House Bill hb1447
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HB 1447
By Representative Harrell
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to assault; amending s. 784.07,
3 F.S.; defining the term "medical care
4 provider"; deleting reference to "emergency
5 medical care provider"; amending s. 435.04,
6 F.S., to conform; amending s. 901.15, F.S.;
7 authorizing a law enforcement officer to make
8 an arrest without a warrant when there is
9 probable cause to believe that the person has
10 committed assault upon a law enforcement
11 officer, a firefighter, a medical care
12 provider, public transit employees or agents,
13 or certain other officers; providing an
14 effective date.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18 Section 1. Section 784.07, Florida Statutes, is
19 amended to read:
20 784.07 Assault or battery of law enforcement officers,
21 firefighters, emergency medical care providers, public transit
22 employees or agents, or other specified officers;
23 reclassification of offenses; minimum sentences.--
24 (1) As used in this section, the term:
25 (a) "Law enforcement officer" includes a law
26 enforcement officer, a correctional officer, a correctional
27 probation officer, a part-time law enforcement officer, a
28 part-time correctional officer, an auxiliary law enforcement
29 officer, and an auxiliary correctional officer, as those terms
30 are respectively defined in s. 943.10, and any county
31 probation officer; employee or agent of the Department of
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HB 1447
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1 Corrections who supervises or provides services to inmates;
2 officer of the Parole Commission; and law enforcement
3 personnel of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,
4 the Department of Environmental Protection, or the Department
5 of Law Enforcement.
6 (b) "Firefighter" means any person employed by any
7 public employer of this state whose duty it is to extinguish
8 fires; to protect life or property; or to enforce municipal,
9 county, and state fire prevention codes, as well as any law
10 pertaining to the prevention and control of fires.
11 (c) "Emergency Medical care provider" means an
12 ambulance driver, emergency medical technician, paramedic,
13 registered nurse, physician as defined in s. 401.23, medical
14 director as defined in s. 401.23, or any person authorized by
15 an emergency medical service licensed under chapter 401 who is
16 engaged in the performance of his or her duties. The term
17 "emergency medical care provider" also includes physicians,
18 employees, agents, or volunteers of hospitals as defined in
19 chapter 395, facilities as defined in chapter 394, and
20 licensed service providers as defined in chapter 397, who are
21 employed, under contract, or otherwise authorized by a
22 hospital, facility, or licensed service provider to perform
23 duties directly associated with the care and treatment
24 rendered by the medical providers listed in this paragraph
25 hospital's emergency department or the security thereof.
26 (d) "Public transit employees or agents" means bus
27 operators, train operators, revenue collectors, security
28 personnel, equipment maintenance personnel, or field
29 supervisors, who are employees or agents of a transit agency
30 as described in s. 812.015(1)(l).
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HB 1447
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1 (2) Whenever any person is charged with knowingly
2 committing an assault or battery upon a law enforcement
3 officer, a firefighter, a an emergency medical care provider,
4 a traffic accident investigation officer as described in s.
5 316.640, a traffic infraction enforcement officer as described
6 in s. 316.640, a parking enforcement specialist as defined in
7 s. 316.640, or a security officer employed by the board of
8 trustees of a community college, while the officer,
9 firefighter, emergency medical care provider, intake officer,
10 traffic accident investigation officer, traffic infraction
11 enforcement officer, parking enforcement specialist, public
12 transit employee or agent, or security officer is engaged in
13 the lawful performance of his or her duties, the offense for
14 which the person is charged shall be reclassified as follows:
15 (a) In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the
16 second degree to a misdemeanor of the first degree.
17 (b) In the case of battery, from a misdemeanor of the
18 first degree to a felony of the third degree.
19 (c) In the case of aggravated assault, from a felony
20 of the third degree to a felony of the second degree.
21 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person
22 convicted of aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer
23 shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 3
24 years.
25 (d) In the case of aggravated battery, from a felony
26 of the second degree to a felony of the first degree.
27 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person
28 convicted of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer
29 shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 5
30 years.
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1 (3) Any person who is convicted of a battery under
2 paragraph (2)(b) and, during the commission of the offense,
3 such person possessed:
4 (a) A "firearm" or "destructive device" as those terms
5 are defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a minimum
6 term of imprisonment of 3 years.
7 (b) A semiautomatic firearm and its high-capacity
8 detachable box magazine, as defined in s. 775.087(3), or a
9 machine gun as defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a
10 minimum term of imprisonment of 8 years.
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12 Notwithstanding s. 948.01, adjudication of guilt or imposition
13 of sentence shall not be suspended, deferred, or withheld, and
14 the defendant is not eligible for statutory gain-time under s.
15 944.275 or any form of discretionary early release, other than
16 pardon or executive clemency, or conditional medical release
17 under s. 947.149, prior to serving the minimum sentence.
18 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
19 435.04, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
20 435.04 Level 2 screening standards.--
21 (3) The security background investigations conducted
22 under this section for employees of the Department of Juvenile
23 Justice must ensure that no persons subject to the provisions
24 of this section have been found guilty of, regardless of
25 adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty
26 to, any offense prohibited under any of the following
27 provisions of the Florida Statutes or under any similar
28 statute of another jurisdiction:
29 (a) Section 784.07, relating to assault or battery of
30 law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical care
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HB 1447
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1 providers, public transit employees or agents, or other
2 specified officers.
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4 The Department of Juvenile Justice may not remove a
5 disqualification from employment or grant an exemption to any
6 person who is disqualified under this section for any offense
7 disposed of during the most recent 7-year period.
8 Section 3. Subsection (16) is added to section 901.15,
9 Florida Statutes, to read:
10 901.15 When arrest by officer without warrant is
11 lawful.--A law enforcement officer may arrest a person without
12 a warrant when:
13 (16) There is probable cause to believe that the
14 person has committed assault upon a law enforcement officer, a
15 firefighter, a medical care provider, public transit employees
16 or agents, or other specified officers as set forth in s.
17 784.07.
18 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.
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21 HOUSE SUMMARY
22
Authorizes a law enforcement officer to arrest a person
23 without a warrant when there is probable cause to believe
that the person has committed assault upon a law
24 enforcement officer, a firefighter, a medical care
provider, public transit employees or agents, or other
25 described officers. See bill for details.
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