Florida Senate - 2013 SB 1162 By Senator Bradley 7-01105A-13 20131162__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to mandatory reports of child abuse; 3 amending s. 39.201, F.S.; limiting the duty of an 4 officer or employee of a law enforcement agency to 5 provide notice to the Department of Children and 6 Families of reasonable cause to suspect child abuse 7 under certain circumstances; limiting the duty of the 8 Central Abuse Hotline to electronically transfer 9 certain calls and reports to the county sheriff’s 10 office under certain circumstances; providing 11 applicability; providing an effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1. Paragraph (h) is added to subsection (1) of 16 section 39.201, Florida Statutes, to read: 17 39.201 Mandatory reports of child abuse, abandonment, or 18 neglect; mandatory reports of death; central abuse hotline.— 19 (1) 20 (h) An officer or employee of a law enforcement agency is 21 not required to provide notice to the department of reasonable 22 cause to suspect child abuse by an adult other than a parent, 23 legal custodian, caregiver, or other person responsible for the 24 child’s welfare when the incident under investigation by the law 25 enforcement agency was reported to law enforcement by the 26 Central Abuse Hotline through the electronic transfer of the 27 report or call. The department’s Central Abuse Hotline is not 28 required to electronically transfer calls and reports received 29 pursuant to paragraph (2)(b) to the county sheriff’s office if 30 the matter was initially reported to the department by the 31 county sheriff’s office or another law enforcement agency. This 32 paragraph applies only when the information related to the 33 alleged child abuse has been provided to the officer or employee 34 of a law enforcement agency or Central Abuse Hotline employee in 35 the course of carrying out his or her official duties. 36 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.