Senate Bill sb2200c1
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 2200
By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Villalobos
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to high school athletics;
3 amending s. 1006.20, F.S.; requiring the
4 Florida High School Athletic Association to
5 implement a 1-year drug-testing program to
6 randomly test certain students for anabolic
7 steroid use; requiring schools to consent to
8 the provisions of the program as a prerequisite
9 for membership in the organization; requiring
10 the organization to establish procedures for
11 the conduct of the program including
12 contracting with a testing agency to administer
13 the program; providing that records relating to
14 drug tests and challenge and appeal proceedings
15 are maintained separately from a student's
16 educational record; requiring students and
17 their parents to consent to the testing program
18 as a prerequisite for eligibility to
19 participate in specified sports; requiring the
20 school to meet with a student who tests
21 positive and his or her parent to review the
22 test findings, penalties, and procedures for
23 challenge and appeal; providing penalties for
24 positive findings; providing procedures for
25 challenging and appealing the test findings and
26 penalties; providing that the result of a drug
27 test is not admissible in a criminal
28 prosecution; requiring a report to the
29 Legislature on the results of the program;
30 providing an exemption from civil liability
31 resulting from implementation of the program;
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 2200
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1 requiring the Department of Legal Affairs to
2 provide defense in claims of civil liability;
3 authorizing athletic organization to reduce the
4 scope of the program in order to remain within
5 the legislative appropriation; providing for
6 repeal of the program; providing an effective
7 date.
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9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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11 Section 1. Subsection (10) is added to section
12 1006.20, Florida Statutes, to read:
13 1006.20 Athletics in public K-12 schools.--
14 (10) RANDOM DRUG-TESTING PROGRAM.--
15 (a) Contingent upon funding, and to the extent funded,
16 the organization shall implement a 1-year program during the
17 2007-2008 academic year which randomly tests students in
18 member schools in grades 9 through 12 who participate in
19 regular and postseason football, baseball, or weightlifting
20 competition governed by the organization for the use of
21 anabolic steroids as defined in s. 893.03(3)(d). All member
22 schools, both public and private, shall consent to the
23 provisions of this subsection as a prerequisite for membership
24 in the organization for the duration of the drug-testing
25 program.
26 (b) The organization's board of directors shall
27 establish procedures for conducting the testing program which,
28 at a minimum, provide for the following:
29 1. The organization shall select and enter into a
30 contract with a testing agency to administer the testing
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1 program. The laboratory used by the testing agency to analyze
2 specimens must be accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
3 2. Each member school shall identify and submit to the
4 organization the names of all students who will be
5 representing the school in football, baseball, and
6 weightlifting during 2007-2008 academic year. A student may
7 not participate in the member school's interscholastic
8 athletics in these sports until the student's name has been
9 reported to the organization by the school.
10 3. The organization shall provide the names of all the
11 students submitted by its member schools to the testing
12 agency. A maximum of 1 percent of the names submitted shall be
13 randomly selected by the testing agency for testing.
14 4. The testing agency shall notify the administration
15 of a school and the organization within 7 days prior to the
16 date that the testing agency or its representatives will be at
17 the school to collect a specimen from a randomly selected
18 student. However, the name of the student from whom a specimen
19 is to be collected may not be disclosed.
20 5. Records relating to drug tests under this
21 subsection and to any subsequent challenge and appeal
22 proceedings under paragraph (h) shall be maintained separately
23 from a student's educational record.
24 (c) Each student who wishes to participate in
25 football, baseball, or weightlifting and his or her parent
26 must provide consent to drug testing under this subsection as
27 a prerequisite for athletic eligibility. The consent must be
28 in writing on a form prescribed by the organization and
29 provided to the student by his or her school. Failure to
30 complete and sign the consent form will result in the
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1 student's ineligibility to participate. The consent form must
2 include the following information:
3 1. A brief description of the drug-testing program.
4 2. The penalties for a positive finding.
5 3. The procedure for challenging a positive finding.
6 4. The procedure for appealing a prescribed penalty.
7 (d) A student who is selected for testing and fails to
8 provide a specimen shall be immediately suspended from
9 interscholastic athletic practice and competition until a
10 specimen is provided.
11 (e) If a student tests positive in a test administered
12 under this subsection, the school that the student attends
13 shall immediately:
14 1. Suspend the student from participation in all
15 interscholastic athletic practice and competition.
16 2. Notify and schedule a meeting with the student and
17 his or her parent during which the principal or his or her
18 designee shall review the positive finding, the procedure for
19 challenging the positive finding, the prescribed penalties,
20 and the procedure for appealing the prescribed penalties.
21 (f) For a positive test finding, the student shall be
22 suspended from all interscholastic athletic practice and
23 competition for 90 school days and shall be subject to a
24 mandatory exit test for restoration of eligibility 60 school
25 days after the suspension. If the exit test is negative, the
26 organization shall immediately restore the eligibility of the
27 student. If the exit test is positive, the student shall
28 remain suspended from all interscholastic athletic practice
29 and competition until a subsequent retest of the student
30 results in a negative finding. The student shall be subject to
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1 repeated drug tests for the duration of his or her high school
2 athletic eligibility.
3 (g) In addition to the penalties prescribed in
4 paragraph (f), a student who tests positive in a test
5 administered under this subsection must attend and complete an
6 appropriate mandatory drug-education program conducted by the
7 student's school, the student's school district, or a
8 third-party organization contracted by the school or school
9 district to conduct such an education program.
10 (h) The following procedure for challenging a positive
11 test result shall be provided to each student who tests
12 positive in a test administered under this subsection:
13 1. The member school may challenge a positive finding
14 and must challenge a positive finding at the request of the
15 student. A sample of the original specimen provided by the
16 student and retained by the testing agency must be analyzed.
17 The member school or the student's parent shall pay the cost
18 of the analysis. If the analysis results in a positive
19 finding, the student shall remain ineligible until the
20 prescribed penalty is fulfilled. If the analysis results in a
21 negative finding, the organization shall immediately restore
22 the eligibility of the student and shall refund to the member
23 school or student's parent the cost of the analysis. The
24 student shall remain suspended from interscholastic athletic
25 practice and competition during the challenge.
26 2. The member school may appeal to the organization's
27 commissioner the period of ineligibility imposed on a student
28 as a result of a positive finding and must appeal at the
29 request of the student. The commissioner may require the
30 student to complete the prescribed penalty, reduce the
31 prescribed penalty by one-half, or provide complete relief
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1 from the prescribed penalty. Regardless of the commissioner's
2 decision, the student shall remain ineligible until the
3 student tests negative on an exit drug test and the student's
4 eligibility is restored by the organization.
5 a. If the member school or student is dissatisfied
6 with the decision of the commissioner, the school may pursue
7 the appeal before the organization's board of directors and
8 must do so at the request of the student. The board of
9 directors may require the student to complete the prescribed
10 penalty, reduce the prescribed penalty by one-half, or provide
11 complete relief from the prescribed penalty. Regardless of the
12 decision of the board of directors, the student shall remain
13 ineligible until the student tests negative on an exit drug
14 test and the student's eligibility is restored by the
15 organization. The decision of the board of directors on appeal
16 shall be final.
17 b. Technical experts may serve as consultants to the
18 organization's commissioner and its board of directors in
19 connection with appeals.
20 (i) The result of a drug test under this subsection is
21 not admissible as evidence in a criminal prosecution.
22 (j) By October 1, 2008, the organization shall submit
23 to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
24 Representatives a report on the results of the drug-testing
25 program. The report must include statistics on the number of
26 students tested; the number of violations; the number of
27 challenges and their results; the number of appeals and their
28 dispositions; and the costs incurred by the organization in
29 the administration of the program, including attorney's fees
30 and other expenses of litigation.
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1 (k) The organization, members of its board of
2 directors, and its employees and member schools and their
3 employees are exempt from civil liability arising from any act
4 or omission in connection with the testing program conducted
5 under this subsection. The Department of Legal Affairs shall
6 defend the organization, members of its board of directors,
7 and its employees and member schools and their employees in
8 any action arising from any such act or omission. In providing
9 such defense, the department may employ or utilize the legal
10 services of outside counsel.
11 (l) In order to conduct the drug-testing program
12 within appropriated funds, the organization may limit the
13 program to only one or two of the named sports. All program
14 expenses shall be paid with funds appropriated by the
15 Legislature. Such expenses include, but are not limited to,
16 all fees and expenses charged by the testing agency for
17 administrative services, specimen-collection services, and
18 specimen analysis; all administrative expenses incurred by the
19 organization to implement the program; and all attorney's fees
20 and other expenses of litigation resulting from any legal
21 challenges related to the program.
22 (m) This subsection shall stand repealed on October 2,
23 2008, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through
24 reenactment by the Legislature.
25 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 SB 2200
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4 This committee substitute differs from the underlying bill in
that it:
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-- Removes language which would have specified the group of
6 persons to whom steroid testing result could be shown;
7 -- Deletes the term "due process" to describe a student's
rights to challenge steroid test results;
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-- Provides that regardless of the outcome of an appeal, a
9 student must test negative on an exit test before the
athletic eligibility of a student may be reinstated;
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-- Provides that the results of a drug test are not
11 admissible in a criminal prosecution; and
12 -- Provides that the provisions of the bill automatically
repeal on October 2, 2008.
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