Florida Senate - 2013               CS for CS for CS for SB 1110
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Appropriations; Criminal Justice; and
       Transportation; and Senator Evers
       
       
       
       576-04661-13                                          20131110c3
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to railroad police officers; amending
    3         s. 354.01, F.S.; requiring the Governor to appoint one
    4         or more persons as special officers for a railroad or
    5         other common carrier under certain circumstances;
    6         authorizing the railroad or common carrier to
    7         temporarily employ a person as a special officer;
    8         requiring the special officer to have the same
    9         training as a law enforcement officer; providing that
   10         a Class I, Class II, or Class III railroad is
   11         considered an “employing agency” for purposes of ss.
   12         943.13 and 943.135(1), F.S.; providing responsibility
   13         of certain costs; amending s. 784.07, F.S.; defining
   14         the term “railroad special officer”; providing for
   15         reclassification of certain offenses committed against
   16         a railroad special officer; providing an effective
   17         date.
   18  
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Section 354.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   22  read:
   23         354.01 Appointment of special officers.—Upon the
   24  application of any railroad or other common carrier doing
   25  business in this state, the Governor shall appoint one or more
   26  persons who have met the law enforcement qualifications and
   27  training requirements of s. 943.13 943.13(1)-(10) as special
   28  officers for the protection and safety of such carriers; their
   29  passengers and employees; and the property of such carriers,
   30  passengers, and employees. However, until the Governor has
   31  either appointed or rejected the appointment of the special
   32  officer, a common carrier may temporarily employ a person as a
   33  special officer if the person complies with the qualifications
   34  for employment as a law enforcement officer in s. 943.13.
   35  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a special officer
   36  shall have the same training as a law enforcement officer in
   37  accordance with s. 943.13 and s. 943.135(1). A Class I, Class
   38  II, or Class III railroad shall be considered an employing
   39  agency for purposes of s. 943.13 and s. 943.135(1), and shall
   40  pay all costs associated with the training and continuing
   41  education of employed special officers.
   42         Section 2. Section 784.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   43  read:
   44         784.07 Assault or battery of law enforcement officers,
   45  firefighters, emergency medical care providers, public transit
   46  employees or agents, or other specified officers;
   47  reclassification of offenses; minimum sentences.—
   48         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   49         (a) “Emergency medical care provider” means an ambulance
   50  driver, emergency medical technician, paramedic, registered
   51  nurse, physician as defined in s. 401.23, medical director as
   52  defined in s. 401.23, or any person authorized by an emergency
   53  medical service licensed under chapter 401 who is engaged in the
   54  performance of his or her duties. The term “emergency medical
   55  care provider” also includes physicians, employees, agents, or
   56  volunteers of hospitals as defined in chapter 395, who are
   57  employed, under contract, or otherwise authorized by a hospital
   58  to perform duties directly associated with the care and
   59  treatment rendered by the hospital’s emergency department or the
   60  security thereof.
   61         (b) “Firefighter” means any person employed by any public
   62  employer of this state whose duty it is to extinguish fires; to
   63  protect life or property; or to enforce municipal, county, and
   64  state fire prevention codes, as well as any law pertaining to
   65  the prevention and control of fires.
   66         (c) “Law enforcement explorer” means any person who is a
   67  current member of a law enforcement agency’s explorer program
   68  and who is performing functions other than those required to be
   69  performed by sworn law enforcement officers on behalf of a law
   70  enforcement agency while under the direct physical supervision
   71  of a sworn officer of that agency and wearing a uniform that
   72  bears at least one patch that clearly identifies the law
   73  enforcement agency that he or she represents.
   74         (d) “Law enforcement officer” includes a law enforcement
   75  officer, a correctional officer, a correctional probation
   76  officer, a part-time law enforcement officer, a part-time
   77  correctional officer, an auxiliary law enforcement officer, and
   78  an auxiliary correctional officer, as those terms are
   79  respectively defined in s. 943.10, and any county probation
   80  officer; an employee or agent of the Department of Corrections
   81  who supervises or provides services to inmates; an officer of
   82  the Parole Commission; a federal law enforcement officer as
   83  defined in s. 901.1505; and law enforcement personnel of the
   84  Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or the Department of
   85  Law Enforcement.
   86         (e) “Public transit employees or agents” means bus
   87  operators, train operators, revenue collectors, security
   88  personnel, equipment maintenance personnel, or field
   89  supervisors, who are employees or agents of a transit agency as
   90  described in s. 812.015(1)(l).
   91         (f) “Railroad special officer” means a person employed by a
   92  Class I, Class II, or Class III railroad and appointed or
   93  pending appointment by the Governor pursuant to s. 354.01.
   94         (2) Whenever any person is charged with knowingly
   95  committing an assault or battery upon a law enforcement officer,
   96  a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, a railroad
   97  special officer, a traffic accident investigation officer as
   98  described in s. 316.640, a nonsworn law enforcement agency
   99  employee who is certified as an agency inspector, a blood
  100  alcohol analyst, or a breath test operator while such employee
  101  is in uniform and engaged in processing, testing, evaluating,
  102  analyzing, or transporting a person who is detained or under
  103  arrest for DUI, a law enforcement explorer, a traffic infraction
  104  enforcement officer as described in s. 316.640, a parking
  105  enforcement specialist as defined in s. 316.640, a person
  106  licensed as a security officer as defined in s. 493.6101 and
  107  wearing a uniform that bears at least one patch or emblem that
  108  is visible at all times that clearly identifies the employing
  109  agency and that clearly identifies the person as a licensed
  110  security officer, or a security officer employed by the board of
  111  trustees of a community college, while the officer, firefighter,
  112  emergency medical care provider, railroad special officer,
  113  traffic accident investigation officer, traffic infraction
  114  enforcement officer, inspector, analyst, operator, law
  115  enforcement explorer, parking enforcement specialist, public
  116  transit employee or agent, or security officer is engaged in the
  117  lawful performance of his or her duties, the offense for which
  118  the person is charged shall be reclassified as follows:
  119         (a) In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the
  120  second degree to a misdemeanor of the first degree.
  121         (b) In the case of battery, from a misdemeanor of the first
  122  degree to a felony of the third degree.
  123         (c) In the case of aggravated assault, from a felony of the
  124  third degree to a felony of the second degree. Notwithstanding
  125  any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated
  126  assault upon a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a
  127  minimum term of imprisonment of 3 years.
  128         (d) In the case of aggravated battery, from a felony of the
  129  second degree to a felony of the first degree. Notwithstanding
  130  any other provision of law, any person convicted of aggravated
  131  battery of a law enforcement officer shall be sentenced to a
  132  minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years.
  133         (3) Any person who is convicted of a battery under
  134  paragraph (2)(b) and, during the commission of the offense, such
  135  person possessed:
  136         (a) A “firearm” or “destructive device” as those terms are
  137  defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a minimum term of
  138  imprisonment of 3 years.
  139         (b) A semiautomatic firearm and its high-capacity
  140  detachable box magazine, as defined in s. 775.087(3), or a
  141  machine gun as defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a
  142  minimum term of imprisonment of 8 years.
  143  
  144  Notwithstanding s. 948.01, adjudication of guilt or imposition
  145  of sentence shall not be suspended, deferred, or withheld, and
  146  the defendant is not eligible for statutory gain-time under s.
  147  944.275 or any form of discretionary early release, other than
  148  pardon or executive clemency, or conditional medical release
  149  under s. 947.149, prior to serving the minimum sentence.
  150         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.