Senate Bill 1478c2

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    Florida Senate - 1999                    CS for CS for SB 1478

    By the Committees on Fiscal Resource; Comprehensive Planning,
    Local and Military Affairs; and Senator Mitchell




    314-2154-99

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Crime Stoppers funds;

  3         creating s. 932.80, F.S.; specifying the

  4         purposes for which special county trust fund

  5         moneys may be expended by the Sheriff or other

  6         law enforcement entity that operates a Crime

  7         Stoppers program; amending s. 938.06, F.S.;

  8         providing for the surcharge assessed as an

  9         additional court cost to be deposited in the

10         special county trust funds for use as provided

11         in s. 932.80; repealing s. 16.555, F.S., which

12         provides for the Crime Stoppers Trust Fund in

13         the Department of Legal Affairs; providing for

14         the distribution of funds in the department's

15         trust fund; providing an effective date.

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17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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19         Section 1.  Section 932.80, Florida Statutes, is

20  created to read:

21         932.80  Crime Stoppers funds.--

22         (1)  All funds collected by the clerk of court under s.

23  938.06 shall be deposited into a special trust fund of the

24  county. Such moneys and interest accruing thereon, shall be

25  segregated in the special trust fund and may only be expended

26  for:

27         (a)  Rewards for information leading to the arrest and

28  prosecution of persons who have committed, or are committing,

29  crimes;

30         (b)  Community notification of the presence of sexual

31  predators, sexual offenders, or violent offenders;

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    Florida Senate - 1999                    CS for CS for SB 1478
    314-2154-99




  1         (c)  Crime prevention awareness;

  2         (d)  Publicity, advertisement, and promotion of Crime

  3  Stoppers programs and services;

  4         (e)  Administrative costs of Crime Stoppers programs

  5  receiving funds pursuant to subsection (2); and

  6         (f)  Starting a new Crime Stoppers program in counties

  7  where none exists.

  8         (2)  In any county in which a Crime Stoppers program is

  9  operated, the approval of the sheriff or the person in charge

10  of a county law enforcement agency and a majority of the

11  chiefs of police of municipalities within the county, in

12  consultation with the Florida Association of Crime Stoppers,

13  Inc., shall be required for the distribution of any funds

14  relating to s. 938.06 in the county's special trust fund.

15  These funds shall only be distributed to that Crime Stoppers

16  program for the purposes provided in subsection (1).

17         (3)  If a Crime Stoppers program is not operated within

18  a county, the county may expend funds relating to s. 938.06 in

19  the special trust fund for the purposes provided in subsection

20  (1).

21         (4)  In order to establish a multi-county Crime

22  Stoppers program, the sheriffs or persons in charge of county

23  law enforcement agencies and the municipal police chiefs in

24  two or more counties must agree to approve a single

25  multi-county Crime Stoppers program that will receive funds

26  related to s. 938.06 from the special trust funds of the

27  respective counties.

28         (5)  To ensure compliance with this section, each Crime

29  Stoppers program receiving funds relating to s. 938.06 from a

30  county's special trust fund shall, at the county's option and

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    Florida Senate - 1999                    CS for CS for SB 1478
    314-2154-99




  1  at Crime Stoppers' expense, be subject to an annual audit of

  2  expenditures of moneys from the special trust fund.

  3         (6)  For purposes of this section, the term "Crime

  4  Stoppers" means a civilian, nonprofit organization under 26

  5  U.S.C. s. 501(c)(3).

  6         Section 2.  Section 938.06, Florida Statutes, is

  7  amended to read:

  8         938.06  Additional cost for crime stoppers programs.--

  9         (1)  In addition to any fine prescribed by law for any

10  criminal offense, there is hereby assessed as a court cost an

11  additional surcharge of $20 on such fine, which shall be

12  imposed by all county and circuit courts and collected by the

13  clerks of the courts together with such fine. No political

14  subdivision shall be held liable for payment of costs under

15  this section.

16         (2)  The clerk of the court shall collect and forward,

17  on a monthly basis, all costs assessed under this section,

18  less $3 per assessment as a service charge to be retained by

19  the clerk, to a special trust fund in the county and invested

20  in the same manner as other funds the Department of Legal

21  Affairs for deposit in the Crime Stoppers Trust Fund to be

22  used as provided in s. 932.80 s. 16.555.

23         Section 3.  Section 16.555, Florida Statutes, as

24  amended by section 2 of chapter 98-319, Laws of Florida, is

25  repealed.

26         Section 4.  All funds in the Department of Legal

27  Affairs' Crime Stoppers Trust Fund as of July 1, 1999, shall

28  be remitted to the counties where the funds were originally

29  collected and shall be deposited into each county's special

30  trust fund to be used as provided in section 932.80, Florida

31  Statutes.

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    Florida Senate - 1999                    CS for CS for SB 1478
    314-2154-99




  1         Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.

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  3          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
  4                            CS/SB 1478

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  6  This committee substitute clarifies the role of sheriffs and
    municipal police chiefs in distributing Crime Stoppers funds
  7  and forming multi-county Crime Stoppers programs.

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