Florida Senate - 2017 SB 448 By Senator Brandes 24-00112B-17 2017448__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to prearrest diversion programs; 3 creating s. 901.40, F.S.; encouraging local 4 communities and public or private educational 5 institutions to implement prearrest diversion programs 6 for certain offenders; encouraging prearrest diversion 7 programs to share information with other prearrest 8 diversion programs; authorizing law enforcement 9 officers, at their sole discretion, to issue a civil 10 citation to adults under specified circumstances; 11 requiring an adult who is issued a civil citation by a 12 participating law enforcement agency to report for 13 intake as required by the prearrest diversion program; 14 requiring the program to provide certain appropriate 15 services; requiring that an adult who is issued a 16 civil citation fulfill a community service 17 requirement; requiring the adult to pay restitution to 18 a victim; providing for criminal prosecution of adults 19 who fail to complete the prearrest diversion program; 20 prohibiting an arrest record from being associated 21 with a certain offense for an adult who successfully 22 completes the program; requiring specified entities to 23 create the prearrest diversion program; requiring the 24 entities to develop policies and procedures for the 25 development and operation of the program and to 26 solicit input from other interested stakeholders; 27 authorizing specified entities to operate the program; 28 specifying how the nonviolent misdemeanor offenses 29 that are eligible for the prearrest diversion program 30 are selected; providing applicability; providing an 31 effective date. 32 33 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 34 35 Section 1. Section 901.40, Florida Statutes, is created to 36 read: 37 901.40 Prearrest diversion programs.— 38 (1) INTENT.—The Legislature encourages local communities 39 and public or private educational institutions to implement 40 prearrest diversion programs that afford certain adults who 41 fulfill specified intervention and community service obligations 42 the opportunity to avoid an arrest record. The Legislature does 43 not mandate that a particular prearrest diversion program for 44 adults be adopted, but finds that the adoption of the model 45 provided in this section would allow certain adults to avoid an 46 arrest record, while ensuring that those adults receive 47 appropriate intervention and fulfill community service 48 obligations. If a prearrest diversion program is implemented, 49 the program is encouraged to share information with other 50 prearrest diversion programs. 51 (2) MODEL ADULT CIVIL CITATION PROGRAM.—Local communities 52 and public or private educational institutions may adopt a 53 program in which: 54 (a) Law enforcement officers, at their sole discretion, may 55 issue a civil citation to certain adults who commit a qualifying 56 nonviolent misdemeanor offense selected by the program. A civil 57 citation may be issued only if the adult admits that he or she 58 committed the offense and if the adult has not previously been 59 arrested and has not received an adult civil citation. However, 60 an adult may not be issued a civil citation if the nonviolent 61 misdemeanor offense involves a victim and the victim objects to 62 issuance of the civil citation. 63 (b) An adult who receives a civil citation shall report for 64 intake as required by the local prearrest diversion program and 65 shall be provided appropriate assessment, intervention, 66 education, and behavioral health care services by the program. 67 While in the local prearrest diversion program, the adult shall 68 perform community service hours as specified by the program. The 69 adult shall pay restitution due to the victim as a program 70 requirement. If the adult does not successfully complete the 71 prearrest diversion program, the law enforcement agency that 72 issued the civil citation shall criminally charge the adult for 73 the original offense and refer the case to the state attorney to 74 determine if prosecution is appropriate. If the adult 75 successfully completes the program, an arrest record may not be 76 associated with the offense. 77 (3) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, AND OPERATION. 78 Representatives of participating law enforcement agencies, a 79 representative of the program services provider, the public 80 defender, the state attorney, and the clerk of the circuit court 81 shall create the prearrest diversion program and develop its 82 policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, 83 eligibility criteria, program implementation and operation, and 84 the determination of the fee to be paid by adults participating 85 in the program. In developing the policies and procedures for 86 the program, the parties must solicit input from other 87 interested stakeholders. The program may be operated by an 88 entity such as a law enforcement agency, the county or 89 municipality, or another entity selected by the county or 90 municipality. 91 (4) QUALIFYING OFFENSES.—Nonviolent misdemeanor offenses 92 that qualify the offender for a prearrest diversion program must 93 be selected as part of the program development under subsection 94 (3). 95 (5) APPLICABILITY.—This section does not preempt a county 96 or municipality from enacting noncriminal sanctions for a 97 violation of an ordinance or other violation, and it does not 98 preempt a county, a municipality, or a public or private 99 educational institution from creating its own model for a 100 prearrest diversion program for adults. 101 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.