CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.House Bill 0635e1
HB 635, First Engrossed/ntc
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Pinellas Police
3 Standards Council, Pinellas County; amending
4 ch. 72-666, Laws of Florida, as amended;
5 prescribing purposes, membership, powers, and
6 duties of the countywide police standards
7 council; providing for screening applicants for
8 public-safety positions; providing for
9 continued funding of the council through a
10 court cost; providing for fees from applicants
11 for public-safety positions; providing an
12 effective date.
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14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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16 Section 1. Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of chapter
17 72-666, Laws of Florida, as amended by section 1 of chapter
18 75-495, Laws of Florida; section 1 of chapter 78-592, Laws of
19 Florida; section 1 of chapter 82-370, Laws of Florida; and
20 section 1 of chapter 85-491, Laws of Florida, are amended to
21 read:
22 Section 1. Council created.--There is hereby chartered
23 and created a voluntary nonprofit non-profit organization to
24 be known as the "Pinellas Police Standards Council,",
25 hereinafter called "the council," to conduct continuous
26 planning and studies for the purpose of making recommendations
27 to the Pinellas County legislative delegation concerning
28 countywide county-wide police standards covering every aspect
29 of law enforcement.
30 The council shall not have power to compel any action
31 by any law enforcement agency or municipality but shall seek
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HB 635, First Engrossed/ntc
1 to promote a total cooperative effort between itself and the
2 various municipalities to upgrade and preserve responsible
3 local law enforcement agencies and to assist the Legislature
4 in its efforts toward that end.
5 Section 2. Membership of the council; terms of office;
6 vacancies.--The council shall be composed comprised of members
7 to be selected as follows:
8 (a) The chief of police One (1) member from each law
9 enforcement agency employing law enforcement officers as
10 defined in chapter 943, Florida Statutes, having its
11 headquarters municipality in Pinellas County having its own
12 police department, to be the Chief of Police or his designee.
13 (b) The Sheriff of Pinellas County or his designee.
14 (c) The State Attorney or his designee one (1) member
15 from the State Attorney's staff who shall be a prosecuting
16 attorney or investigator to be appointed by the State
17 Attorney.
18 (d) The director of the Southeastern Public Safety
19 Institute at St. Petersburg Junior College Pinellas Police
20 Academy or his designee.
21 (e)
22 (1) All members of the council who are police officers
23 should be of the rank of sergeant or above.
24 (2) Terms of office shall be for one (1) year and
25 should run from June 1 to June 1 of each year.
26 (3) Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as
27 the selection of members.
28 Section 3. Officers; meetings; quorum.--
29 (a) The council shall elect one of its members as
30 chairman, who shall serve from June 1 through May 31 of the
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1 following year. Other offices, if any, shall be created by the
2 council.
3 (b) The council shall meet at least once each month,
4 at such other times as the council may determine, and at any
5 other time at the call of the chairman. It shall adopt rules
6 for the transaction of business and keep records a record of
7 its transactions, resolutions, findings, determinations, and
8 recommendations, which records shall be public records a
9 public record.
10 (c) At all meetings of the council, there shall be
11 eleven (11) members required for a quorum shall consist of a
12 majority of the membership. No Official business of the
13 council may not shall be transacted unless a quorum is
14 present.
15 Section 4. Powers and duties.--In the performance of
16 its duties and the execution of its functions under this act,
17 the council shall have the following powers:
18 (a) To maintain an office at such place or places
19 within Pinellas County as it designates may designate.
20 (b) To hold public hearings and sponsor public forums.
21 (c) To enter into agreements with, accept and expend
22 federal funds and grants from, and accept and use services
23 from:
24 (1) The Federal Government and its agencies.
25 (2) The state government and it agencies.
26 (3) The county government and its agencies, including
27 the Pinellas County Police Academy.
28 (4) The several municipalities in Pinellas County.
29 (5) Private or civic sources.
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HB 635, First Engrossed/ntc
1 (d) To study and conduct investigations into the
2 financial and other operations of each municipal police
3 department.
4 (e) To study ways to promote cooperation between all
5 law enforcement agencies in securing efficient and effective
6 law enforcement.
7 (f) To recommend cooperative policies for the
8 coordination of law enforcement within Pinellas County and all
9 its municipalities.
10 (g) To make recommendations that which would lead to
11 the elimination of duplication of effort, if any.
12 (h) To hire an executive director to conduct the
13 business of the council at its direction and supervise such
14 other employees as are authorized by the council to perform
15 necessary tasks Make recommendations concerning a civil
16 service system for those departments which do not presently
17 have such a system.
18 (i) To make recommendations concerning minimum
19 standards for in connection with employment, compensation,
20 (including retirement plans) and training of law enforcement
21 police officers and law enforcement support personnel, as well
22 as departmental facilities, equipment, and over-all manpower
23 needs. Consideration should be given to a uniform county-wide
24 minimum salary scale designed to discourage personnel
25 turnover.
26 (j) To make recommendations concerning law enforcement
27 in general which would enhance the quality of such law
28 enforcement.
29 (k)(1) To The Council shall provide for a centralized
30 screening and information center on prospective law
31 enforcement officers in Pinellas County, to be known as the
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HB 635, First Engrossed/ntc
1 Public Safety Applicant Screening Service (PSASS). The
2 Pinellas Police Academy shall be the depository for the
3 centralized information center.
4 (1) The council shall provide standardized forms,
5 screening, testing, physical exams, and other necessary
6 background research concerning of prospective applicants and
7 shall provide information from a the centralized candidate
8 pool to law enforcement agencies in Pinellas County. Each law
9 enforcement agency may shall use the forms provided by the
10 council, and shall provide to the council for use by PSASS in
11 the Center copies of applications and results of any screening
12 and background investigation performed by the agency. When
13 processing applicants, each law enforcement agency may shall
14 request a report from PSASS the Center regarding any
15 prospective employee of that agency. Applicant information
16 from PSASS the Center shall only be released only upon the
17 request of a law enforcement agency and the applicant.
18 (2) The council's annual budget shall be submitted to
19 the Board of County Commissioners for their approval. Funding
20 for The provisions of this section shall be funded by a $2
21 court cost two dollar assessment on all payable offenses, to
22 be assessed by the circuit and county courts in Pinellas
23 County on all contested and uncontested traffic cases,
24 criminal and civil, excluding parking fines, bicycle
25 violations, and pedestrian violations that which are payable
26 offenses. Additional funding may be secured by the council by
27 assessing the law enforcement police agencies a fee for the
28 cost of screening the applicants.
29 (3) The council may establish reasonable fees to be
30 paid by applicants to offset a portion of the screening costs
31 director of the Pinellas Police Academy shall act as the
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1 director for the Centralized Information Center under the
2 control of the Pinellas Police Standards Council.
3 (l) To provide similar applicant testing, screening,
4 and information services, as outlined in this section, for the
5 state and its agencies, Pinellas County, the several
6 municipalities within Pinellas County, or entities that
7 provide public-safety-related services through contract with
8 any of the foregoing, for prospective candidates for law
9 enforcement, law enforcement support, corrections, or public
10 safety positions, including, but not limited to, law
11 enforcement officer, corrections officer, public safety
12 answering point call taker, dispatcher, communications
13 operator, crime scene technician, firefighter, emergency
14 medical technician, or paramedic. The council may enter into
15 agreements necessary to carry out this work, with the costs of
16 such screening, including a reasonable allowance for overhead,
17 being paid by the agency receiving the service. Such
18 agreements may provide for reasonable fees to be paid by
19 applicants to offset a portion of the screening costs.
20 Section 5. Compensation and expenses.--Members of the
21 council shall receive no compensation for their services, but
22 if funds are made available they shall be entitled to
23 reimbursement for necessary travel and other expenses incurred
24 in the work of the council. The several municipalities of the
25 county are authorized to provide personnel, facilities, and
26 funds to assist in the work of the council.
27 Section 6. Adoption of recommendations and procedure
28 after adoption.--Recommendations of from the council or its
29 members shall be adopted by a majority vote of the members
30 present. Following adoption of a recommendation, said
31 recommendation shall be reduced to writing and sent to the
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HB 635, First Engrossed/ntc
1 Pinellas County legislative delegation no less than sixty (60)
2 days prior to each regular annual session thereof.
3 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
4 law.
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