Florida Senate - 2024 CS for CS for CS for SB 638
By the Committee on Fiscal Policy; the Appropriations Committee
on Criminal and Civil Justice; the Committee on Criminal
Justice; and Senator Grall
594-03637-24 2024638c3
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to lethality assessments; amending s.
3 741.29, F.S.; requiring law enforcement officers who
4 investigate an alleged incident of domestic violence
5 to administer a lethality assessment under certain
6 circumstances; requiring the Department of Law
7 Enforcement to consult with specified entities, and
8 authorizing the department to consult with other
9 specified entities, to develop certain policies,
10 procedures, and training necessary for the
11 implementation of a statewide evidence-based lethality
12 assessment; requiring such policies, procedures, and
13 training to establish how to determine whether a
14 victim and aggressor are intimate partners and
15 establish a statewide process for referring a victim
16 to a certified domestic violence center; requiring the
17 department to adopt a statewide lethality assessment
18 form by a specified date; requiring that training on
19 administering lethality assessments be available to
20 law enforcement officers in an online format;
21 requiring the department to submit a specified report
22 to the Legislature upon certain circumstances;
23 requiring the Criminal Justice Standards and Training
24 Commission to require by rule that law enforcement
25 officers receive instruction on the policies and
26 procedures for administering a lethality assessment as
27 part of basic recruit training or required instruction
28 for continued employment; prohibiting a law
29 enforcement officer from administering a lethality
30 assessment if he or she has not received specified
31 training; requiring that basic recruit training
32 programs and continuing training or education
33 requirements incorporate such training, and that all
34 law enforcement officers successfully complete such
35 training, by a specified date; requiring law
36 enforcement agencies to place officers’ certification
37 on inactive status if they fail to timely complete the
38 required training; providing that such officers’
39 certification remains inactive until they complete the
40 training and their employing agency notifies the
41 commission of such completion; requiring law
42 enforcement officers administering a lethality
43 assessment to ask a victim specified questions;
44 requiring law enforcement officers to advise the
45 victim of the results of the lethality assessment and
46 refer the victim to certain domestic violence centers
47 if certain conditions are met; requiring law
48 enforcement officers to document in the written police
49 report a victim’s refusal or inability to provide
50 information necessary for the lethality assessment;
51 prohibiting law enforcement officers from disclosing
52 in certain statements and reports the domestic
53 violence center to which the victim was referred;
54 requiring that written police reports for domestic
55 violence incidents include the results of the
56 lethality assessment, if one was administered; making
57 technical changes; reenacting s. 39.906, F.S.,
58 relating to referral to domestic violence centers and
59 notice of rights, to incorporate the amendment made to
60 s. 741.29, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an
61 effective date.
62
63 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
64
65 Section 1. Section 741.29, Florida Statutes, is amended to
66 read:
67 741.29 Domestic violence; investigation of incidents;
68 notice to victims of legal rights and remedies; reporting.—
69 (1) Any law enforcement officer who investigates an alleged
70 incident of domestic violence shall:
71 (a) Assist the victim to obtain medical treatment if such
72 is required as a result of the alleged incident to which the
73 officer responds;. Any law enforcement officer who investigates
74 an alleged incident of domestic violence shall
75 (b) Advise the victim of such violence that there is a
76 domestic violence center from which the victim may receive
77 services;.
78 (c) Administer a lethality assessment consistent with the
79 requirements established in subsection (2) if the allegation of
80 domestic violence is against an intimate partner, regardless of
81 whether an arrest is made; and
82 (d) The law enforcement officer shall Give the victim
83 immediate notice of the legal rights and remedies available on a
84 standard form developed and distributed by the department. As
85 necessary, the department shall revise the Legal Rights and
86 Remedies Notice to Victims to include a general summary of s.
87 741.30 using simple English as well as Spanish, and shall
88 distribute the notice as a model form to be used by all law
89 enforcement agencies throughout this the state. The notice must
90 shall include:
91 1.(a) The resource listing, including telephone number, for
92 the area domestic violence center designated by the Department
93 of Children and Families; and
94 2.(b) A copy of the following statement:
95
96 “IF YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, you may
97 ask the state attorney to file a criminal complaint.
98 You also have the right to go to court and file a
99 petition requesting an injunction for protection from
100 domestic violence which may include, but need not be
101 limited to, provisions which restrain the abuser from
102 further acts of abuse; direct the abuser to leave your
103 household; prevent the abuser from entering your
104 residence, school, business, or place of employment;
105 award you custody of your minor child or children; and
106 direct the abuser to pay support to you and the minor
107 children if the abuser has a legal obligation to do
108 so.”
109
110 (2) The department shall consult with the Department of
111 Children and Families and at least one domestic violence
112 advocacy organization and may consult with the Florida Sheriffs
113 Association, the Florida Police Chiefs Association, and the
114 Florida Partnership to End Domestic Violence to develop the
115 policies, procedures, and training necessary for implementation
116 of a statewide evidence-based lethality assessment. Such
117 policies, procedures, and training must establish how to
118 determine whether a victim and aggressor are intimate partners
119 and establish a statewide process for referring a victim to a
120 certified domestic violence center. By January 1, 2025, the
121 department must adopt a statewide lethality assessment form that
122 includes all the information in paragraph (c). Training on how
123 to administer a lethality assessment and the approved lethality
124 assessment form must be accessible to a law enforcement officer
125 in an online format.
126 (a) The department must monitor evidence-based standards
127 relating to administering a lethality assessment or the
128 lethality assessment form. If the department identifies changes
129 in such evidence-based standards, the department shall submit a
130 report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
131 House of Representatives which must include the current policies
132 and procedures for administering a lethality assessment, any
133 proposed statutory changes necessary for statewide
134 implementation, and any proposed changes to the lethality
135 assessment or the lethality assessment form to maintain
136 compliance with evidence-based standards.
137 (b) The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission
138 shall require by rule that all law enforcement officers receive
139 instruction on the policies and procedures for administering a
140 lethality assessment as part of basic recruit training or as
141 part of the required instruction for continued employment. A law
142 enforcement officer may not administer a lethality assessment to
143 a victim if the officer has not received training on
144 administering a lethality assessment. All of the following
145 requirements for training on administering a lethality
146 assessment must be met by October 1, 2026:
147 1. Commission-approved basic recruit training programs
148 required by s. 943.13(9) and continuing training or education
149 required by s. 943.135 must incorporate the training required by
150 this subsection.
151 2. All law enforcement officers must successfully complete
152 the training required by this subsection, including officers who
153 received an exemption from completing the commission-approved
154 basic recruit training program under s. 943.131, as part of
155 their basic recruit training or the continued training or
156 education required under s. 943.135(1), as applicable. An
157 officer’s employing agency must place the officer’s
158 certification on inactive status if the officer fails to
159 complete the training required under this subsection. The
160 officer’s certification will remain inactive until the officer
161 completes the training and the officer’s employing agency
162 notifies the commission that he or she has completed the
163 training.
164 (c) To administer a lethality assessment, a law enforcement
165 officer shall ask the victim, in the same or similar wording and
166 in the same order, all of the following questions:
167 1. Did the aggressor ever use a weapon against you or
168 threaten you with a weapon?
169 2. Did the aggressor ever threaten to kill you or your
170 children?
171 3. Do you believe the aggressor will try to kill you?
172 4. Has the aggressor ever choked you or attempted to choke
173 you?
174 5. Does the aggressor have a gun or could the aggressor
175 easily obtain a gun?
176 6. Is the aggressor violently or constantly jealous, or
177 does the aggressor control most of your daily activities?
178 7. Did you leave or separate from the aggressor after you
179 were living together or married?
180 8. Is the aggressor unemployed?
181 9. To the best of your knowledge, has the aggressor ever
182 attempted suicide?
183 10. Do you have a child whom the aggressor believes is not
184 the aggressor’s biological child?
185 11. Has the aggressor ever followed, spied on, or left
186 threatening messages for you?
187 12. Is there anything else that worries you about your
188 safety and, if so, what worries you?
189 (d) A law enforcement officer shall advise a victim of the
190 results of the assessment and refer the victim to the nearest
191 locally certified domestic violence center if:
192 1. The victim answers affirmatively to any of the questions
193 provided in subparagraphs (c)1.-4.;
194 2. The victim answers negatively to the questions provided
195 in subparagraphs (c)1.-4., but affirmatively to at least four of
196 the questions provided in subparagraphs (c)5.-11.; or
197 3. As a result of the victim’s response to subparagraph
198 (c)12., the law enforcement officer believes the victim is in a
199 potentially lethal situation.
200 (e) If a victim does not, or is unable to, provide
201 information to a law enforcement officer sufficient to allow the
202 law enforcement officer to administer a lethality assessment,
203 the law enforcement officer must document the lack of a
204 lethality assessment in the written police report required in
205 subsection (3) and refer the victim to the nearest locally
206 certified domestic violence center.
207 (f) A law enforcement officer may not include in a probable
208 cause statement, written police report, or incident report the
209 domestic violence center to which a victim was referred.
210 (3)(2) When a law enforcement officer investigates an
211 allegation that an incident of domestic violence has occurred,
212 the officer shall handle the incident pursuant to the arrest
213 policy provided in s. 901.15(7), and as developed in accordance
214 with subsections (4), (5), and (6) (3), (4), and (5). Regardless
215 of whether or not an arrest is made, the officer shall make a
216 written police report that is complete and clearly indicates the
217 alleged offense was an incident of domestic violence. Such
218 report must shall be given to the officer’s supervisor and filed
219 with the law enforcement agency in a manner that will permit
220 data on domestic violence cases to be compiled. Such report must
221 include all of the following:
222 (a) A description of physical injuries observed, if any.
223 (b) If a law enforcement officer decides not to make an
224 arrest or decides to arrest two or more parties, the officer
225 shall include in the report the grounds for not arresting anyone
226 or for arresting two or more parties.
227 (c) A statement which indicates that a copy of the legal
228 rights and remedies notice was given to the victim.
229 (d) A notation of the score of a lethality assessment, if
230 one was administered pursuant to paragraph (1)(c).
231
232 Whenever possible, the law enforcement officer shall obtain a
233 written statement from the victim and witnesses concerning the
234 alleged domestic violence. The officer shall submit the report
235 to the supervisor or other person to whom the employer’s rules
236 or policies require reports of similar allegations of criminal
237 activity to be made. The law enforcement agency shall, without
238 charge, send a copy of the initial police report, as well as any
239 subsequent, supplemental, or related report, which excludes
240 victim/witness statements or other materials that are part of an
241 active criminal investigation and are exempt from disclosure
242 under chapter 119, to the nearest locally certified domestic
243 violence center within 24 hours after the agency’s receipt of
244 the report. The report furnished to the domestic violence center
245 must include a narrative description of the domestic violence
246 incident.
247 (4)(3) Whenever a law enforcement officer determines upon
248 probable cause that an act of domestic violence has been
249 committed within the jurisdiction the officer may arrest the
250 person or persons suspected of its commission and charge such
251 person or persons with the appropriate crime. The decision to
252 arrest and charge shall not require consent of the victim or
253 consideration of the relationship of the parties.
254 (5)(a)(4)(a) When complaints are received from two or more
255 parties, the officers shall evaluate each complaint separately
256 to determine whether there is probable cause for arrest.
257 (b) If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to
258 believe that two or more persons have committed a misdemeanor or
259 felony, or if two or more persons make complaints to the
260 officer, the officer must shall try to determine who was the
261 primary aggressor. Arrest is the preferred response only with
262 respect to the primary aggressor and not the preferred response
263 with respect to a person who acts in a reasonable manner to
264 protect or defend oneself or another family or household member
265 from domestic violence.
266 (6)(5) A No law enforcement officer may not shall be held
267 liable, in any civil action, for an arrest based on probable
268 cause, enforcement in good faith of a court order, or service of
269 process in good faith under this chapter arising from an alleged
270 incident of domestic violence brought by any party to the
271 incident.
272 (7)(6) A person who willfully violates a condition of
273 pretrial release provided in s. 903.047, when the original
274 arrest was for an act of domestic violence as defined in s.
275 741.28, commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as
276 provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, and shall be held in
277 custody until his or her first appearance.
278 Section 2. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
279 made by this act to section 741.29, Florida Statutes, in a
280 reference thereto, section 39.906, Florida Statutes, is
281 reenacted to read:
282 39.906 Referral to centers and notice of rights.—Any law
283 enforcement officer who investigates an alleged incident of
284 domestic violence shall advise the victim of such violence that
285 there is a domestic violence center from which the victim may
286 receive services. The law enforcement officer shall give the
287 victim immediate notice of the legal rights and remedies
288 available in accordance with the provisions of s. 741.29.
289 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.