Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 2516
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Appropriations
       
       
       
       
       
       576-02890-22                                          20222516__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Office of the Judges of
    3         Compensation Claims; amending s. 440.44, F.S.;
    4         deleting a requirement for the office to maintain
    5         district offices and personnel at a certain level;
    6         providing an effective date.
    7          
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9  
   10         Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 440.44, Florida
   11  Statutes, is amended to read:
   12         440.44 Workers’ compensation; staff organization.—
   13         (5) OFFICE.—The department, the agency, and the Deputy
   14  Chief Judge shall maintain and keep open during reasonable
   15  business hours an office, which shall be provided in the Capitol
   16  or some other suitable building in the City of Tallahassee, for
   17  the transaction of business under this chapter, at which office
   18  the official records and papers shall be kept. The office shall
   19  be furnished and equipped. The department, the agency, any judge
   20  of compensation claims, or the Deputy Chief Judge may hold
   21  sessions and conduct hearings at any place within the state. The
   22  Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims shall maintain the
   23  17 district offices, 31 judges of compensation claims, and 31
   24  mediators as they exist on June 30, 2001.
   25         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.