Senate passes bills on autism training for law enforcement, lethality assessments, more
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Senate passed a handful of bills Wednesday including bills on autism spectrum disorder training for law enforcement, lethality assessments and more.
For a full list of bills taken up on the Senate floor Wednesday, click here.
S 864 – Autism Spectrum Disorder Training for Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers
Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, carried the bill in the Senate which passed 40-0. A similar bill is being carried in the House by Rep. Paula Stark, R-St. Cloud.
Collins said the bill is meant to “increase officers autism interaction training with in-person training and instruction on how autism may manifest, proper interviewing or interrogation of individuals autism, locating a runaway, techniques to deescalate, and more.”
He said this bill is important to him because he has a child who is autistic.
“This bill takes a big step towards ensuring we keep all children safe when they have that opportunity to interact and be around law officers,” Collins said.
The bill requires a training component relating to individuals with autism spectrum disorder for law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or correctional probation officers.
The bill specifies that the training may count toward the 40 hours of instruction for continued employment or for appointment as a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or correctional probation officer.
S 638 – Lethality Assessments
The bill requires law enforcement officers who investigate alleged incidents of domestic violence to “administer a lethality assessment if the victim is at risk” and “refer that victim to the nearest locally certified domestic violence center,” according to to Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce.
Grall is carrying SB 638 and Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville, is carrying similar legislation in the House.
Grall said on Aug. 7, 2021, 22-year-old Gabby Petito was “murdered by her fiance on a cross country road trip.” Petito was found strangled to death in Wyoming.
“Her life was tragically cut short by what is known as intimate partner homicide,” Grall said.
She said last summer, she met with her constituent, Gabby’s father Joseph Petito who presented her with a protocol that “seeks to end and eliminate this tragic loss of life through intimate partner homicide.”
Grall said this is a “multi-prong strategy to prevent domestic violence homicides.”
Gabby Petito’s father previously testified in support of the bill.
S 1090 – Unauthorized Sale of Alcoholic Beverages
The bill will increase criminal penalties for the “unlicensed or unlawful sale” of alcoholic beverages,” according to the bill’s analysis.
Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, is carrying SB 1090 in the Senate while Reps. Doug Bankson, R-Apopka, and Taylor Yarkosky, R-Clermont, are cosponsoring similar bill, HB 1123, in the House.
The bill passed 40-0 in the Senate.
Martin said the bill “addresses illicit clubs that have no valid permit to operate or valid alcohol license, making actions against these licensees under current statutory schemes useless.”
Martin proposed an amendment, which passed on the floor.
The amendment which passed said any person who “unlawfully sells alcoholic beverages at a commercial establishment or keeps and maintains a place where alcoholic beverages are sold or intended to be sold unlawfully commits a felony of the third degree.”
SB 330 – Behavioral Health Teaching Hospitals
A bill passed that will create a new designation for behavioral health teaching hospitals, aiming to bolster mental health care.
Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, is carrying the bill, SB 330, in the Senate, and a similar bill, HB 1617 is being carried in the House by Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island.
Boyd noted this is part of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo’s Live Healthy 2024 legislative agenda.
Click here to read more on SB 330.
