| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to corrections; amending s. 945.28, F.S.; |
| 3 | prohibiting the location of a probation and parole office |
| 4 | within a specified distance of certain schools and day |
| 5 | care facilities; providing for relocation of current |
| 6 | probation and parole offices not in compliance with this |
| 7 | requirement; creating s. 943.1301, F.S.; providing for |
| 8 | certification of county probation officers at the |
| 9 | discretion of the county governing body; providing for |
| 10 | training for such officers; providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Section 945.28, Florida Statutes, is amended to |
| 15 | read: |
| 16 | 945.28 Location Selection of probation or parole offices |
| 17 | by the department; prohibitions; public notice.-- |
| 18 | (1) Beginning July 1, 1995, Whenever the department is |
| 19 | going to enter into a contract for the lease or purchase of a |
| 20 | probation and parole office space to be used by the department, |
| 21 | the department shall provide notice, by publication in the |
| 22 | county in which the office space is to be located, in a |
| 23 | newspaper of general circulation in said county, 30 days prior |
| 24 | to signing any lease or purchasing any property to be used for |
| 25 | office space, that the department intends to lease or purchase |
| 26 | such property. The published notice shall include a telephone |
| 27 | number whereby interested members of the public may communicate |
| 28 | with the department with respect to any questions or input the |
| 29 | public may have with regard to the proposed lease or purchase. |
| 30 | (2)(a) A probation and parole office may not be located |
| 31 | within 2,500 feet of a school for children in grade 12 or lower |
| 32 | or a licensed day care center facility. |
| 33 | (b) When the site of the proposed probation and parole |
| 34 | office space is to be located within one-quarter one quarter |
| 35 | mile of a school for children in grade 12 or lower, licensed day |
| 36 | care center facility, park, playground, nursing home, |
| 37 | convalescent center, hospital, association for disabled |
| 38 | population, mental health center, youth center, group home for |
| 39 | disabled population or youth, or other place where children or a |
| 40 | population especially vulnerable to crime due to age or physical |
| 41 | or mental disability regularly congregates, the department shall |
| 42 | provide written notification to the county or city administrator |
| 43 | in the county or city in which the office space is to be located |
| 44 | simultaneously with the newspaper publication. |
| 45 | Section 2. Any probation and parole office that does not |
| 46 | comply with the requirements of s. 945.28(2)(a), Florida |
| 47 | Statutes, as amended by this act, on the effective date of this |
| 48 | act shall have until August 1, 2006, or the expiration of its |
| 49 | current lease, whichever is earlier, to be relocated to a |
| 50 | location that complies with s. 945.28(2)(a), Florida Statutes, |
| 51 | as amended by this act. |
| 52 | Section 3. Section 943.1301, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 53 | to read: |
| 54 | 943.1301 Certification of county probation officers.--At |
| 55 | the discretion of the governing body of a county, the county may |
| 56 | require the county's probation officers to be certified by the |
| 57 | commission and the department. The county shall provide |
| 58 | certification criteria that shall be substantially similar to |
| 59 | the criteria for correctional probation officers established in |
| 60 | s. 943.13. The commission and the department shall provide |
| 61 | training and certification for such county probation officers |
| 62 | consistent with this section and s. 943.13. |
| 63 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |