Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 240
Ì178540$Î178540
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
04/01/2025 .
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The Committee on Criminal Justice (Berman) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Domestic and dating violence 911 alert system
6 feasibility study.—
7 (1) As used in this section, the term:
8 (a) “Division” means the Division of Telecommunications
9 within the Department of Management Services.
10 (b) “Enhanced 911” has the same meaning as in s.
11 365.172(3), Florida Statutes.
12 (c) “Next Generation 911” has the same meaning as in s.
13 365.172(3), Florida Statutes.
14 (d) “Public safety agency” has the same meaning as in s.
15 365.172(3), Florida Statutes.
16 (e) “Public safety answering point” or “PSAP” has the same
17 meaning as in s. 365.172(3), Florida Statutes.
18 (2) The division shall consult with enhanced 911 and Next
19 Generation 911 service providers; state, county, and municipal
20 PSAPs; and state and local public safety agencies to conduct a
21 feasibility study regarding the creation of a web-based 911
22 alert system for use by victims of domestic violence and dating
23 violence which is capable of:
24 (a) Ensuring real-time data-sharing between PSAPs and law
25 enforcement agencies.
26 (b) Creating a unique telephone number for each user which
27 will connect the user to a PSAP.
28 (c) Creating a user-generated numerical code or phrase that
29 can be utilized by the user after contacting a PSAP which
30 indicates the user’s need for immediate law enforcement
31 assistance.
32 (d) Transmitting specified data to law enforcement agencies
33 when a user calls from his or her unique telephone number and
34 enters his or her numerical code or phrase.
35 (3) By January 31, 2026, the division must report to the
36 President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
37 Representatives the results of the feasibility study.
38 Section 2. Section 741.401, Florida Statutes, is amended to
39 read:
40 741.401 Legislative findings; purpose.—The Legislature
41 finds that persons attempting to escape from actual or
42 threatened domestic violence or dating violence frequently
43 establish new addresses in order to prevent their assailants or
44 probable assailants from finding them. The purpose of ss.
45 741.401-741.409 is to enable state and local agencies to respond
46 to requests for public records without disclosing the location
47 of a victim of domestic violence or dating violence, to enable
48 interagency cooperation with the Attorney General in providing
49 address confidentiality for victims of domestic violence and
50 dating violence, and to enable state and local agencies to
51 accept a program participant’s use of an address designated by
52 the Attorney General as a substitute mailing address.
53 Section 3. Section 741.402, Florida Statutes, is reordered
54 and amended to read:
55 741.402 Definitions; ss. 741.401-741.409.—Unless the
56 context clearly requires otherwise, as used in ss. 741.401
57 741.409, the term:
58 (1) “Address” means a residential street address, school
59 address, or work address of an individual, as specified on the
60 individual’s application to be a program participant under ss.
61 741.401-741.409.
62 (4)(2) “Program participant” means a person certified as a
63 program participant under s. 741.403.
64 (2) “Dating violence” means an assault, aggravated assault,
65 battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery,
66 stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment,
67 or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death,
68 or the threat of any such act, committed by an individual who
69 has or has had a continuing and significant relationship of a
70 romantic or intimate nature as determined by the factors listed
71 in s. 784.046(1)(d) with the victim, regardless of whether these
72 acts or threats have been reported to law enforcement officers.
73 (3) “Domestic violence” means an act as defined in s.
74 741.28 and includes a threat of such acts committed against an
75 individual in a domestic situation, regardless of whether these
76 acts or threats have been reported to law enforcement officers.
77 Section 4. Paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (1) of
78 section 741.403, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
79 741.403 Address confidentiality program; application;
80 certification.—
81 (1) An adult person, a parent or guardian acting on behalf
82 of a minor, or a guardian acting on behalf of a person
83 adjudicated incapacitated under chapter 744 may apply to the
84 Attorney General to have an address designated by the Attorney
85 General serve as the person’s address or the address of the
86 minor or incapacitated person. To the extent possible within
87 funds appropriated for this purpose, the Attorney General shall
88 approve an application if it is filed in the manner and on the
89 form prescribed by the Attorney General and if it contains all
90 of the following:
91 (a) A sworn statement by the applicant that the applicant
92 has good reason to believe that the applicant, or the minor or
93 incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made, is
94 a victim of domestic violence or dating violence, and that the
95 applicant fears for his or her safety or his or her children’s
96 safety or the safety of the minor or incapacitated person on
97 whose behalf the application is made.
98 (d) A statement that the new address or addresses that the
99 applicant requests must not be disclosed for the reason that
100 disclosure will increase the risk of domestic violence or dating
101 violence.
102 Section 5. Section 741.408, Florida Statutes, is amended to
103 read:
104 741.408 Assistance for program applicants.—The Attorney
105 General shall designate state and local agencies and nonprofit
106 agencies that provide counseling and shelter services to victims
107 of domestic violence and dating violence to assist persons
108 applying to be program participants. Assistance and counseling
109 rendered by the Office of the Attorney General or its designees
110 to applicants does not constitute legal advice.
111 Section 6. Section 741.4651, Florida Statutes, is amended
112 to read:
113 741.4651 Public records exemption; victims of stalking or
114 aggravated stalking.—The names, addresses, and telephone numbers
115 of persons who are victims of stalking or aggravated stalking
116 are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
117 Constitution in the same manner that the names, addresses, and
118 telephone numbers of participants in the Address Confidentiality
119 Program for Victims of Domestic and Dating Violence which are
120 held by the Attorney General under s. 741.465 are exempt from
121 disclosure, provided that the victim files a sworn statement of
122 stalking with the Office of the Attorney General and otherwise
123 complies with the procedures in ss. 741.401-741.409.
124 Section 7. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
125 960.001, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
126 960.001 Guidelines for fair treatment of victims and
127 witnesses in the criminal justice and juvenile justice systems.—
128 (1) The Department of Legal Affairs, the state attorneys,
129 the Department of Corrections, the Department of Juvenile
130 Justice, the Florida Commission on Offender Review, the State
131 Courts Administrator and circuit court administrators, the
132 Department of Law Enforcement, and every sheriff’s department,
133 police department, or other law enforcement agency as defined in
134 s. 943.10(4) shall develop and implement guidelines for the use
135 of their respective agencies, which guidelines are consistent
136 with the purposes of this act and s. 16(b), Art. I of the State
137 Constitution and are designed to implement s. 16(b), Art. I of
138 the State Constitution and to achieve the following objectives:
139 (c) Information concerning protection available to victim
140 or witness.—A victim or witness shall be furnished, as a matter
141 of course, with information on steps that are available to law
142 enforcement officers and state attorneys to protect victims and
143 witnesses from intimidation. Victims of domestic violence and
144 dating violence shall also be given information about the
145 address confidentiality program provided under s. 741.403.
146 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
147
148 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
149 And the title is amended as follows:
150 Delete everything before the enacting clause
151 and insert:
152 A bill to be entitled
153 An act relating to victims of domestic violence and
154 dating violence; defining terms; requiring the
155 Division of Telecommunications within the Department
156 of Management Services to consult with certain
157 entities to conduct a feasibility study regarding a
158 specified alert system; providing requirements for
159 such alert system; requiring the division to report to
160 the Legislature the results of the feasibility study
161 by a specified date; amending s. 741.401, F.S.;
162 revising legislative findings to include victims of
163 dating violence; reordering and amending s. 741.402,
164 F.S.; defining the term “dating violence”; amending s.
165 741.403, F.S.; authorizing victims of dating violence
166 to apply to participate in the Attorney General’s
167 address confidentiality program; amending s. 741.408,
168 F.S.; requiring the Attorney General to designate
169 certain entities to assist victims of dating violence
170 applying to be address confidentiality program
171 participants; amending ss. 741.4651 and 960.001, F.S.;
172 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
173 providing an effective date.