HB 451

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Eddie Weekley and Charlotte
3	Williams by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities;
4	providing an appropriation to compensate Eddie Weekley and
5	Charlotte Williams, individually and as co-personal
6	representatives of the Estate of Franklin Weekley,
7	deceased, for the disappearance and death of their son,
8	Franklin Weekley, while he was in the care of the Marianna
9	Sunland Center; providing a limitation on attorney's fees,
10	lobbying fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating
11	to the claim; providing an effective date.
12
13	WHEREAS, in November 2001 Franklin Weekley was diagnosed
14	with mental retardation and a seizure disorder and admitted to
15	the Marianna Sunland Center, which at the time was operated by
16	the Department of Children and Family Services, and
17	WHEREAS, on December 6, 2002, Franklin Weekley disappeared
18	from the center and, following a search of the premises by
19	employees of the center, Franklin Weekley was deemed by the
20	center to have run away and the case was closed, and
21	WHEREAS, on October 28, 2004, a demolition crew found the
22	skeletal remains of Franklin Weekley in the basement of a
23	building adjacent to where Franklin Weekley resided on the
24	premises of the Marianna Sunland Center, and
25	WHEREAS, legal action was filed on behalf of Franklin
26	Weekley's parents against the Department of Children and Family
27	Services and its employees and agents, raising negligence, tort,
28	statutory, and civil rights claims concerning the disappearance
29	and death of their son, and
30	WHEREAS, the plaintiffs and the Agency for Persons with
31	Disabilities, which currently operates the Marianna Sunland
32	Center, participated in mediation, reached a settlement of all
33	claims, and entered into a Compromise and Settlement Agreement
34	under which all parties agreed to the introduction in the
35	Legislature of a claim bill that, in addition to the $300,000
36	already paid by the agency, provides for payment by the agency
37	of $1 million to settle all claims relating to this matter, NOW,
38	THEREFORE,
39
40	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
41
42	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
43	are found and declared to be true.
44	Section 2.  There is appropriated from the General Revenue
45	Fund to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, as successor
46	agency to the Department of Children and Family Services, the
47	sum of $1,000,000 for the relief of Eddie Weekley and Charlotte
48	Williams, individually and as co-personal representatives of the
49	Estate of Franklin Weekley, deceased, as compensation for the
50	disappearance and death of Franklin Weekley.
51	Section 3.  The Chief Financial Officer is directed to draw
52	a warrant in favor of Eddie Weekley and Charlotte Williams,
53	individually and as co-personal representatives of the Estate of
54	Franklin Weekley, deceased, in the sum of $1,000,000 upon funds
55	of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities in the State
56	Treasury, and the Chief Financial Officer is directed to pay the
57	same out of such funds in the State Treasury.
58	Section 4.  Any amount awarded under this act pursuant to
59	the waiver of sovereign immunity permitted under s. 768.28,
60	Florida Statutes, and this award is intended to provide the sole
61	compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
62	the factual situation described in the preamble to this act
63	which resulted in the disappearance and death of Franklin
64	Weekley while he was in the care of the Marianna Sunland Center.
65	The total amount paid for attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs,
66	and other similar expenses relating to this claim may not exceed
67	25 percent of the amount awarded under section 2.
68	Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.