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| 1 | A bill to be entitled | ||
| 2 | An act relating to assault or battery on officials; | ||
| 3 | amending s. 784.081, F.S.; providing enhanced penalties | ||
| 4 | for the offense of assault, battery, aggravated assault, | ||
| 5 | or aggravated battery if the offense is committed upon | ||
| 6 | certain persons officiating at an interscholastic | ||
| 7 | activity; creating s. 784.0815, F.S.; defining “sports | ||
| 8 | official”; providing an additional penalty for battery | ||
| 9 | upon a sports official under certain circumstances; | ||
| 10 | providing an effective date. | ||
| 11 | |||
| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: | ||
| 13 | |||
| 14 | Section 1. Section 784.081, Florida Statutes, is amended | ||
| 15 | to read: | ||
| 16 | 784.081 Assault or battery on specified officials or | ||
| 17 | employees; reclassification of offenses.--Whenever a person is | ||
| 18 | charged with committing an assault or aggravated assault or a | ||
| 19 | battery or aggravated battery upon any elected official or | ||
| 20 | employee of: a school district; a private school; the Florida | ||
| 21 | School for the Deaf and the Blind; a university developmental | ||
| 22 | research school; a state university or any other entity of the | ||
| 23 | state system of public education, as defined in s. 1000.04; an | ||
| 24 | interscholastic sports official, as defined in s. | ||
| 25 | 440.02(15)(d)11.;an employee or protective investigator of the | ||
| 26 | Department of Children and Family Services; or an employee of a | ||
| 27 | lead community-based provider and its direct service contract | ||
| 28 | providers, when the person committing the offense knows or has | ||
| 29 | reason to know the identity or position or employment of the | ||
| 30 | victim, the offense for which the person is charged shall be | ||
| 31 | reclassified as follows: | ||
| 32 | (1) In the case of aggravated battery, from a felony of | ||
| 33 | the second degree to a felony of the first degree. | ||
| 34 | (2) In the case of aggravated assault, from a felony of | ||
| 35 | the third degree to a felony of the second degree. | ||
| 36 | (3) In the case of battery, from a misdemeanor of the | ||
| 37 | first degree to a felony of the third degree. | ||
| 38 | (4) In the case of assault, from a misdemeanor of the | ||
| 39 | second degree to a misdemeanor of the first degree. | ||
| 40 | Section 2. Section 784.0815, Florida Statutes, is created | ||
| 41 | to read: | ||
| 42 | 784.0815 Assault on sports official; definition; | ||
| 43 | additional penalty.-- | ||
| 44 | (1) For the purposes of this section, “sports official” | ||
| 45 | means any person who serves as a referee, an umpire, or a | ||
| 46 | linesman and any person who serves in a similar capacity as a | ||
| 47 | sports official who may be known by another title, which sports | ||
| 48 | official is duly registered by or is a member of a local, state, | ||
| 49 | regional, or national organization that is engaged in part in | ||
| 50 | providing education and training to sports officials. | ||
| 51 | (2) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any | ||
| 52 | person who batters a sports official, at any level of | ||
| 53 | competition, within the immediate confines or immediate vicinity | ||
| 54 | of the athletic facility at which the athletic contest in which | ||
| 55 | the sports official is an active participant commits a | ||
| 56 | misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by a fine of not | ||
| 57 | more than $10,000 and a term of imprisonment of not more than 3 | ||
| 58 | years. | ||
| 59 | Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2004. | ||