Florida Senate - 2025                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 774
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì780792AÎ780792                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/25/2025           .                                
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       The Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice
       (Wright) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 57 - 172
    4  and insert:
    5  within 5 working days. Within 6 business hours after the court
    6  issues an order, the clerk of the court shall electronically
    7  submit the order to the sheriff or a law enforcement agency in
    8  the county where the order is to be served may be submitted
    9  electronically through existing data systems, if available. The
   10  order is shall be valid only until the person is delivered to
   11  the facility or for the period specified in the order itself,
   12  whichever comes first. If a time limit is not specified in the
   13  order, the order is valid for 7 days after the date that the
   14  order was signed.
   15         2. A law enforcement officer may take a person who appears
   16  to meet the criteria for involuntary examination into custody
   17  and deliver the person or have him or her delivered to an
   18  appropriate, or the nearest, facility within the designated
   19  receiving system pursuant to s. 394.462 for examination. A law
   20  enforcement officer transporting a person pursuant to this
   21  section shall restrain the person in the least restrictive
   22  manner available and appropriate under the circumstances. If
   23  transporting a minor and the parent or legal guardian of the
   24  minor is present, before departing, the law enforcement officer
   25  must shall provide the parent or legal guardian of the minor
   26  with the name, address, and contact information for the facility
   27  within the designated receiving system to which the law
   28  enforcement officer is transporting the minor, subject to any
   29  safety and welfare concerns for the minor. The officer shall
   30  execute a written report detailing the circumstances under which
   31  the person was taken into custody, which must be made a part of
   32  the patient’s clinical record. The report must include all
   33  emergency contact information for the person that is readily
   34  accessible to the law enforcement officer, including information
   35  available through electronic databases maintained by the
   36  Department of Law Enforcement or by the Department of Highway
   37  Safety and Motor Vehicles. Such emergency contact information
   38  may be used by a receiving facility only for the purpose of
   39  informing listed emergency contacts of a patient’s whereabouts
   40  pursuant to s. 119.0712(2)(d). Any facility accepting the
   41  patient based on this report must send a copy of the report to
   42  the department within 5 working days.
   43         3. A physician, a physician assistant, a clinical
   44  psychologist, a psychiatric nurse, an advanced practice
   45  registered nurse registered under s. 464.0123, a mental health
   46  counselor, a marriage and family therapist, or a clinical social
   47  worker may execute a certificate stating that he or she has
   48  examined a person within the preceding 48 hours and finds that
   49  the person appears to meet the criteria for involuntary
   50  examination and stating the observations upon which that
   51  conclusion is based. If other less restrictive means, such as
   52  voluntary appearance for outpatient evaluation, are not
   53  available, a law enforcement officer must shall take into
   54  custody the person named in the certificate and deliver him or
   55  her to the appropriate, or nearest, facility within the
   56  designated receiving system pursuant to s. 394.462 for
   57  involuntary examination. The law enforcement officer shall
   58  execute a written report detailing the circumstances under which
   59  the person was taken into custody and include all emergency
   60  contact information required under subparagraph 2. Such
   61  emergency contact information may be used by a receiving
   62  facility only for the purpose of informing listed emergency
   63  contacts of a patient’s whereabouts pursuant to s.
   64  119.0712(2)(d). The report and certificate must shall be made a
   65  part of the patient’s clinical record. Any facility accepting
   66  the patient based on this certificate must send a copy of the
   67  certificate to the department within 5 working days. The
   68  document may be submitted electronically through existing data
   69  systems, if applicable.
   70  
   71  When sending the order, report, or certificate to the
   72  department, a facility shall, at a minimum, provide information
   73  about which action was taken regarding the patient under
   74  paragraph (g), which information must shall also be made a part
   75  of the patient’s clinical record.
   76         Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 397.68151, Florida
   77  Statutes, is amended to read:
   78         397.68151 Duties of court upon filing of petition for
   79  involuntary services.—
   80         (3) A copy of the petition and notice of the hearing must
   81  be provided to the respondent; the respondent’s parent,
   82  guardian, or legal custodian, in the case of a minor; the
   83  respondent’s attorney, if known; the petitioner; the
   84  respondent’s spouse or guardian, if applicable; and such other
   85  persons as the court may direct. If the respondent is a minor, a
   86  copy of the petition and notice of the hearing must be
   87  personally delivered to the respondent. The clerk shall also
   88  issue a summons to the person whose admission is sought, and,
   89  unless a circuit court’s chief judge authorizes disinterested
   90  private process servers to serve parties under this chapter,
   91  within 6 business hours after the summons being issued, the
   92  clerk of the court shall electronically submit the summons and,
   93  if applicable, a copy of the petition and notice of hearing to a
   94  law enforcement agency to must effect such service on the person
   95  whose admission is sought for the initial treatment hearing.
   96         Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) and subsection
   97  (5) of section 790.401, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   98         790.401 Risk protection orders.—
   99         (3) RISK PROTECTION ORDER HEARINGS AND ISSUANCE.—
  100         (a) Upon receipt of a petition, the court must order a
  101  hearing to be held no later than 14 days after the date of the
  102  order and must issue a notice of hearing to the respondent for
  103  the same.
  104         1. The clerk of the court shall electronically transmit
  105  within 6 business hours after the court issues an order and
  106  notice of hearing cause a copy of the order, notice of hearing,
  107  and petition to be forwarded on or before the next business day
  108  to the appropriate law enforcement agency for service upon the
  109  respondent as provided in subsection (5).
  110         2. The court may, as provided in subsection (4), issue a
  111  temporary ex parte risk protection order pending the hearing
  112  ordered under this subsection. Such temporary ex parte order
  113  must be served concurrently with the notice of hearing and
  114  petition as provided in subsection (5).
  115         3. The court may conduct a hearing by telephone pursuant to
  116  a local court rule to reasonably accommodate a disability or
  117  exceptional circumstances. The court must receive assurances of
  118  the petitioner’s identity before conducting a telephonic
  119  hearing.
  120         (5) SERVICE.—
  121         (a) Within 6 business hours after the court issues a
  122  temporary ex
  123  
  124  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  125  And the title is amended as follows:
  126         Delete lines 4 - 9
  127  and insert:
  128         of the court, within a certain timeframe after a court
  129         issues an ex parte order for involuntary commitment,
  130         to submit the order electronically to the sheriff or
  131         law enforcement agency in the county where the order
  132         is to be served; amending s. 397.68151, F.S.;
  133         requiring the clerk of the court, within a certain
  134         timeframe after a certain