Florida Senate - 2019 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE Bill No. SB 1068 Ì1236641Î123664 576-03869A-19 Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Appropriations (Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice) 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to crime victim assistance; amending 3 s. 960.03, F.S.; redefining the term “crime” to 4 include the commission of certain lewd or lascivious 5 offenses and, under certain provisions, to add 6 osteopathic physicians certified as expert witnesses 7 to the list of eligible persons by whom a certain 8 mental injury of a minor must be verified; amending s. 9 960.28, F.S.; increasing the maximum amount the Crime 10 Victims’ Services Office of the Department of Legal 11 Affairs is required to pay for certain medical 12 expenses of victims of specified crimes; providing an 13 effective date. 14 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16 17 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 18 960.03, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (g) is added 19 to that subsection, to read: 20 960.03 Definitions; ss. 960.01-960.28.—As used in ss. 21 960.01-960.28, unless the context otherwise requires, the term: 22 (3) “Crime” means: 23 (a) A felony or misdemeanor offense committed by an adult 24 or a juvenile which results in physical injury or death, a 25 violation of s. 800.04 or a forcible felony committed by an 26 adult or juvenile which directly results in psychiatric or 27 psychological injury, or a felony or misdemeanor offense of 28 child abuse committed by an adult or a juvenile which results in 29 a mental injury, as defined in s. 827.03, to a person younger 30 than 18 years of age who was not physically injured by the 31 criminal act. The mental injury to the minor must be verified by 32 a psychologist licensed under chapter 490, by a physician 33 licensed in this state under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who has 34 completed an accredited residency in psychiatry, or by a 35 physician who has obtained certification as an expert witness 36 pursuant to s. 458.3175 or s. 459.0066. The term also includes a 37 criminal act that is committed within this state but that falls 38 exclusively within federal jurisdiction. 39 (g) An act of intentionally touching in a lewd or 40 lascivious manner the breasts, genitals, genital area, or 41 buttocks, or the clothing covering those areas, of a person 16 42 or 17 years of age or forcing or enticing a person 16 or 17 43 years of age to so touch the actor, when such act is without the 44 person’s consent and directly results in psychiatric or 45 psychological injury. 46 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 960.28, Florida 47 Statutes, is amended to read: 48 960.28 Payment for victims’ initial forensic physical 49 examinations.— 50 (2) The Crime Victims’ Services Office of the department 51 shall pay for medical expenses connected with an initial 52 forensic physical examination of a victim of sexual battery as 53 defined in chapter 794 or a lewd or lascivious offense as 54 defined in chapter 800. Such payment shall be made regardless of 55 whether the victim is covered by health or disability insurance 56 and whether the victim participates in the criminal justice 57 system or cooperates with law enforcement. The payment shall be 58 made only out of moneys allocated to the Crime Victims’ Services 59 Office for the purposes of this section, and the payment may not 60 exceed $1,000$500with respect to any violation. The department 61 shall develop and maintain separate protocols for the initial 62 forensic physical examination of adults and children. Payment 63 under this section is limited to medical expenses connected with 64 the initial forensic physical examination, and payment may be 65 made to a medical provider using an examiner qualified under 66 part I of chapter 464, excluding s. 464.003(14); chapter 458; or 67 chapter 459. Payment made to the medical provider by the 68 department shall be considered by the provider as payment in 69 full for the initial forensic physical examination associated 70 with the collection of evidence. The victim may not be required 71 to pay, directly or indirectly, the cost of an initial forensic 72 physical examination performed in accordance with this section. 73 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.