Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 1196
       
       
        
       By Senator Jones
       
       
       
       
       
       35-00042B-22                                          20221196__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Community Violence Task Force;
    3         creating the task force within the Department of Law
    4         Enforcement; providing for membership, duties, and
    5         meetings of the task force; requiring state agencies
    6         to provide assistance when requested; authorizing the
    7         task force to receive exempt or confidential and
    8         exempt information and specifying that the information
    9         maintains such status; requiring the task force to
   10         submit a report to the Governor and Legislature by a
   11         specified date; providing for expiration of the task
   12         force; providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Community Violence Task Force.—
   17         (1) The Community Violence Task Force, a task force as
   18  defined in s. 20.03, Florida Statutes, is created within the
   19  Department of Law Enforcement. Except as otherwise provided in
   20  this section, the task force shall comply with the requirements
   21  of s. 20.052, Florida Statutes.
   22         (2)(a) The task force shall consist of 15 members as
   23  follows:
   24         1. Four members appointed by the Governor, one of whom the
   25  Governor shall designate as the chair of the task force.
   26         2. Four members appointed by the President of the Senate,
   27  two of whom must be members of the Legislative Black Caucus of
   28  the Florida Senate.
   29         3. Four members appointed by the Speaker of the House of
   30  Representatives, two of whom must be members of the Legislative
   31  Black Caucus of the Florida House of Representatives.
   32         4. A representative from the Florida Sheriffs Association,
   33  nominated by the executive director and appointed by the
   34  Governor.
   35         5. A representative from the Florida Police Chiefs
   36  Association, nominated by the executive director and appointed
   37  by the Governor.
   38         6. The Secretary of Children and Families, or his or her
   39  designee.
   40         (b) Members must be appointed no later than August 1, 2022.
   41  Members serve at the pleasure of the officer who appointed them,
   42  and a vacancy on the task force must be filled in the same
   43  manner as the original appointment. Members of the task force
   44  shall serve without compensation but are entitled to
   45  reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses pursuant to s.
   46  112.061, Florida Statutes.
   47         (c) The task force shall meet at the call of the chair at a
   48  time and location in this state designated by the chair. The
   49  task force may not conduct its meetings by teleconference or
   50  other electronic means.
   51         (3) The task force shall review system failures and the
   52  causes of high crime rates and violence in urban core
   53  neighborhoods and communities. In addition, the task force shall
   54  develop recommendations for solutions, programs, services, and
   55  strategies for improved interagency communication between local
   56  and state governmental agencies to help facilitate the reduction
   57  of crime and violence in urban core neighborhoods and
   58  communities.
   59         (4) The Department of Law Enforcement shall provide
   60  staffing and administrative assistance to the task force in
   61  performing its duties. The task force may call upon other state
   62  agencies for such professional assistance as may be needed in
   63  the discharge of its duties, and such agencies shall provide
   64  such assistance in a timely manner.
   65         (5) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the task
   66  force may request and shall be provided with access to any
   67  information or records that pertain to crime or violent
   68  incidents in this state’s urban core neighborhoods and
   69  communities. Information or records obtained by the task force
   70  which are otherwise exempt or confidential and exempt shall
   71  retain such exempt or confidential and exempt status, and the
   72  task force may not disclose any such information or records.
   73         (6) The task force shall submit a report on its findings
   74  and recommendations to the Governor, the President of the
   75  Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by June
   76  1, 2024.
   77         (7) This section expires June 30, 2024.
   78         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.