Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1694
       
       
        
       By Senator Collins
       
       
       
       
       
       14-00806-24                                           20241694__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Florida State Guard; amending
    3         s. 251.001, F.S.; providing that the Florida State
    4         Guard is composed of volunteers instead of members;
    5         defining terms; requiring the Governor to commission
    6         all officers of the Florida State Guard; requiring
    7         applicants to submit a full set of fingerprints to a
    8         specified entity; requiring such entity to forward
    9         such fingerprints to the Department of Law Enforcement
   10         for a specified purpose; requiring the department to
   11         forward such fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of
   12         Investigation for a specified purpose; requiring the
   13         Florida State Guard to pay the fees for processing and
   14         retaining such fingerprints; requiring that any arrest
   15         record identified be reported to the Division of the
   16         State Guard; deleting a provision requiring that
   17         certain applicants be subject to certain standards;
   18         deleting a requirement that all training programs for
   19         the Florida State Guard be equivalent to a certain
   20         training; authorizing the director of the Florida
   21         State Guard to order volunteers to duty for specified
   22         purposes in certain circumstances; revising the
   23         conditions during which the Governor may activate the
   24         Florida State Guard; authorizing, rather than
   25         requiring, the division to reimburse volunteers for
   26         certain expenses; revising the protections that apply
   27         to volunteers; providing that, upon the request of a
   28         Florida State Guard volunteer, the Department of Legal
   29         Affairs may defend the volunteer in any action or
   30         proceeding for any act that occurred during the
   31         volunteer’s scope of duty; providing construction;
   32         authorizing the ordering of such defendant to full
   33         active duty with full active duty compensation for a
   34         specified duration; providing that, if a plaintiff
   35         dismisses the suit or if a verdict or judgment finds
   36         in the defendant’s favor, the court must award
   37         attorney fees and costs to such defendant; making
   38         technical changes; providing an effective date.
   39          
   40  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   41  
   42         Section 1. Subsections (2) and (4) through (10) of section
   43  251.001, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   44         251.001 Florida State Guard Act.—
   45         (2) CREATION AND AUTHORIZATION.—The Florida State Guard is
   46  created to protect and defend the people of Florida from all
   47  threats to public safety and to augment all existing state and
   48  local agencies. The Florida State Guard is created as authorized
   49  under federal law for use exclusively within this the state,
   50  activated only by the Governor, and is at all times under the
   51  final command and control of the Governor as commander in chief
   52  of all military and guard forces of the state. The Florida State
   53  Guard may shall be used exclusively within the state, or to
   54  provide support to other states, only for the purposes stated in
   55  this section and may not be called, ordered, or drafted into the
   56  Armed Forces of the United States. The authorized maximum number
   57  of volunteer personnel that may be commissioned, enrolled, or
   58  employed as volunteers members of the Florida State Guard is
   59  1,500.
   60         (4) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
   61         (a) The terms “active duty,” “armed forces,” and “National
   62  Guard” have the same meanings as in s. 250.01.
   63         (b) The term “department” means the Department of Military
   64  Affairs.
   65         (c) The term “director” means the director of the Division
   66  of the State Guard.
   67         (d) The term “division” means the Division of the State
   68  Guard within the Department of Military Affairs.
   69         (e)The term “enlisted volunteer” means a volunteer who has
   70  been approved by the director to serve in the Florida State
   71  Guard.
   72         (f)The term “officer” means an enlisted volunteer who, due
   73  to special trust and confidence, is commissioned by the Governor
   74  as an officer of the Florida State Guard.
   75         (g)The term “volunteer” means an officer or enlisted
   76  volunteer.
   77         (5) PERSONNEL.—
   78         (a) Subject to approval by the Governor, the director shall
   79  determine the number of volunteers volunteer personnel necessary
   80  to meet the staffing and operational requirements of the Florida
   81  State Guard, and determine the volunteer structure and number of
   82  volunteers volunteer personnel within each component unit of
   83  such structure.
   84         (b) The Governor shall commission all officers volunteer
   85  personnel of the Florida State Guard.
   86         (c) Each applicant for the Florida State Guard shall meet
   87  the following qualifications:
   88         1. The applicant must be a citizen of the United States and
   89  a resident of this the state.
   90         2. The applicant may not have a felony conviction. An
   91  applicant must submit a full set of fingerprints to the
   92  division, vendor, entity, or agency authorized under s.
   93  943.053(13). The division, vendor, entity, or agency shall
   94  forward the fingerprints to the Department of Law Enforcement
   95  for state processing, and the Department of Law Enforcement
   96  shall forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of
   97  Investigation for a national criminal history check. The Florida
   98  State Guard shall pay the fees for state and federal fingerprint
   99  processing and retention. The state cost for fingerprint
  100  processing is as provided in s. 943.053(3)(e), including
  101  enrollment in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s national
  102  retained fingerprint arrest notification program. Any arrest
  103  record identified must be reported to the division Each
  104  applicant shall submit a complete set of fingerprints and all
  105  information required by state and federal law to process
  106  fingerprints for purposes of conducting a criminal background
  107  check.
  108         3. The applicant may not be an active duty servicemember, a
  109  member of the armed forces reserves, or a member of the Florida
  110  National Guard.
  111         4. If the applicant is a former member of the armed forces
  112  or of any military or naval organization of this state or
  113  another state, the applicant must have been separated under
  114  terms no less than a general discharge under honorable
  115  conditions.
  116         (d) The director shall establish minimum standards for the
  117  age, physical and health condition, and physical fitness of
  118  applicants based upon the component unit of the Florida State
  119  Guard structure in which the applicant is being considered for
  120  placement. However, an applicant being considered for placement
  121  in a component unit that serves in an active duty capacity
  122  within the Florida State Guard must be subject to standards that
  123  are no less than the standards required for recruitment,
  124  enrollment, and retention in the Florida National Guard.
  125         (e) The director shall develop and implement a code of
  126  regulations for the administration and discipline of volunteers
  127  members of the Florida State Guard which provides that shall
  128  provide no less protection and imposes impose no more severe
  129  sanctions than as provided in s. 250.35, except that the
  130  director does shall not have authority to impose any term of
  131  incarceration.
  132         (6) SPECIALIZED UNIT.—The director shall organize a
  133  specialized unit within the Florida State Guard. All volunteers
  134  members of the specialized unit are vested with the authority to
  135  bear arms, detect, and apprehend while activated. In addition to
  136  the requirements set forth in paragraph (5)(c), only those
  137  volunteers members of the specialized unit who meet the
  138  requirements in s. 943.13 and are certified as law enforcement
  139  officers as defined in s. 943.10(1) are authorized to have the
  140  same law enforcement authority as the law enforcement agency in
  141  conjunction with which they are working when activated.
  142         (7) TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT.—The director shall develop and
  143  implement a program for training for volunteers members of the
  144  Florida State Guard.
  145         (a) All training programs for the Florida State Guard shall
  146  be at least equivalent to the training requirements for members
  147  of the Florida National Guard under applicable federal law at
  148  the time the training is conducted. As required by the director,
  149  all volunteers members of the Florida State Guard must shall
  150  complete initial training within 180 days after their
  151  appointment or enrollment and periodic ongoing training.
  152         (b) The director may provide for staff to prepare and
  153  conduct training required in this section. The staff may include
  154  members of the Florida National Guard whose duty assignments may
  155  include conducting training under this section but who may not
  156  be considered volunteers members of the Florida State Guard.
  157         (c) The division shall provide all equipment necessary for
  158  the training and service of volunteers members of the Florida
  159  State Guard and shall arrange and contract for the use of
  160  sufficient and adequate facilities for training, organizing, and
  161  all other purposes of the Florida State Guard. Section 250.44
  162  applies to the allocation, delegation, use of, and accounting
  163  for all equipment furnished under this section.
  164         (d)The director may order volunteers of the Florida State
  165  Guard to duty for purposes of training and administrative duty,
  166  subject to annual appropriations when not activated by order of
  167  the Governor.
  168         (8) ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF THE FLORIDA STATE
  169  GUARD.—
  170         (a) The Florida State Guard, by component units or in
  171  total, may be activated by order of the Governor:
  172         1. During a declared state of emergency, period of civil
  173  unrest, or any other time deemed necessary and appropriate,
  174  which order must be by written communication to the Director of
  175  the Florida State Guard any period when any part of the Florida
  176  National Guard is in active federal service and the Governor has
  177  declared a state of emergency;
  178         2. To preserve the public peace, execute the laws of the
  179  state, enhance domestic security, respond to terrorist threats
  180  or attacks, protect and defend the people of Florida from
  181  threats to public safety, respond to an emergency as defined in
  182  s. 252.34 or imminent danger thereof, or respond to any need for
  183  emergency aid to civil authorities as specified in s. 252.38;
  184         3. To augment any existing state or local agency; or
  185         4. To provide support to other states under the Emergency
  186  Management Assistance Compact as provided for in part III of
  187  chapter 252.
  188         (b) The Florida State Guard may only shall be deactivated
  189  by the expiration of the order of activation or by a separate
  190  order by the Governor deactivating the Florida State Guard.
  191         (9) REIMBURSEMENT AND COMPENSATION.—
  192         (a) The division may shall reimburse volunteers members of
  193  the Florida State Guard for per diem and travel expenses
  194  incurred to attend required training or in the course of active
  195  service as provided in s. 112.061.
  196         (b) Volunteers Members of the Florida State Guard may be
  197  compensated for time spent training or in the course of active
  198  service at rates established by the director, subject to
  199  appropriation.
  200         (c) A volunteer member of the Florida State Guard may not
  201  make any purchase or enter into any contract or agreement for
  202  purchases or services as a charge against the state without the
  203  authority of the director.
  204         (10) EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION, SUSPENSION OF PROCEEDINGS,
  205  LIABILITY, AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.—
  206         (a) The protections for members of the Florida National
  207  Guard provided in ss. 115.07, 250.48-250.483, and 250.5201
  208  250.5205 apply to each volunteer member of the Florida State
  209  Guard engaged in required training or active service.
  210         (b) Volunteers Members of the Florida State Guard ordered
  211  into active service or engaged in required training are not
  212  liable for any lawful act done in performance of their duties
  213  under this section while acting in good faith within the scope
  214  of those duties.
  215         (c) In any action or proceeding of any nature, civil or
  216  criminal, commenced in any court by any person or by the state
  217  against any volunteer of the Florida State Guard for any act
  218  occurring in that volunteer’s scope of duty, the defendant in
  219  such action or proceeding may, upon his or her request, be
  220  defended at the expense of the state by a qualified attorney
  221  designated by the Department of Legal Affairs. However, this
  222  section does not prohibit such defendant from employing his or
  223  her own private counsel at the defendant’s own expense.
  224         1.A defendant may be ordered to state active duty with
  225  full active duty compensation for the time his or her presence
  226  is required in defense of such actions or proceedings.
  227         2.In any such action or proceeding, if the plaintiff
  228  dismisses his or her suit or a verdict or judgment in favor of
  229  the defendant is entered, the court must award costs and
  230  reasonable attorney fees incurred by the state and the defendant
  231  in the defense of such action or proceeding.
  232         (d) While activated or in training, volunteers members of
  233  the Florida State Guard are considered volunteers for the state,
  234  as defined in s. 440.02(18)(d)6., and are entitled to workers’
  235  compensation protections pursuant to chapter 440.
  236         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.