Florida Senate - 2024 SB 710 By Senator Ingoglia 11-00364A-24 2024710__ Page 1 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1

An act relating to law enforcement officers and 2 correctional officers; amending s. 112.532, F.S.; 3 deleting provisions relating to complaint review 4 boards; authorizing law enforcement officers and 5 correctional officers to pursue appropriate 6 administrative relief or file a civil action if the 7 officer is disciplined for certain violations; 8 amending s. 112.534, F.S.; deleting the requirement 9 that certain violations by agencies or investigators 10 be intentional; providing that an interview of an 11 officer may not begin or must cease under certain 12 circumstances; providing that the third member of a 13 compliance review panel may not be employed by the 14 agency head; requiring the compliance review panel to 15 determine if a violation occurred; providing that if 16 the alleged violation is sustained as intentional, the 17 investigator must be removed from the investigation if 18 such investigation is still ongoing; deleting the 19 requirement for an agency head to initiate an 20 investigation against an investigator; requiring that 21 sustained allegations of an intentional violation be 22 forwarded to the Criminal Justice Standards and 23 Training Commission for review; providing for 24 administrative and civil relief; providing that an 25 employing agency is responsible for certain monetary 26 expenses under certain circumstances; amending s. 27 112.533, F.S.; deleting a criminal penalty; conforming 28 provisions to changes made by the act; providing an 29

Florida Senate - 2024 SB 710 11-00364A-24 2024710__ Page 2 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. effective date. 30 31 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 32 33

Section 1. Subsections (3) through (7) of

section 112.532, 34 Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (2) through (6), 35 respectively, and present subsections (2) and (3) of that 36

section are amended, to read: 37 112.532 Law enforcement officers’ and correctional 38 officers’ rights.—All law enforcement officers and correctional 39 officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or 40 a correctional agency shall have the following rights and 41 privileges: 42

(2) COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARDS.—A complaint review board shall 43 be composed of three members: One member selected by the chief 44 administrator of the agency or unit; one member selected by the 45 aggrieved officer; and a third member to be selected by the 46 other two members. Agencies or units having more than 100 law 47 enforcement officers or correctional officers shall utilize a 48 five-member board, with two members being selected by the 49 administrator, two members being selected by the aggrieved 50 officer, and the fifth member being selected by the other four 51 members.

The board members shall be law enforcement officers or 52 correctional officers selected from any state, county, or 53 municipal agency within the county. There shall be a board for 54 law enforcement officers and a board for correctional officers 55 whose members shall be from the same discipline as the aggrieved 56 officer. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to 57 sheriffs or deputy sheriffs. 58

Florida Senate - 2024 SB 710 11-00364A-24 2024710__ Page 3 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. (2)

(3) ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF AND CIVIL SUITS FOR BROUGHT BY 59 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OR CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS.—Every law 60 enforcement officer or correctional officer has shall have the 61 right to bring civil suit against any person, group of persons, 62 or organization or corporation, or the head of such organization 63 or corporation, for damages, either pecuniary or otherwise, 64 suffered during the performance of the officer’s official 65 duties, for abridgment of the officer’s civil rights arising out 66 of the officer’s performance of official duties, or for filing a 67 complaint against the officer which the person knew was false 68 when it was filed.

An officer may pursue appropriate 69 administrative relief or file a civil action in a court of 70 competent jurisdiction if he or she is subject to disciplinary 71 action in violation of this section. This

section does not 72 establish a separate civil action against the officer’s 73 employing law enforcement agency for the investigation and 74 processing of a complaint filed under this part. 75

Section 2. Subsection (1) of

section 112.534, Florida 76 Statutes, is amended to read: 77 112.534 Failure to comply; official misconduct.— 78

(1) Notwithstanding s. 112.532(5), if any law enforcement 79 agency or correctional agency, including investigators in its 80 internal affairs or professional standards division, or an 81 assigned investigating supervisor, violates intentionally fails 82 to comply with the requirements of this part, the following 83 procedures apply. For purposes of this section, the term “law 84 enforcement officer” or “correctional officer” includes the 85 officer’s representative or legal counsel, except in application 86 of paragraph (d). 87

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a) The law enforcement officer or correctional officer 88 must notify shall advise the investigator of the alleged 89 intentional violation of the requirements of this part which is 90 alleged to have occurred. The officer’s notice of violation is 91 sufficient to notify the investigator of the requirements of 92 this part which are alleged to have been violated and the 93 factual basis of each violation. 94 (

b) If the investigator fails to cure the alleged violation 95 or continues the alleged violation after being notified by the 96 law enforcement officer or correctional officer, the officer 97 must shall request that the agency head or his or her designee 98 be informed of the alleged intentional violation. If the alleged 99 violation is discovered before or during the interview of the 100 officer Once this request is made, the interview of the officer 101 may not begin or must shall cease, and the officer’s refusal to 102 respond to further investigative questions does not constitute 103 insubordination or any similar type of policy violation. 104 (

c) Thereafter, within 3 working days, a written notice of 105 alleged violation and request for a compliance review hearing 106 must shall be filed with the agency head or designee and which 107 must contain sufficient information to identify the requirements 108 of this part which are alleged to have been violated and the 109 factual basis of each violation. All evidence related to the 110 investigation must be preserved for review and presentation at 111 the compliance review hearing. For purposes of confidentiality, 112 the compliance review panel hearing is shall be considered

part 113 of the original investigation. 114 (

d) Unless otherwise remedied by the agency before the 115 compliance review hearing, the a compliance review hearing must 116

Florida Senate - 2024 SB 710 11-00364A-24 2024710__ Page 5 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. be conducted within 10 working days after the request for a 117 compliance review hearing is filed, unless, by mutual agreement 118 of the officer and agency or for extraordinary reasons, an 119 alternate date is chosen. A compliance review The panel shall 120 review the circumstances and facts surrounding the alleged 121 intentional violation.

The three-member compliance review panel 122 consists of shall be made up of three members: one member 123 selected by the agency head, one member selected by the officer 124 filing the request, and a third member who is not employed by 125 the agency head and is to be selected by the other two members. 126 The compliance review panel members must shall be law 127 enforcement officers or correctional officers who are active 128 from the same law enforcement discipline as the officer 129 requesting the hearing.

Compliance review panel members may be 130 selected from any state, county, or municipal agency within the 131 county in which the officer works. The compliance review hearing 132 must shall be conducted in the county in which the officer 133 works. 134 (

e) It is the responsibility of the compliance review panel 135 to determine whether a violation occurred and if or not the 136 investigator or agency intentionally violated the requirements 137 provided under this part. It may hear evidence, review relevant 138 documents, and hear argument before making such a determination; 139 however, all evidence received must shall be strictly limited to 140 the allegation under consideration and may not be related to the 141 disciplinary charges pending against the officer. The 142 investigative materials are considered confidential for purposes 143 of the compliance review hearing and determination. 144 (

f) The officer bears the burden of proof to establish that 145

Florida Senate - 2024 SB 710 11-00364A-24 2024710__ Page 6 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. the alleged violation of this part was intentional. The standard 146 of proof for such a determination is by a preponderance of the 147 evidence. The determination of the compliance review panel must 148 be made at the conclusion of the compliance review hearing, in 149 writing, and filed with the agency head and the officer. 150 (

g) If the alleged violation is sustained as intentional by 151 the compliance review panel, the agency head must shall 152 immediately remove the investigator from any further involvement 153 with the investigation of the officer if the investigation is 154 still ongoing.

Additionally, the agency head shall direct an 155 investigation be initiated against the investigator determined 156 to have intentionally violated the requirements provided under 157 this part for purposes of agency disciplinary action. if the 158 compliance review panel sustains the violation as intentional 159 against the investigator or any other officer involved in the 160 violation that investigation is sustained, the violation must 161 sustained allegations against the investigator shall be 162 forwarded to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training 163 Commission for review as

an act of official misconduct or misuse 164 of position. 165 (

h) If an officer is disciplined after a violation of this 166 part, the violation may be addressed and remedied 167 administratively or in a court of competent jurisdiction. If a 168 disciplinary action is directly connected to an intentional 169 violation of this part and the intentional violation results in 170 the reversal of the disciplinary action, the employing agency is 171 responsible for the monetary expenses incurred by the aggrieved 172 officer, including attorney fees and costs, hardship draws from 173 the officer’s retirement accounts, loss of income, and loss of 174

Florida Senate - 2024 SB 710 11-00364A-24 2024710__ Page 7 of 7 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. personal property. 175

Section 3. Subsection (4) of

section 112.533, Florida 176 Statutes, is amended to read: 177 112.533 Receipt and processing of complaints.— 178

(4) Any person who is a participant in an internal 179 investigation, including the complainant, the subject of the 180 investigation and the subject’s legal counsel or a 181 representative of his or her choice, the investigator conducting 182 the investigation, and any witnesses in the investigation, who 183 willfully discloses any information obtained pursuant to the 184 agency’s investigation, including, but not limited to, the 185 identity of the officer under investigation, the nature of the 186 questions asked, information revealed, or documents furnished in 187 connection with a confidential internal investigation of an 188 agency, before such complaint, document, action, or proceeding 189 becomes a public record as provided in this

section commits a 190 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 191 775.082 or s. 775.083. However, this subsection does not limit a 192 law enforcement or correctional officer’s ability to gain access 193 to information under paragraph (2)(a). Additionally, a sheriff, 194 police chief, or other head of a law enforcement agency, or his 195 or her designee, is not precluded by this

section from 196 acknowledging the existence of a complaint and the fact that an 197 investigation is underway. 198

Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 199