House Bill 2041
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 2041
By Representative Cosgrove
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to Crime Stoppers funds;
3 creating s. 932.80, F.S.; providing for moneys
4 collected by clerks of the court for crime
5 stoppers programs to be deposited into a trust
6 fund of the sheriff or person in charge of the
7 county law enforcement agency; specifying the
8 purposes for which such moneys may be expended;
9 authorizing the establishment of multicounty
10 crime stoppers programs; providing for audits
11 of funds; amending s. 938.06, F.S.; providing
12 for the surcharge assessed as an additional
13 court cost for Crime Stoppers programs to be
14 deposited in special trust funds for use as
15 provided in s. 932.80; repealing ss. 16.555 and
16 16.556, F.S., which provide for the Crime
17 Stoppers Trust Fund within the Department of
18 Legal Affairs; providing for the distribution
19 of funds in the department's trust fund;
20 providing an effective date.
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22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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24 Section 1. Section 932.80, Florida Statutes, is
25 created to read:
26 932.80 Crime Stoppers funds.--
27 (1) All funds collected by the clerk of the court
28 under s. 938.06 shall be deposited into a special trust fund
29 of the sheriff or person in charge of the county law
30 enforcement agency. Such moneys and interest accruing thereon
31 shall be segregated in the special trust fund and may be
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 2041
141-500-00
1 expended only through an established Crime Stoppers program
2 for:
3 (a) Rewards for information leading to the arrest of
4 persons who have committed, or are committing, crimes;
5 (b) Community notification of the presence of sexual
6 predators, sexual offenders, or violent offenders;
7 (c) Crime prevention awareness;
8 (d) Publicity, advertisement, and promotion of Crime
9 Stoppers programs and services;
10 (e) Administrative costs of Crime Stoppers programs
11 that receive funds under subsection (2); and
12 (f) Starting new Crime Stoppers programs in counties
13 where none exists.
14 (2) If a Crime Stoppers program is operated within the
15 county, funds collected under s. 938.06 and deposited into the
16 special trust fund shall be distributed to that program in
17 consultation with the sheriff or person in charge of the
18 county law enforcement agency, a majority of the chiefs of
19 police of municipalities within the county, and the Florida
20 Association of Crime Stoppers. Funds distributed to that Crime
21 Stoppers program may be expended only for the purposes
22 provided in subsection (1).
23 (3) If a Crime Stoppers program is not operated within
24 a county, the sheriff or person in charge of the county law
25 enforcement agency may expend funds collected under s. 938.06
26 and deposited in the special trust fund for the purposes
27 provided in subsection (1).
28 (4) In order to establish a multicounty Crime Stoppers
29 program, the sheriffs or persons in charge of county law
30 enforcement agencies and the municipal police chiefs in two or
31 more counties must agree to approve a single multicounty Crime
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 2041
141-500-00
1 Stoppers program that will receive funds collected under s.
2 938.06 and deposited in the special trust funds of the
3 respective counties.
4 (5) To ensure compliance with this section, each Crime
5 Stoppers program that receives funds collected under s. 938.06
6 from the special trust fund shall, at the sheriff's option and
7 at Crime Stoppers' expense, be subject to an annual audit of
8 expenditures of moneys from the special trust fund.
9 (6) As used in this section, the term "Crime Stoppers"
10 means a civilian, nonprofit organization under 26 U.S.C. s.
11 501(c)(3) which is an active member of the Florida Association
12 of Crime Stoppers.
13 Section 2. Section 938.06, Florida Statutes, is
14 amended to read:
15 938.06 Additional cost for crime stoppers programs.--
16 (1) In addition to any penalty fine prescribed by law
17 for any criminal offense, there is hereby assessed as a court
18 cost an additional surcharge of $20 on such penalty fine,
19 which shall be imposed by all county and circuit courts and
20 collected by the clerks of the courts together with such fine.
21 No political subdivision shall be held liable for payment of
22 costs under this section.
23 (2) The clerk of the court shall collect and forward,
24 on a monthly basis, all costs assessed under this section,
25 less $3 per assessment as a service charge to be retained by
26 the clerk, to a special trust fund as provided in s. 932.80
27 and invested in the same manner as other funds the Department
28 of Legal Affairs for deposit in the Crime Stoppers Trust Fund,
29 to be used as provided in s. 932.80 s. 16.555.
30 Section 3. Sections 16.555 and 16.556, Florida
31 Statutes, are repealed.
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 2041
141-500-00
1 Section 4. All funds in the Department of Legal
2 Affairs' Crime Stoppers Trust Fund as of July 1, 2000, shall
3 be remitted to the counties where the funds were originally
4 collected and shall be deposited into the sheriff's special
5 trust fund to be used as provided in section 932.80, Florida
6 Statutes.
7 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
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10 LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY
11 Abolishes the Crime Stoppers Trust Fund within the
Department of Legal Affairs. Provides for the surcharge
12 of $20, which is assessed in addition to each criminal
penalty, to be deposited into a trust fund of the sheriff
13 or person in charge of the county law enforcement agency.
Provides for moneys in the trust fund to be used for a
14 Crime Stoppers program or for other specified purposes.
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