Florida Senate - 2017 CS for CS for SB 776
By the Committees on Communications, Energy, and Public
Utilities; and Criminal Justice; and Senator Baxley
579-02988-17 2017776c2
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the unlawful acquisition of utility
3 services; amending s. 812.14, F.S.; revising the
4 elements that constitute theft of utilities;
5 clarifying that the presence of certain devices and
6 alterations on the property of, and the actual
7 possession by, a person constitutes prima facie
8 evidence of a violation; clarifying that certain
9 evidence of the manufacturing of a controlled
10 substance in a leased dwelling constitutes prima facie
11 evidence of a violation by an owner, lessor,
12 sublessor; clarifying that specified circumstances
13 create prima facie evidence of theft of utility
14 services for the purpose of facilitating the
15 manufacture of a controlled substance; revising such
16 circumstances; specifying the types of damages that
17 may be recovered as civil damages or restitution in a
18 criminal case for damaging property of a utility or
19 for the theft of electricity services; specifying the
20 methods and bases used to determine and assess damages
21 in a civil action or restitution in a criminal case
22 for damaging property of a utility or for the theft of
23 electricity services; providing an effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27 Section 1. Section 812.14, Florida Statutes, is amended to
28 read:
29 812.14 Trespass and larceny with relation to utility
30 fixtures; theft of utility services.—
31 (1) As used in this section, “utility” includes any person,
32 firm, corporation, association, or political subdivision,
33 whether private, municipal, county, or cooperative, which is
34 engaged in the sale, generation, provision, or delivery of gas,
35 electricity, heat, water, oil, sewer service, telephone service,
36 telegraph service, radio service, or telecommunication service.
37 (2) A person may not It is unlawful to:
38 (a) Willfully alter, tamper with, damage injure, or
39 knowingly allow damage to a suffer to be injured any meter,
40 meter seal, pipe, conduit, wire, line, cable, transformer,
41 amplifier, or other apparatus or device belonging to a utility
42 line service in such a manner as to cause loss or damage or to
43 prevent any meter installed for registering electricity, gas, or
44 water from registering the quantity which otherwise would pass
45 through the same; to
46 (b) Alter the index or break the seal of any such meter; in
47 any way to
48 (c) Hinder or interfere in any way with the proper action
49 or accurate just registration of any such meter or device; or
50 (d) Knowingly to use, waste, or allow suffer the waste of,
51 by any means, of electricity, or gas, or water passing through
52 any such meter, wire, pipe, or fitting, or other appliance or
53 appurtenance connected with or belonging to any such utility,
54 after the such meter, wire, pipe, or fitting, or other appliance
55 or appurtenance has been tampered with, injured, or altered;.
56 (e)(b) Connect Make or cause a to be made any connection
57 with a any wire, main, service pipe or other pipes, appliance,
58 or appurtenance in a such manner that uses as to use, without
59 the consent of the utility, any service or any electricity, gas,
60 or water;, or to
61 (f) Cause a utility, without its consent, to supply any to
62 be supplied any service or electricity, gas, or water from a
63 utility to any person, firm, or corporation or any lamp, burner,
64 orifice, faucet, or other outlet whatsoever, without reporting
65 the such service being reported for payment; or
66 (g) Cause, without the consent of a utility, such
67 electricity, gas, or water to bypass passing through a meter
68 provided by the utility; or and used for measuring and
69 registering the quantity of electricity, gas, or water passing
70 through the same.
71 (h)(c) Use or receive the direct benefit from the use of a
72 utility knowing, or under such circumstances that as would
73 induce a reasonable person to believe, that the such direct
74 benefits have resulted from any tampering with, altering of, or
75 injury to any connection, wire, conductor, meter, pipe, conduit,
76 line, cable, transformer, amplifier, or other apparatus or
77 device owned, operated, or controlled by such utility, for the
78 purpose of avoiding payment.
79 (3) The presence on the property of and in the actual
80 possession by of a person of any device or alteration that
81 prevents affects the diversion or use of the services of a
82 utility so as to avoid the registration of the such use of
83 services by or on a meter installed by the utility or that
84 avoids so as to otherwise avoid the reporting of the use of
85 services such service for payment is prima facie evidence of the
86 violation of subsection (2) this section by such person.;
87 However, this presumption does not apply unless:
88 (a) The presence of the such a device or alteration can be
89 attributed only to a deliberate act in furtherance of an intent
90 to avoid payment for utility services;
91 (b) The person charged has received the direct benefit of
92 the reduction of the cost of the such utility services; and
93 (c) The customer or recipient of the utility services has
94 received the direct benefit of the such utility service for at
95 least one full billing cycle.
96 (4) A person who willfully violates subsection (2)
97 paragraph (2)(a), paragraph (2)(b), or paragraph (2)(c) commits
98 theft, punishable as provided in s. 812.014.
99 (5) It is unlawful for A person or entity that owns,
100 leases, or subleases a property may not to permit a tenant or
101 occupant to use utility services knowing, or under such
102 circumstances as would induce a reasonable person to believe,
103 that such utility services have been connected in violation of
104 subsection (2) paragraph (2)(a), paragraph (2)(b), or paragraph
105 (2)(c).
106 (6) It is prima facie evidence that an owner, lessor, or
107 sublessor intended It is prima facie evidence of a person’s
108 intent to violate subsection (5) if:
109 (a) A controlled substance and materials for manufacturing
110 the controlled substance intended for sale or distribution to
111 another were found in a dwelling or structure;
112 (b) The dwelling or structure was has been visibly modified
113 to accommodate the use of equipment to grow cannabis marijuana
114 indoors, including, but not limited to, the installation of
115 equipment to provide additional air conditioning, equipment to
116 provide high-wattage lighting, or equipment for hydroponic
117 cultivation; and
118 (c) The person or entity that owned, leased, or subleased
119 the dwelling or structure knew of, or did so under such
120 circumstances as would induce a reasonable person to believe in,
121 the presence of a controlled substance and materials for
122 manufacturing a controlled substance in the dwelling or
123 structure, regardless of whether the person or entity was
124 involved in the manufacture or sale of a controlled substance or
125 was in actual possession of the dwelling or structure.
126 (7) An owner, lessor, or sublessor A person who willfully
127 violates subsection (5) commits a misdemeanor of the first
128 degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
129 Prosecution for a violation of subsection (5) does not preclude
130 prosecution for theft pursuant to subsection (8) or s. 812.014.
131 (8) Theft of utility services for the purpose of
132 facilitating the manufacture of a controlled substance is theft,
133 punishable as provided in s. 812.014.
134 (9) It is prima facie evidence of a person’s intent to
135 violate subsection (8) if:
136 (a) The person committed theft of utility services
137 resulting in a dwelling, as defined in s. 810.011, or a
138 structure, as defined in s. 810.011, receiving unauthorized
139 access to utility services;
140 (b) A controlled substance and materials for manufacturing
141 the controlled substance were found in the dwelling or
142 structure; and
143 (c) The person knew or should have known of the presence of
144 the controlled substance and materials for manufacturing the
145 controlled substance in the dwelling or structure, regardless of
146 whether the person was involved in the manufacture of the
147 controlled substance.
148 (10) Whoever is found in a civil action to have violated
149 this section is liable to the utility involved in an amount
150 equal to 3 times the amount of services unlawfully obtained or
151 $3,000, whichever is greater.
152 (11)(a) For purposes of determining a defendant’s liability
153 for civil damages under subsection (10) or criminal restitution
154 for the theft of electricity, the amount of civil damages or a
155 restitution order must include all of the following amounts:
156 1. The costs to repair or replace damaged property owned by
157 a utility, including reasonable labor costs.
158 2. Reasonable costs for the use of specialized equipment to
159 investigate or calculate the amount of unlawfully obtained
160 electricity services, including reasonable labor costs.
161 3. The amount of unlawfully obtained electricity services.
162 (b) A prima facie showing of the amount of unlawfully
163 obtained electricity services may be based on any methodology
164 reasonably relied upon by a utility to estimate such loss. The
165 methodology may consider the estimated start date of the theft
166 and the estimated daily or hourly use of electricity. Once a
167 prima facie showing has been made, the burden shifts to the
168 defendant to demonstrate that the loss is other than that
169 claimed by the utility.
170 1. The estimated start date of a theft may be based upon
171 one or more of the following:
172 a. The date of an overload notification from a transformer,
173 or the tripping of a transformer, which the utility reasonably
174 believes was overloaded as a result of the theft of electricity.
175 b. The date the utility verified a substantive difference
176 between the amount of electricity used at a property and the
177 amount billed to the account holder.
178 c. The date the utility or a law enforcement officer
179 located a tap or other device bypassing a meter.
180 d. The date the utility or a law enforcement officer
181 observed or verified meter tampering.
182 e. The maturity of a cannabis crop found in a dwelling or
183 structure using unlawfully obtained electricity services the
184 utility or a law enforcement officer reasonably believes to have
185 been grown in the dwelling or structure.
186 f. The date the utility or a law enforcement agency
187 received a report of suspicious activity potentially indicating
188 the presence of the unlawful cultivation of cannabis in a
189 dwelling or structure or the date a law enforcement officer or
190 an employee or contractor of a utility observed such suspicious
191 activity.
192 g. The date when a utility observed a significant change in
193 metered energy usage.
194 h. The date when an account with the utility was opened for
195 a property that receives both metered and unlawfully obtained
196 electricity services.
197 i. Any other fact or data reasonably relied upon by the
198 utility to estimate the start date of a theft of electricity.
199 2. The estimated average daily or hourly use of the
200 electricity may be based upon any, or a combination, of the
201 following:
202 a. The load imposed by the fixtures, appliances, or
203 equipment powered by unlawfully obtained electricity services.
204 b. Recordings by the utility of the amount of electricity
205 used by a property or the difference between the amount used and
206 the amount billed.
207 c. A comparison of the amount of electricity historically
208 used by the property and the amount billed while the property
209 was using unlawfully obtained electricity.
210 d. A reasonable analysis of a meter that was altered or
211 tampered with to prevent the creation of an accurate record of
212 the amount of electricity obtained.
213 e. Any other fact or data reasonably relied upon by
214 utilities to estimate the amount of unlawfully obtained
215 electricity services.
216 (12) A court order requiring a defendant to pay restitution
217 for damages to the property of a utility or for the theft of
218 electricity need only be based on a conviction for a criminal
219 offense that is causally connected to the damages or losses and
220 bears a significant relationship to those damages or losses. A
221 conviction for a violation of this section is not a prerequisite
222 for a restitution order. Criminal offenses that bear a
223 significant relationship and are causally connected to a
224 violation of this section include, but are not limited to,
225 offenses relating to the unlawful cultivation of cannabis in a
226 dwelling or structure if the theft of electricity was used to
227 facilitate the growth of the cannabis.
228 (13) The amount of restitution that a defendant may be
229 ordered to pay is not limited by the monetary threshold of any
230 criminal charge on which the restitution order is based.
231 (14)(11) This section does not apply to licensed and
232 certified electrical contractors while such persons are
233 performing usual and ordinary service in accordance with
234 recognized standards.
235 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2017.
236