Florida Senate - 2012                                    SB 1382
       
       
       
       By Senator Bennett
       
       
       
       
       21-01254-12                                           20121382__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to service animals; amending s.
    3         413.08, F.S.; revising and providing definitions;
    4         revising designation and duties of a service animal;
    5         providing rights of an individual with a disability
    6         accompanied by a service animal or a person who trains
    7         or raises service animals with regard to public or
    8         housing accommodations under certain conditions;
    9         providing penalties; providing an effective date.
   10  
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 413.08, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   14  read:
   15         413.08 Rights of an individual with a disability; use of a
   16  service animal; discrimination in public employment or housing
   17  accommodations; penalties.—
   18         (1) As used in this section and s. 413.081, the term:
   19         (a) “Housing accommodation” means any real property or
   20  portion thereof which is used or occupied, or intended,
   21  arranged, or designed to be used or occupied, as the home,
   22  residence, or sleeping place of one or more persons, but does
   23  not include any single-family residence, the occupants of which
   24  rent, lease, or furnish for compensation not more than one room
   25  therein.
   26         (b) “Individual with a disability” means a person who is
   27  deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or otherwise
   28  physically disabled. As used in this paragraph, the term:
   29         1. “Hard of hearing” means an individual who has suffered a
   30  permanent hearing impairment that is severe enough to
   31  necessitate the use of amplification devices to discriminate
   32  speech sounds in verbal communication.
   33         2. “Physically disabled” means any person who has a
   34  physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major
   35  life activities.
   36         (c) “Owner” means a person who owns a service animal or who
   37  is authorized by the owner to use a service animal.
   38         (d)(c) “Public accommodation” means a common carrier,
   39  airplane, motor vehicle, railroad train, motor bus, streetcar,
   40  boat, or other public conveyance or mode of transportation;
   41  hotel; lodging place; place of public accommodation, amusement,
   42  or resort; and other places to which the general public is
   43  invited, subject only to the conditions and limitations
   44  established by law and applicable alike to all persons.
   45         (e)(d) “Service animal” means a dog an animal that is
   46  trained to perform tasks for an individual with a disability.
   47  The tasks may include, but are not limited to, guiding a person
   48  who is visually impaired, has low vision, or is blind, alerting
   49  a person who is deaf or hard of hearing, pulling a wheelchair,
   50  assisting with mobility or balance, alerting and protecting a
   51  person who is having a seizure, retrieving objects, helping a
   52  person with a psychiatric or neurological disability by
   53  preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors,
   54  or performing other specialized special tasks. A service animal
   55  is not a pet.
   56         (2) An individual with a disability is entitled to full and
   57  equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges in
   58  all public accommodations. This section does not require any
   59  person, firm, business, or corporation, or any agent thereof, to
   60  modify or provide any vehicle, premises, facility, or service to
   61  a higher degree of accommodation than is required for a person
   62  not so disabled. If an individual with a disability or a person
   63  who trains or raises service animals is a student at a private
   64  or public school in the state, that person has the right to be
   65  accompanied by a service animal subject to the conditions
   66  established under this section.
   67         (3) An individual with a disability has the right to be
   68  accompanied by a service animal in all areas of a public
   69  accommodation that the public or customers are normally
   70  permitted to occupy.
   71         (a) Documentation that the service animal is trained is not
   72  a precondition for providing service to an individual
   73  accompanied by a service animal. A public accommodation may ask
   74  if an animal is a service animal or what tasks the animal has
   75  been trained to perform in order to determine the difference
   76  between a service animal and a pet.
   77         (b) A public accommodation may not impose a deposit or
   78  surcharge on an individual with a disability as a precondition
   79  to permitting a service animal to accompany the individual with
   80  a disability, even if a deposit is routinely required for pets.
   81         (c) An individual with a disability is liable for damage
   82  caused by a service animal if it is the regular policy and
   83  practice of the public accommodation to charge nondisabled
   84  persons for damages caused by their pets.
   85         (d) The care or supervision of a service animal is the
   86  responsibility of the individual owner. A public accommodation
   87  is not required to provide care or food or a special location
   88  for the service animal or assistance with removing animal
   89  excrement.
   90         (e) A public accommodation may exclude or remove any animal
   91  from the premises, including a service animal, if the animal’s
   92  behavior poses a direct threat to the health and safety of
   93  others. Allergies and fear of animals are not valid reasons for
   94  denying access or refusing service to an individual with a
   95  service animal. If a service animal is excluded or removed for
   96  being a direct threat to others, the public accommodation must
   97  provide the individual with a disability the option of
   98  continuing access to the public accommodation without having the
   99  service animal on the premises.
  100         (4) Any person, firm, or corporation, or the agent of any
  101  person, firm, or corporation, who denies or interferes with
  102  admittance to, or enjoyment of, a public accommodation;
  103  interferes with the renting, leasing, or purchasing of housing
  104  accommodations; or otherwise interferes with the rights of an
  105  individual with a disability or the trainer or raiser of a
  106  service animal while engaged in the training or raising of such
  107  an animal pursuant to subsection (8), commits a misdemeanor of
  108  the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
  109  775.083.
  110         (5) It is the policy of this state that an individual with
  111  a disability be employed in the service of the state or
  112  political subdivisions of the state, in the public schools, and
  113  in all other employment supported in whole or in part by public
  114  funds, and an employer may not refuse employment to such a
  115  person on the basis of the disability alone, unless it is shown
  116  that the particular disability prevents the satisfactory
  117  performance of the work involved.
  118         (6) An individual with a disability who is accompanied by a
  119  service animal is entitled to full and equal advantages,
  120  facilities, and privileges in all housing accommodations and is
  121  entitled to rent, lease, or purchase, as other members of the
  122  general public, any housing accommodations offered for rent,
  123  lease, or other compensation in this state, subject to the
  124  conditions and limitations established by law and applicable
  125  alike to all persons.
  126         (a) This section does not require any person renting,
  127  leasing, or otherwise providing real property for compensation
  128  to modify her or his property in any way or provide a higher
  129  degree of care for an individual with a disability than for a
  130  person who is not disabled.
  131         (b) An individual with a disability who has a service
  132  animal, or who obtains a service animal, or who is the trainer
  133  of or raises a service animal for an accredited school is
  134  entitled to full and equal access to all housing accommodations
  135  provided for in this section, and such a person may not be
  136  required to pay extra compensation for the service animal.
  137  However, such a person is liable for any damage done to the
  138  premises or to another person on the premises by such an animal.
  139  A housing accommodation may request proof of compliance with
  140  vaccination requirements.
  141         (7) An employer covered under subsection (5) who
  142  discriminates against an individual with a disability in
  143  employment, unless it is shown that the particular disability
  144  prevents the satisfactory performance of the work involved, or
  145  any person, firm, or corporation, or the agent of any person,
  146  firm, or corporation, providing housing accommodations as
  147  provided in subsection (6) who discriminates against an
  148  individual with a disability, commits a misdemeanor of the
  149  second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
  150  775.083.
  151         (8) Any person who trains or raises trainer of a service
  152  animal, while engaged in the training or raising of such an
  153  animal, has the same rights and privileges with respect to
  154  access to public and housing accommodations facilities and the
  155  same liability for damage as is provided for a person those
  156  persons described in subsection (3) or subsection (6) who is
  157  accompanied by a service animal, so long as: animals.
  158         (a) The service animal is being held on a leash and is
  159  under the control of the person training the service animal for
  160  an accredited school for service animals.
  161         (b) The person has on her or his person and available for
  162  inspection credentials from the accredited school for which the
  163  service animal is being trained or raised.
  164         (c) The service animal is wearing a collar, leash, or other
  165  appropriate apparel that identifies the dog with the accredited
  166  school for which the service animal is being trained or raised.
  167         (9) A person who knowingly and fraudulently represents
  168  herself or himself, through her or his conduct or verbal or
  169  written notice, as the owner or trainer of a service animal
  170  commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as
  171  provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
  172         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.