Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

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           HB 25C                                                                                               2023C
                                        A bill to be entitled
             An act relating to hate crimes; amending s. 877.19,
             F.S.; revising requirements for acquisition and
             publication of hate crime data; requiring such data to
             be reported in a specified format; requiring specified
             training; requiring certain law enforcement agencies
             to adopt hate crime policies; requiring judges to
             consider noncarceral sentencing for certain first-time
             hate crime offenders; providing additional
                requirements for an annual summary; providing an
                effective date.
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       Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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                Section 1.         Section 877.19, Florida Statutes, is amended to
       read:
                877.19        Hate crimes; reporting; law enforcement agency
       duties; sentencing Act.—
                (1)         SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the "Hate
       Crimes Reporting Act."
                (2)         ACQUISITION AND PUBLICATION OF DATA.—
                (a)         The Governor, through the Florida Department of Law
       Enforcement, shall collect and disseminate data on in cidents of
       criminal acts that evidence prejudice based on race, religion,
       ethnicity, color, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender
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        HB 25C                                                                                               2023C
    identity, or national origin. All law enforcement agencies shall
    report monthly to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
    concerning such offenses in such form and in such manner as
    prescribed by rules adopted by the department. Such information
    shall be compiled by the department; sorted by individual law
    enforcement agency, jurisdiction, and type of incident; and
    disseminated upon request to any local law enforcement agency,
    unit of local government, federal agency, or state agency.
             (b)         The department must also disseminate comprehensive
    hate crime incident information to the Federal Bureau of
    Investigation each month in a format suitable for inclusion in
    the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
             (3)         TRAINING, DATA COLLECTION, AND REPORTING.—To ensure
    the accurate and comprehensive data collection and reporting
    requirements in this section, the department and local law
    enforcement agencies must use the Federal Bureau of
    Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS)
    Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program's Hate Crime Data
    Collection Guidelines and Training Manual to establish a hate
    crime training program. All relevant personnel must be trained
    on an annual basis to collect and submit hate crime data to the
    FBI's UCR Program according to such training manual.
             (4)         ADOPTION OF A HATE CRIME POLICY.—Every law enforcement
    agency in a municipality with more than 50,000 residents shall
    adopt and publicize an inclusive hate crime policy outlining the
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        HB 25C                                                                                               2023C
    agency's priority for identifying and investigating hate crimes
    and hate incidents and assisting targeted or victimized
    individuals and communities.
             (5)         NONCARCERAL AND ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING.—For first-time
    nonviolent hate crime offenders, especially juvenile offenders,
    the sentencing judge shall consider whether community service or
    anti-bias education is appropriate, in lieu of other sentencing
    options. The judge shall also consider payments or compensation
    to community-based programs or victim support services in lieu
    of a term of incarceration or other fines.
             (6)(3)        LIMITATION ON USE AND CONTENT OF DATA.—Such
    information is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1). Data
    required pursuant to this section shall be used only for
    research or statistical purposes and shall not include any
    information that may reveal the identity of an individual victim
    of a crime.
             (7)(4)        ANNUAL SUMMARY.—The Attorney General shall publish
    an annual summary of the data required pursuant to this section.
    The annual summary shall specifically list the law enforcement
    agencies in municipalities with more than 50,000 residents that
    either did not adopt a hate crime policy pursuant to subsection
    (4) or that affirmatively reported zero hate crimes pursuant to
    subsection (2).
             Section 2.         This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
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Statutes affected: 
H 25C Filed: 877.19