Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 710



       By Senator Ingoglia





       11-00364A-24                                           2024710__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to law enforcement officers and
       correctional officers; amending s. 112.532, F.S.;
       deleting provisions relating to complaint review
       boards; authorizing law enforcement officers and
       correctional officers to pursue appropriate
       administrative relief or file a civil action if the
       officer is disciplined for certain violations;
       amending s. 112.534, F.S.; deleting the requirement
       that certain violations by agencies or investigators
       be intentional; providing that an interview of an
       officer may not begin or must cease under certain
       circumstances; providing that the third member of a
       compliance review panel may not be employed by the
       agency head; requiring the compliance review panel to
       determine if a violation occurred; providing that if
       the alleged violation is sustained as intentional, the
       investigator must be removed from the investigation if
       such investigation is still ongoing; deleting the
       requirement for an agency head to initiate an
       investigation against an investigator; requiring that
       sustained allegations of an intentional violation be
       forwarded to the Criminal Justice Standards and
       Training Commission for review; providing for
       administrative and civil relief; providing that an
       employing agency is responsible for certain monetary
       expenses under certain circumstances; amending s.
       112.533, F.S.; deleting a criminal penalty; conforming
       provisions to changes made by the act; providing an
       effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1. Subsections (3) through (7) of section 112.532,
Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (2) through (6),
respectively, and present subsections (2) and (3) of that
section are amended, to read:
       112.532 Law enforcement officers’ and correctional
officers’ rights.—All law enforcement officers and correctional
officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or
a correctional agency shall have the following rights and
privileges:
       (2) COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARDS.—A complaint review board shall
be composed of three members: One member selected by the chief
administrator of the agency or unit; one member selected by the
aggrieved officer; and a third member to be selected by the
other two members. Agencies or units having more than 100 law
enforcement officers or correctional officers shall utilize a
five-member board, with two members being selected by the
administrator, two members being selected by the aggrieved
officer, and the fifth member being selected by the other four
members. The board members shall be law enforcement officers or
correctional officers selected from any state, county, or
municipal agency within the county. There shall be a board for
law enforcement officers and a board for correctional officers
whose members shall be from the same discipline as the aggrieved
officer. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to
sheriffs or deputy sheriffs.
       (2)(3) ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF AND CIVIL SUITS FOR BROUGHT BY
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OR CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS.—Every law
enforcement officer or correctional officer has shall have the
right to bring civil suit against any person, group of persons,
or organization or corporation, or the head of such organization
or corporation, for damages, either pecuniary or otherwise,
suffered during the performance of the officer’s official
duties, for abridgment of the officer’s civil rights arising out
of the officer’s performance of official duties, or for filing a
complaint against the officer which the person knew was false
when it was filed. An officer may pursue appropriate
administrative relief or file a civil action in a court of
competent jurisdiction if he or she is subject to disciplinary
action in violation of this section. This section does not
establish a separate civil action against the officer’s
employing law enforcement agency for the investigation and
processing of a complaint filed under this part.
       Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 112.534, Florida
Statutes, is amended to read:
       112.534 Failure to comply; official misconduct.—
       (1) Notwithstanding s. 112.532(5), if any law enforcement
agency or correctional agency, including investigators in its
internal affairs or professional standards division, or an
assigned investigating supervisor, violates intentionally fails
to comply with the requirements of this part, the following
procedures apply. For purposes of this section, the term “law
enforcement officer” or “correctional officer” includes the
officer’s representative or legal counsel, except in application
of paragraph (d).
       (a) The law enforcement officer or correctional officer
must notify shall advise the investigator of the alleged
intentional violation of the requirements of this part which is
alleged to have occurred. The officer’s notice of violation is
sufficient to notify the investigator of the requirements of
this part which are alleged to have been violated and the
factual basis of each violation.
       (b) If the investigator fails to cure the alleged violation
or continues the alleged violation after being notified by the
law enforcement officer or correctional officer, the officer
must shall request that the agency head or his or her designee
be informed of the alleged intentional violation. If the alleged
violation is discovered before or during the interview of the
officer Once this request is made, the interview of the officer
may not begin or must shall cease, and the officer’s refusal to
respond to further investigative questions does not constitute
insubordination or any similar type of policy violation.
       (c) Thereafter, within 3 working days, a written notice of
alleged violation and request for a compliance review hearing
must shall be filed with the agency head or designee and which
must contain sufficient information to identify the requirements
of this part which are alleged to have been violated and the
factual basis of each violation. All evidence related to the
investigation must be preserved for review and presentation at
the compliance review hearing. For purposes of confidentiality,
the compliance review panel hearing is shall be considered part
of the original investigation.
       (d) Unless otherwise remedied by the agency before the
compliance review hearing, the a compliance review hearing must
be conducted within 10 working days after the request for a
compliance review hearing is filed, unless, by mutual agreement
of the officer and agency or for extraordinary reasons, an
alternate date is chosen. A compliance review The panel shall
review the circumstances and facts surrounding the alleged
intentional violation. The three-member compliance review panel
consists of shall be made up of three members: one member
selected by the agency head, one member selected by the officer
filing the request, and a third member who is not employed by
the agency head and is to be selected by the other two members.
The compliance review panel members must shall be law
enforcement officers or correctional officers who are active
from the same law enforcement discipline as the officer
requesting the hearing. Compliance review panel members may be
selected from any state, county, or municipal agency within the
county in which the officer works. The compliance review hearing
must shall be conducted in the county in which the officer
works.
       (e) It is the responsibility of the compliance review panel
to determine whether a violation occurred and if or not the
investigator or agency intentionally violated the requirements
provided under this part. It may hear evidence, review relevant
documents, and hear argument before making such a determination;
however, all evidence received must shall be strictly limited to
the allegation under consideration and may not be related to the
disciplinary charges pending against the officer. The
investigative materials are considered confidential for purposes
of the compliance review hearing and determination.
       (f) The officer bears the burden of proof to establish that
the alleged violation of this part was intentional. The standard
of proof for such a determination is by a preponderance of the
evidence. The determination of the compliance review panel must
be made at the conclusion of the compliance review hearing, in
writing, and filed with the agency head and the officer.
       (g) If the alleged violation is sustained as intentional by
the compliance review panel, the agency head must shall
immediately remove the investigator from any further involvement
with the investigation of the officer if the investigation is
still ongoing. Additionally, the agency head shall direct an
investigation be initiated against the investigator determined
to have intentionally violated the requirements provided under
this part for purposes of agency disciplinary action. if the
compliance review panel sustains the violation as intentional
against the investigator or any other officer involved in the
violation that investigation is sustained, the violation must
sustained allegations against the investigator shall be
forwarded to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training
Commission for review as an act of official misconduct or misuse
of position.
       (h) If an officer is disciplined after a violation of this
part, the violation may be addressed and remedied
administratively or in a court of competent jurisdiction. If a
disciplinary action is directly connected to an intentional
violation of this part and the intentional violation results in
the reversal of the disciplinary action, the employing agency is
responsible for the monetary expenses incurred by the aggrieved
officer, including attorney fees and costs, hardship draws from
the officer’s retirement accounts, loss of income, and loss of
personal property.
       Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 112.533, Florida
Statutes, is amended to read:
       112.533 Receipt and processing of complaints.—
       (4) Any person who is a participant in an internal
investigation, including the complainant, the subject of the
investigation and the subject’s legal counsel or a
representative of his or her choice, the investigator conducting
the investigation, and any witnesses in the investigation, who
willfully discloses any information obtained pursuant to the
agency’s investigation, including, but not limited to, the
identity of the officer under investigation, the nature of the
questions asked, information revealed, or documents furnished in
connection with a confidential internal investigation of an
agency, before such complaint, document, action, or proceeding
becomes a public record as provided in this section commits a
misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
775.082 or s. 775.083. However, this subsection does not limit a
law enforcement or correctional officer’s ability to gain access
to information under paragraph (2)(a). Additionally, a sheriff,
police chief, or other head of a law enforcement agency, or his
or her designee, is not precluded by this section from
acknowledging the existence of a complaint and the fact that an
investigation is underway.
       Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.
Statutes affected: 
S 710 Filed: 112.534, 112.533