Florida Senate - 2025 CS for SB 240
By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senators Berman,
Rodriguez, DiCeglie, Pizzo, Smith, and Garcia
591-03141-25 2025240c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to victims of domestic violence and
3 dating violence; defining terms; requiring the
4 Division of Telecommunications within the Department
5 of Management Services to consult with certain
6 entities to conduct a feasibility study regarding a
7 specified alert system; providing requirements for
8 such alert system; requiring the division to report to
9 the Legislature the results of the feasibility study
10 by a specified date; amending s. 741.401, F.S.;
11 revising legislative findings to include victims of
12 dating violence; reordering and amending s. 741.402,
13 F.S.; defining the term “dating violence”; amending s.
14 741.403, F.S.; authorizing victims of dating violence
15 to apply to participate in the Attorney General’s
16 address confidentiality program; amending s. 741.408,
17 F.S.; requiring the Attorney General to designate
18 certain entities to assist victims of dating violence
19 applying to be address confidentiality program
20 participants; amending ss. 741.4651 and 960.001, F.S.;
21 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
22 providing an effective date.
23
24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26 Section 1. Domestic and dating violence 911 alert system
27 feasibility study.—
28 (1) As used in this section, the term:
29 (a) “Division” means the Division of Telecommunications
30 within the Department of Management Services.
31 (b) “Enhanced 911” has the same meaning as in s.
32 365.172(3), Florida Statutes.
33 (c) “Next Generation 911” has the same meaning as in s.
34 365.172(3), Florida Statutes.
35 (d) “Public safety agency” has the same meaning as in s.
36 365.172(3), Florida Statutes.
37 (e) “Public safety answering point” or “PSAP” has the same
38 meaning as in s. 365.172(3), Florida Statutes.
39 (2) The division shall consult with enhanced 911 and Next
40 Generation 911 service providers; state, county, and municipal
41 PSAPs; and state and local public safety agencies to conduct a
42 feasibility study regarding the creation of a web-based 911
43 alert system for use by victims of domestic violence and dating
44 violence which is capable of:
45 (a) Ensuring real-time data-sharing between PSAPs and law
46 enforcement agencies.
47 (b) Creating a unique telephone number for each user which
48 will connect the user to a PSAP.
49 (c) Creating a user-generated numerical code or phrase that
50 can be utilized by the user after contacting a PSAP which
51 indicates the user’s need for immediate law enforcement
52 assistance.
53 (d) Transmitting specified data to law enforcement agencies
54 when a user calls from his or her unique telephone number and
55 enters his or her numerical code or phrase.
56 (3) By January 31, 2026, the division must report to the
57 President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
58 Representatives the results of the feasibility study.
59 Section 2. Section 741.401, Florida Statutes, is amended to
60 read:
61 741.401 Legislative findings; purpose.—The Legislature
62 finds that persons attempting to escape from actual or
63 threatened domestic violence or dating violence frequently
64 establish new addresses in order to prevent their assailants or
65 probable assailants from finding them. The purpose of ss.
66 741.401-741.409 is to enable state and local agencies to respond
67 to requests for public records without disclosing the location
68 of a victim of domestic violence or dating violence, to enable
69 interagency cooperation with the Attorney General in providing
70 address confidentiality for victims of domestic violence and
71 dating violence, and to enable state and local agencies to
72 accept a program participant’s use of an address designated by
73 the Attorney General as a substitute mailing address.
74 Section 3. Section 741.402, Florida Statutes, is reordered
75 and amended to read:
76 741.402 Definitions; ss. 741.401-741.409.—Unless the
77 context clearly requires otherwise, as used in ss. 741.401
78 741.409, the term:
79 (1) “Address” means a residential street address, school
80 address, or work address of an individual, as specified on the
81 individual’s application to be a program participant under ss.
82 741.401-741.409.
83 (4)(2) “Program participant” means a person certified as a
84 program participant under s. 741.403.
85 (2) “Dating violence” means an assault, aggravated assault,
86 battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery,
87 stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment,
88 or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death,
89 or the threat of any such act, committed by an individual who
90 has or has had a continuing and significant relationship of a
91 romantic or intimate nature as determined by the factors listed
92 in s. 784.046(1)(d) with the victim, regardless of whether these
93 acts or threats have been reported to law enforcement officers.
94 (3) “Domestic violence” means an act as defined in s.
95 741.28 and includes a threat of such acts committed against an
96 individual in a domestic situation, regardless of whether these
97 acts or threats have been reported to law enforcement officers.
98 Section 4. Paragraphs (a) and (d) of subsection (1) of
99 section 741.403, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
100 741.403 Address confidentiality program; application;
101 certification.—
102 (1) An adult person, a parent or guardian acting on behalf
103 of a minor, or a guardian acting on behalf of a person
104 adjudicated incapacitated under chapter 744 may apply to the
105 Attorney General to have an address designated by the Attorney
106 General serve as the person’s address or the address of the
107 minor or incapacitated person. To the extent possible within
108 funds appropriated for this purpose, the Attorney General shall
109 approve an application if it is filed in the manner and on the
110 form prescribed by the Attorney General and if it contains all
111 of the following:
112 (a) A sworn statement by the applicant that the applicant
113 has good reason to believe that the applicant, or the minor or
114 incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made, is
115 a victim of domestic violence or dating violence, and that the
116 applicant fears for his or her safety or his or her children’s
117 safety or the safety of the minor or incapacitated person on
118 whose behalf the application is made.
119 (d) A statement that the new address or addresses that the
120 applicant requests must not be disclosed for the reason that
121 disclosure will increase the risk of domestic violence or dating
122 violence.
123 Section 5. Section 741.408, Florida Statutes, is amended to
124 read:
125 741.408 Assistance for program applicants.—The Attorney
126 General shall designate state and local agencies and nonprofit
127 agencies that provide counseling and shelter services to victims
128 of domestic violence and dating violence to assist persons
129 applying to be program participants. Assistance and counseling
130 rendered by the Office of the Attorney General or its designees
131 to applicants does not constitute legal advice.
132 Section 6. Section 741.4651, Florida Statutes, is amended
133 to read:
134 741.4651 Public records exemption; victims of stalking or
135 aggravated stalking.—The names, addresses, and telephone numbers
136 of persons who are victims of stalking or aggravated stalking
137 are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
138 Constitution in the same manner that the names, addresses, and
139 telephone numbers of participants in the Address Confidentiality
140 Program for Victims of Domestic and Dating Violence which are
141 held by the Attorney General under s. 741.465 are exempt from
142 disclosure, provided that the victim files a sworn statement of
143 stalking with the Office of the Attorney General and otherwise
144 complies with the procedures in ss. 741.401-741.409.
145 Section 7. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
146 960.001, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
147 960.001 Guidelines for fair treatment of victims and
148 witnesses in the criminal justice and juvenile justice systems.—
149 (1) The Department of Legal Affairs, the state attorneys,
150 the Department of Corrections, the Department of Juvenile
151 Justice, the Florida Commission on Offender Review, the State
152 Courts Administrator and circuit court administrators, the
153 Department of Law Enforcement, and every sheriff’s department,
154 police department, or other law enforcement agency as defined in
155 s. 943.10(4) shall develop and implement guidelines for the use
156 of their respective agencies, which guidelines are consistent
157 with the purposes of this act and s. 16(b), Art. I of the State
158 Constitution and are designed to implement s. 16(b), Art. I of
159 the State Constitution and to achieve the following objectives:
160 (c) Information concerning protection available to victim
161 or witness.—A victim or witness shall be furnished, as a matter
162 of course, with information on steps that are available to law
163 enforcement officers and state attorneys to protect victims and
164 witnesses from intimidation. Victims of domestic violence and
165 dating violence shall also be given information about the
166 address confidentiality program provided under s. 741.403.
167 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.