The House has agreed to Senate language on a bill that will bring an end to civilian review boards probing allegations of misconduct in Florida once Gov. Ron DeSantis signs off.
On party lines, the House voted up the Senate amended version of GOP Rep. Wyman Duggan's measure (HB 601) which stipulates that while a Sheriff has a right to establish and appoint their own advisory board to counsel on policies and procedure, those boards have limited authority.
The language further stipulates that municipalities can't facilitate "civilian oversight of law enforcement agencies' investigations of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement or correctional officers."
Finally, the amendment raises base salaries for sheriffs by $5,000 per year.
The Jacksonville Republican made the move to concur with these changes that allow for some types of boards, though with a very limited ombudsman role.
The Senate language diverged somewhat from the original bill language, which was a simple prohibition against local moves "to pass or enforce any ordinance, resolution, or rule relating to the receipt, processing, or investigation of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement officers and correctional officers, except as otherwise expressly provided in this part, or to pass or enforce any ordinance, resolution, or rule relating to civilian oversight of a law enforcement agency in relation to the investigation of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement officers and correctional officers."
Ahead of the vote, Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon asked about the Sheriffs' board provision, and Duggan said he had limited information about the Senate's motivation.
Democratic Rep. Kevin Chambliss sought and got confirmation that any board could not litigate misconduct charges against officers.
Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani noted that civilian review boards are historically "independent," questioning the Sheriffs' board proposal and how a panel chosen by the chief law enforcement officer might "pick people that are going to be friendly toward you to be on that board."
In his close, Duggan likened disciplinary citizen boards to the act of taking an officer in question and "putting him in stocks on the public square."
During the committee process, the American Civil Liberties Union made the case against the legislation.
"At a time where society's perception of law enforcement varies widely, not surprising due to the lived experiences of marginalized communities, improving the public sentiment of law enforcement through local initiatives should be a top priority of this legislature. Unfortunately, the only solution the legislature sees is to once again remove local power, while they continue to waste our tax dollars on bad policies that restrict our freedoms and undermine our democracy," the group said in February.
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