House Bill 1491

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 1491

        By the Committee on Crime & Punishment and Representative
    Ball





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the exclusionary rule;

  3         creating s. 90.959, F.S.; providing legislative

  4         findings regarding the Division of Driver

  5         Licenses of the Department of Highway Safety

  6         and Motor Vehicles; providing legislative

  7         findings regarding records maintained by the

  8         division; providing legislative findings

  9         regarding the mission of the division and the

10         department; providing legislative findings

11         regarding the application of the exclusionary

12         rule; prohibiting the exclusion of evidence in

13         certain circumstances; amending s. 322.20,

14         F.S.; providing that the records of the

15         Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

16         maintained and created pursuant to ch. 322,

17         F.S., shall not be considered law enforcement

18         functions; providing an effective date.

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

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22         Section 1.  Section 90.959, Florida Statutes, is

23  created to read:

24         90.959  Admission of evidence obtained from the

25  Division of Driver Licenses.--

26         (1)  The Legislature finds that the Division of Driver

27  Licenses of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor

28  Vehicles is not a law enforcement agency.  The Legislature

29  also finds that the division is not an adjunct of any law

30  enforcement agency in that employees have no stake in

31  particular prosecutions.  The Legislature further finds that

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 1491

    189-890B-00






  1  errors in records maintained by the division are not within

  2  the collective knowledge of any law enforcement agency.  The

  3  Legislature also finds that the mission of the Division of

  4  Driver Licenses and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor

  5  Vehicles provides a sufficient incentive to maintain records

  6  in a current and correct fashion.

  7         (2)  The Legislature finds that the application of the

  8  exclusionary rule to cases where a law enforcement officer

  9  effects an arrest based on objectively reasonable reliance on

10  information obtained from the division is repugnant to the

11  purposes of the exclusionary rule and contrary to the

12  decisions of the United States Supreme Court in Arizona v.

13  Evans, 514 U.S. 1 (1995) and United States v. Leon, 468 U.S.

14  897 (1984).

15         (3)  In any case where a law enforcement officer

16  effects an arrest based on objectively reasonable reliance on

17  information obtained from the division, evidence found

18  pursuant to such an arrest shall not be suppressed by

19  application of the exclusionary rule on the grounds that the

20  arrest is subsequently determined to be unlawful due to

21  erroneous information obtained from the division.

22         Section 2.  Subsection (15) is added to section 322.20,

23  Florida Statutes, to read:

24         322.20  Records of the department; fees; destruction of

25  records.--

26         (15)  Records of the department and the Division of

27  Driver Licenses created and maintained pursuant to chapter 322

28  shall not be regarded as law enforcement functions of agency

29  recordkeeping.

30         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 1491

    189-890B-00






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  2                          HOUSE SUMMARY

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      Provides that in any case where a law enforcement officer
  4    effects an arrest based on objectively reasonable
      reliance on information obtained from the Division of
  5    Driver Licenses of the Department of Highway Safety and
      Motor Vehicles, evidence found pursuant to such arrest
  6    shall not be suppressed by application of the
      exclusionary rule on the grounds that the arrest is
  7    subsequently determined to be unlawful due to erroneous
      information obtained from the division.
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  9    Provides that the records of the department maintained
      and created pursuant to ch. 322, F.S., shall not be
10    considered law enforcement functions.

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