Florida Senate - 2026                                    SB 1144
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       40-00250A-26                                          20261144__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the recording of protective
    3         investigations; amending s. 39.301, F.S.; requiring
    4         that interviews conducted pursuant to protective
    5         investigations be audio or video recorded; providing
    6         exceptions; providing that persons charged with
    7         certain criminal offenses do not have standing to
    8         object to an investigator’s failure to record such an
    9         interview; providing that an investigator’s failure to
   10         record such an interview is not grounds for precluding
   11         certain statements from certain proceedings; requiring
   12         the retention of certain recordings for a specified
   13         period; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Subsection (25) is added to section 39.301,
   18  Florida Statutes, to read:
   19         39.301 Initiation of protective investigations.—
   20         (25)(a) An interview conducted pursuant to this section
   21  must be audio or video recorded, using a body camera or other
   22  reasonable means of recording, except in any of the following
   23  circumstances:
   24         1. The recording equipment malfunctions, and the
   25  malfunction is not the result of a failure to maintain the
   26  equipment properly or to provide adequate supplies for the
   27  equipment.
   28         2. Due to circumstances that could not reasonably be
   29  foreseen by the investigator, he or she does not have the
   30  necessary recording equipment available.
   31         (b) A person who is charged with a criminal offense
   32  involving the abuse or neglect of a child does not have standing
   33  to object to an investigator’s failure to comply with paragraph
   34  (a). An investigator’s failure to comply with paragraph (a) is
   35  not grounds for precluding any statements made during an
   36  interview which are otherwise admissible in a legal proceeding,
   37  including a criminal or dependency proceeding.
   38         (c) A recording created pursuant to this section must be
   39  retained for at least 5 years.
   40         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.