Florida Senate - 2023                              CS for SB 618
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Yarborough
       
       
       
       
       
       591-02784-23                                           2023618c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to rights of law enforcement officers
    3         and correctional officers; amending s. 112.531, F.S.;
    4         defining terms; amending s. 112.532, F.S.; providing
    5         rights of law enforcement officers and correctional
    6         officers relating to a Brady identification system;
    7         prohibiting a law enforcement officer or correctional
    8         officer from being discharged, suspended, demoted, or
    9         otherwise disciplined for certain reasons; providing
   10         construction; requiring the employing agency of a law
   11         enforcement officer or correctional officer to conform
   12         to certain rules and procedures; creating s. 112.536,
   13         F.S.; providing that a prosecuting agency is not
   14         required to maintain a Brady identification system;
   15         authorizing a prosecuting agency to choose different
   16         procedures to discharge its obligations under a
   17         specified United States Supreme Court ruling; imposing
   18         requirements on the current or former employing agency
   19         of the law enforcement officer or correctional
   20         officer; requiring a prosecuting agency that maintains
   21         a Brady identification system to adopt written
   22         policies; providing minimum requirements for such
   23         policies; requiring a prosecuting agency to provide
   24         certain notices to certain law enforcement officers or
   25         correctional officers and their employing agency under
   26         certain conditions; requiring the prosecuting agency
   27         to notify specified parties in a pending case of the
   28         removal of the name of a law enforcement officer or a
   29         correctional officer from the Brady identification
   30         system under certain conditions; authorizing a law
   31         enforcement officer or a correctional officer to
   32         petition for a writ of mandamus under certain
   33         circumstances; providing the scope of the judicial
   34         review; providing construction; providing an effective
   35         date.
   36          
   37  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   38  
   39         Section 1. Present subsections (1) and (2) of section
   40  112.531, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (2)
   41  and (3), respectively, and a new subsection (1) and subsection
   42  (4) are added to that section, to read:
   43         112.531 Definitions.—As used in this part, the term:
   44         (1)“Brady identification system” means a list or
   45  identification, in whatever form, of the name or names of law
   46  enforcement or correctional officers about whom a prosecuting
   47  agency is in possession of impeachment evidence as defined by
   48  decision, statute, or rule.
   49         (4)“Prosecuting agency” means the Attorney General or an
   50  assistant attorney general, the statewide prosecutor or an
   51  assistant statewide prosecutor, a state attorney or an assistant
   52  state attorney, a city or county attorney, a special prosecutor,
   53  or any other person or entity charged with the prosecution of a
   54  criminal case.
   55         Section 2. Subsection (7) is added to section 112.532,
   56  Florida Statutes, to read:
   57         112.532 Law enforcement officers’ and correctional
   58  officers’ rights.—All law enforcement officers and correctional
   59  officers employed by or appointed to a law enforcement agency or
   60  a correctional agency shall have the following rights and
   61  privileges:
   62         (7)RIGHTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND CORRECTIONAL
   63  OFFICERS RELATING TO A BRADY IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM.—
   64         (a)A law enforcement officer or correctional officer has
   65  all of the rights specified in s. 112.536 relating to the
   66  inclusion of the name and information of the officer in a Brady
   67  identification system.
   68         (b)A law enforcement officer or correctional officer may
   69  not be discharged, suspended, demoted, or otherwise disciplined,
   70  or threatened with discharge, suspension, demotion, or other
   71  discipline, by his or her employing agency solely as a result of
   72  a prosecuting agency determining that the officer’s name and
   73  information should be included in a Brady identification system.
   74  This paragraph does not prohibit an officer’s employing agency
   75  from discharging, suspending, demoting, or taking other
   76  disciplinary action against a law enforcement officer or
   77  correctional officer based on the underlying actions of the
   78  officer which resulted in his or her inclusion in a Brady
   79  identification system. If a collective bargaining agreement
   80  applies, the actions taken by the officer’s employing agency
   81  must conform to the rules and procedures adopted by the
   82  collective bargaining agreement.
   83         Section 3. Section 112.536, Florida Statutes, is created to
   84  read:
   85         112.536Requirements for maintaining a Brady identification
   86  system.—
   87         (1)(a)A prosecuting agency is not required to maintain a
   88  Brady identification system. A prosecuting agency may determine
   89  that its obligations under the Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83
   90  (1963) decision are better discharged through such procedures as
   91  that agency chooses to use.
   92         (b) A law enforcement officer’s or correctional officer’s
   93  employing agency shall forward all sustained and finalized
   94  internal affairs complaints relevant to s. 90.608, s. 90.609, or
   95  s. 90.610 to the prosecuting agency in the circuit in which the
   96  law enforcement agency is located to assist the prosecuting
   97  agency in compliance with its obligations under the Brady
   98  decision. The employing agency must notify the law enforcement
   99  officer or correctional officer of any sustained and finalized
  100  internal affairs investigations it sends to the prosecuting
  101  agency as required by this section. If the law enforcement
  102  officer or correctional officer is no longer employed, the
  103  agency must mail notification to the officer’s last known
  104  address on file at the agency.
  105         (2)A prosecuting agency that maintains a Brady
  106  identification system shall adopt written policies that, at a
  107  minimum, require all of the following:
  108         (a)The right of a law enforcement officer or a
  109  correctional officer to receive written notice through United
  110  States mail or e-mail to the current or last known employing
  111  agency of the officer, before or contemporaneously with a
  112  prosecuting agency including the name and information of the
  113  officer in a Brady identification system, unless a pending case
  114  requires immediate disclosure or providing notice would
  115  jeopardize a pending investigation.
  116         (b)The right of a law enforcement officer or a
  117  correctional officer to receive written notice before a
  118  prosecuting agency includes the name and information of the
  119  officer in a Brady identification system.
  120         (c)The right of a law enforcement officer or a
  121  correctional officer to request reconsideration of the
  122  prosecuting agency’s decision to include the name and
  123  information of the officer in a Brady identification system and
  124  his or her right to submit documents and evidence in support of
  125  the request for reconsideration.
  126         (3)If, after the policies provided in subsection (2) are
  127  followed, it is determined that the law enforcement officer or
  128  correctional officer in question should not be included in a
  129  Brady identification system, the prosecuting agency must send
  130  notice to the law enforcement officer or correctional officer
  131  and his or her employing agency that he or she has been removed
  132  from the Brady identification system.
  133         (4)If, after the policies provided in subsection (2) are
  134  followed, it is determined that the law enforcement officer or
  135  correctional officer in question should not be included in a
  136  Brady identification system, but his or her name was disclosed
  137  in a pending case, the prosecuting agency must take the
  138  necessary steps to notify the parties involved in the pending
  139  case of the law enforcement officer’s or correctional officer’s
  140  removal from the Brady identification system.
  141         (5)If a prosecuting agency fails to comply with this
  142  section, a law enforcement officer or a correctional officer may
  143  petition the court for a writ of mandamus to compel the
  144  prosecuting agency to act in accordance with this section. The
  145  scope of such a hearing may not include a judicial review of the
  146  evidence or merits of an officer’s inclusion in a Brady
  147  identification system, but instead must be limited to whether
  148  the prosecuting agency acted in accordance with the procedural
  149  requirements of this section. This section does not preclude the
  150  law enforcement officer or correctional officer from pursuing
  151  whatever administrative or judicial remedies are otherwise
  152  available to him or her in relation to any other action or
  153  remedy outside of this section.
  154         (6)This section does not:
  155         (a) Require a prosecuting agency to give notice to or
  156  provide an opportunity for review and input from the law
  157  enforcement officer or correctional officer if the information
  158  in a Brady identification system is the following:
  159         1. A criminal conviction relevant to s. 90.610; or
  160         2. A sustained and finalized internal affairs complaint
  161  relevant to s. 90.608, s. 90.609, or s. 90.610;
  162         (b)Limit the duty of a prosecuting agency to produce Brady
  163  evidence in all cases as required by the United States
  164  Constitution, the State Constitution, and the Florida Rules of
  165  Criminal Procedure and relevant case law;
  166         (c)Limit or restrict a prosecuting agency’s ability to
  167  remove the name and information of a law enforcement officer or
  168  correctional officer from a Brady identification system if, at
  169  any time, the prosecuting agency determines that the name and
  170  information of the officer are no longer proper for
  171  identification; or
  172         (d)Create a private cause of action against a prosecuting
  173  agency or any employee of a prosecuting agency, other than the
  174  writ described in subsection (5).
  175         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.