123  consists of shall be made up of three members: one member
  124  selected by the agency head, one member selected by the officer
  125  filing the request, and a third member who is not employed by
  126  the agency head and is to be selected by the other two members.
  127  The compliance review panel members must shall be law
  128  enforcement officers or correctional officers who are active
  129  from the same law enforcement discipline as the officer
  130  requesting the hearing. Compliance review panel members may be
  131  selected from any state, county, or municipal agency within the
  132  county in which the officer works. The compliance review hearing
  133  must shall be conducted in the county in which the officer
  134  works.
  135         (e) It is the responsibility of the compliance review panel
  136  to determine whether a violation occurred and if or not the
  137  investigator or agency intentionally violated the requirements
  138  provided under this part. It may hear evidence, review relevant
  139  documents, and hear argument before making such a determination;
  140  however, all evidence received must shall be strictly limited to
  141  the allegation under consideration and may not be related to the
  142  disciplinary charges pending against the officer. The
  143  investigative materials are considered confidential for purposes
  144  of the compliance review hearing and determination.
  145         (f) The officer bears the burden of proof to establish that
  146  the alleged violation of this part was intentional. The standard
  147  of proof for such a determination is by a preponderance of the
  148  evidence. The determination of the compliance review panel must
  149  be made at the conclusion of the compliance review hearing, in
  150  writing, and filed with the agency head and the officer.
  151         (g) If the alleged violation is sustained as intentional by
  152  the compliance review panel, the agency head must shall
  153  immediately remove the investigator from any further involvement
  154  with the investigation of the officer if the investigation is
  155  still ongoing. Additionally, the agency head shall direct an
  156  investigation be initiated against the investigator determined
  157  to have intentionally violated the requirements provided under
  158  this part for purposes of agency disciplinary action. if the
  159  compliance review panel sustains the violation as intentional
  160  against the investigator or any other officer involved in the
  161  violation that investigation is sustained, the violation must
  162  sustained allegations against the investigator shall be
  163  forwarded to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training
  164  Commission for review as an act of official misconduct or misuse
  165  of position.
  166         (h)If an officer is disciplined after a violation of this
  167  part, the violation may be addressed and remedied
  168  administratively or in a court of competent jurisdiction. If a
  169  disciplinary action is directly connected to an intentional
  170  violation of this part and the intentional violation results in
  171  the reversal of the disciplinary action, the employing agency is
  172  responsible for the monetary expenses incurred by the aggrieved
  173  officer, including attorney fees and costs, hardship draws from
  174  the officer’s retirement accounts, loss of income, and loss of
  175  personal property.
  176         Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 112.533, Florida
  177  Statutes, is amended to read:
  178         112.533 Receipt and processing of complaints.—
  179         (4)Any person who is a participant in an internal
  180  investigation, including the complainant, the subject of the
  181  investigation and the subject’s legal counsel or a
  182  representative of his or her choice, the investigator conducting
  183  the investigation, and any witnesses in the investigation, who
  184  willfully discloses any information obtained pursuant to the
  185  agency’s investigation, including, but not limited to, the
  186  identity of the officer under investigation, the nature of the
  187  questions asked, information revealed, or documents furnished in
  188  connection with a confidential internal investigation of an
  189  agency, before such complaint, document, action, or proceeding
  190  becomes a public record as provided in this section commits a
  191  misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
  192  775.082 or s. 775.083. However, this subsection does not limit a
  193  law enforcement or correctional officer’s ability to gain access
  194  to information under paragraph (2)(a). Additionally, a sheriff,
  195  police chief, or other head of a law enforcement agency, or his
  196  or her designee, is not precluded by this section from
  197  acknowledging the existence of a complaint and the fact that an
  198  investigation is underway.
  199         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.