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CS/CS/HB 849 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the Department of Law Enforcement; 2
amending s. 112.195, F.S.; authorizing the Department 3
of Law Enforcement to adopt rules relating to the 4
Florida Medal of Valor and Florida Blue/Red Heart 5
Medal programs; amending s. 406.02, F.S.; specifying 6
that appointments and reappointments of members to the 7
Medical Examiners Commission within the department are 8
considered in force until certain conditions are met; 9
requiring the commission to appoint district medical 10
examiners by a majority vote to fill vacancies; 11
amending s. 406.06, F.S.; requiring the commission, 12
rather than the Governor, to appoint district medical 13
examiners for medical examiner districts; providing 14
that physician members of the commission are eligible 15
to serve as district medical examiners upon approval 16
by the commission, rather than by the Governor; 17
amending s. 406.135, F.S.; authorizing an organ 18
procurement organization, an eye bank, or a tissue 19
bank to view or copy specified autopsy reports under 20
certain circumstances; creating s. 943.0536, F.S.; 21
requiring the Criminal Justice Information Program to 22
collect, process, store, maintain, and disseminate 23
records containing immigration detainer information 24
under specified circumstances; requiring law 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
enforcement agencies to capture and submit 26
fingerprints of specified offenders to the department; 27
requiring the department to create certain records; 28
defining the terms "immigration detainer" and "law 29
enforcement agency"; amending s. 943.0581, F.S.; 30
authorizing the department to adopt a rule for the 31
administrative expunction of specified records under 32
certain circumstances; authorizing applications for 33
the administrative expunction of specified records 34
under certain circumstances; providing requirements 35
for an application for administrative expunction of 36
specified records; providing construction; amending s. 37
943.11, F.S.; requiring the Criminal Justice 38
Professionalism Program to provide staff support to 39
the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission 40
within the department; requiring the commission to act 41
independently of any criminal justice agency; amending 42
s. 943.1395, F.S.; providing manners of administrative 43
complaint service by the Criminal Justice Standards 44
and Training Commission to law enforcement, 45
correctional, and correctional probation officers; 46
amending ss. 943.1726, 943.17261, 943.1727, and 47
943.17299, F.S.; requiring the Criminal Justice 48
Standards and Training Commission, rather than the 49
department, to establish online continued employment 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
training components relating to diabetic emergencies, 51
online initial training and continuing education 52
courses relating to medical use of marijuana, 53
continued employment training components relating to 54
autism spectrum disorder, and online continued 55
employment training components relating to Alzheimer's 56
disease and related forms of dementia, respectively; 57
providing effective dates. 58
59
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 60
61
Section 1. Effective upon becoming a law, subsection (4) 62
is added to section 112.195, Florida Statutes, to read: 63
112.195 Florida Medal of Valor and Florida Blue/Red Heart 64
Medal.— 65
(4) The Department of Law Enforcement may adopt rules to 66
implement this section. 67
Section 2. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (4) of 68
section 406.02, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs 69
(c) and (d), respectively, subsection (2) is amended, and a new 70
paragraph (b) is added to subsection (4) of that section, to 71
read: 72
406.02 Medical Examiners Commission; membership; terms; 73
duties; staff.— 74
(2) The term of office of the physicians appointed to the 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
commission shall be 4 years. The term of office of the state 76
attorney, public defender, sheriff, and county commissioner each 77
shall be 4 years unless she or he leaves that office sooner, in 78
which case her or his appointment will terminate. The term of 79
office of the funeral director shall be 4 years. Upon the 80
expiration of the present terms of office, the Governor shall 81
appoint two members for terms of 4 years, two members for terms 82
of 3 years, two members for terms of 2 years, and one member for 83
a term of 1 year. An appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for 84
the unexpired portion of the term. An appointment or 85
reappointment is considered in force until the appointee resigns 86
or no longer qualifies for the position or until the Governor 87
appoints a new member. 88
(4) The Medical Examiners Commission shall: 89
(b) Appoint district medical examiners by a majority vote 90
to fill a vacancy. 91
Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 406.06, Florida 92
Statutes, is amended to read: 93
406.06 District medical examiners; associates; suspension 94
of medical examiners.— 95
(1)(a) A district medical examiner shall be appointed by 96
the Medical Examiners Commission Governor for each medical 97
examiner district from nominees who are practicing physicians in 98
pathology, whose nominations are submitted to the Governor by 99
the Medical Examiners Commission. The term of office of each 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
district medical examiner shall be 3 years. An appointment to 101
fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired portion of the term. 102
(b) A physician member of the Medical Examiners Commission 103
shall be eligible to serve as a district medical examiner upon 104
approval by the commission Governor. 105
Section 4. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (3) of 106
section 406.135, Florida Statutes, to read: 107
406.135 Autopsies; confidentiality of photographs and 108
video and audio recordings; confidentiality of reports of minor 109
victims of domestic violence; exemption.— 110
(3) 111
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (2), in order to facilitate 112
an anatomical gift or transplantation, an organ procurement 113
organization, an eye bank, or a tissue bank, as those terms are 114
defined in s. 765.511, may, pursuant to a written request 115
containing proof of the intent of the deceased, the deceased's 116
family, or the deceased's health care surrogate to make an 117
anatomical gift in accordance with chapter 765: 118
1. View or copy an autopsy report of a minor whose death 119
was related to an act of domestic violence; and 120
2. View or copy an autopsy report of a person whose manner 121
of death was determined by a medical examiner to have been by 122
suicide. 123
Section 5. Section 943.0536, Florida Statutes, is created 124
to read: 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
943.0536 Immigration detainer information; collection and 126
storage; fingerprinting.— 127
(1) The department's Criminal Justice Information Program, 128
acting as this state's central criminal justice information 129
repository, shall collect, process, store, maintain, and 130
disseminate immigration detainer information. 131
(2)(a) A law enforcement agency shall capture and 132
electronically submit to the department in the manner prescribed 133
by rule the fingerprints of a qualifying offender, as defined in 134
s. 943.325(2), who is in its custody and subject to an 135
immigration detainer. 136
(b) Upon receipt of the fingerprints required to be 137
submitted under paragraph (a), the department must create a 138
record containing the qualifying offender's immigration detainer 139
information. 140
(3) As used in this section, the terms "immigration 141
detainer" and "law enforcement agency" have the same meanings as 142
in s. 908.102. 143
Section 6. Subsection (6) of section 943.0581, Florida 144
Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (7) and amended, 145
subsections (1), (2), and (3) are amended, and a new subsection 146
(6) is added to that section, to read: 147
943.0581 Administrative expunction for arrests or 148
immigration detainer records made contrary to law or by 149
mistake.— 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(1) Notwithstanding any law dealing generally with the 151
preservation and destruction of public records, the department 152
may adopt a rule pursuant to chapter 120 for the administrative 153
expunction of any nonjudicial record of an arrest or record 154
containing immigration detainer information described in s. 155
943.0536 of a minor or an adult made contrary to law or by 156
mistake. 157
(2) A law enforcement agency shall apply to the department 158
in the manner prescribed by rule for the administrative 159
expunction of any nonjudicial record of any arrest or record 160
containing immigration detainer information described in s. 161
943.0536 of a minor or an adult who is subsequently determined 162
by the agency, at its discretion, or by the final order of a 163
court of competent jurisdiction, to have been arrested or 164
detained contrary to law or by mistake. 165
(3) An adult or, in the case of a minor child, the parent 166
or legal guardian of the minor child, may apply to the 167
department in the manner prescribed by rule for the 168
administrative expunction of any nonjudicial record of an arrest 169
or record containing immigration detainer information described 170
in s. 943.0536 alleged to have been made contrary to law or by 171
mistake, provided that the application is supported by the 172
endorsement of the head of the arresting or detaining agency or 173
his or her designee or the state attorney of the judicial 174
circuit in which the arrest occurred or his or her designee. 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(6) An application for an administrative expunction for a 176
record containing immigration detainer information as described 177
in s. 943.0536 must include the date and time when the person 178
was detained, the person's name, the offender-based tracking 179
system (OBTS) number, and information relating to the 180
immigration detainer. The application must be on the submitting 181
agency's letterhead and must be signed by the head of the 182
submitting agency or his or her designee. 183
(7)(6) An application or endorsement under this section is 184
not admissible as evidence in any judicial or administrative 185
proceeding and may not be construed in any way as an admission 186
of liability in connection with an arrest or detention. 187
Section 7. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 188
943.11, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 189
943.11 Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission; 190
membership; meetings; compensation.— 191
(1)(a) There is created a Criminal Justice Standards and 192
Training Commission within the Department of Law Enforcement. 193
The Criminal Justice Professionalism Program shall provide staff 194
support to the commission as authorized in s. 943.09; however, 195
the commission must act independently of any criminal justice 196
agency. The commission shall be composed of 19 members, 197
consisting of the Secretary of Corrections or a designated 198
assistant; the Attorney General or a designee; the Director of 199
the Division of the Florida Highway Patrol; and 16 members 200
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
appointed by the Governor, consisting of 3 sheriffs; 3 chiefs of 201
police; 5 law enforcement officers who are of the rank of 202
sergeant or below within the employing agency; 2 correctional 203
officers, 1 of whom is an administrator of a state correctional 204
institution and 1 of whom is of the rank of sergeant or below 205
within the employing agency; 1 training center director; 1 206
person who is in charge of a county correctional institution; 207
and 1 resident of the state who falls into none of the foregoing 208
classifications. Prior to the appointment, the sheriff, chief of 209
police, law enforcement officer, and correctional officer 210
members must have had at least 4 years' experience as law 211
enforcement officers or correctional officers. 212
Section 8. Subsection (11) is added to section 943.1395, 213
Florida Statutes, to read: 214
943.1395 Certification for employment or appointment; 215
concurrent certification; reemployment or reappointment; 216
inactive status; revocation; suspension; investigation.— 217
(11) Notwithstanding s. 120.60(5), when an administrative 218
complaint is served on a certified law enforcement officer, 219
correctional officer, correctional probation officer, or 220
instructor, commission staff shall provide service by certified 221
mail to the certified officer's or instructor's last known 222
address of record and, if possible, by e-mail. If service does 223
not provide commission staff with proof of service, commission 224
staff shall call the last known telephone number of record and 225
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cause a short, plain notice to the certified officer or 226
instructor to be posted on the front page of the commission's 227
website. 228
Section 9. Section 943.1726, Florida Statutes, is amended 229
to read: 230
943.1726 Continued employment training relating to 231
diabetic emergencies.—The commission department shall establish 232
an online continued employment training component relating to 233
diabetic emergencies. The training component shall include, but 234
need not be limited to, instruction on the recognition of 235
symptoms of such an emergency, distinguishing such an emergency 236
from alcohol intoxication or drug overdose, and appropriate 237
first aid for such an emergency. Completion of the training 238
component may count toward the 40 hours of instruction for 239
continued employment or appointment as a law enforcement officer 240
required under s. 943.135. 241
Section 10. Section 943.17261, Florida Statutes, is 242
amended to read: 243
943.17261 Department of Law Enforcement; Training related 244
to medical use of marijuana.—The commission Department of Law 245
Enforcement shall develop a 4-hour online initial training 246
course, and a 2-hour online continuing education course, which 247
shall be made available for use by all law enforcement agencies 248
in this state. Such training shall cover the legal parameters of 249
marijuana-related activities governed by ss. 381.986 and 381.988 250
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
relating to criminal laws governing marijuana. 251
Section 11. Section 943.1727, Florida Statutes, is amended 252
to read: 253
943.1727 Continued employment training relating to autism 254
spectrum disorder.—The commission department shall establish a 255
continued employment training component relating to autism 256
spectrum disorder as defined in s. 627.6686. The training 257
component shall include, but need not be limited to, instruction 258
on the recognition of the symptoms and characteristics of an 259
individual on the autism disorder spectrum and appropriate 260
responses to an individual exhibiting such symptoms and 261
characteristics. Completion of the training component may count 262
toward the 40 hours of instruction for continued employment or 263
appointment as a law enforcement officer required under s. 264
943.135. 265
Section 12. Section 943.17299, Florida Statutes, is 266
amended to read: 267
943.17299 Continued employment training relating to 268
Alzheimer's disease and related forms of dementia.—The 269
commission department shall establish an online, continued 270
employment training component relating to Alzheimer's disease 271
and related forms of dementia. The training component must be 272
developed in consultation with the Department of Elder Affairs 273
and must include, but need not be limited to, instruction on 274
interacting with persons with Alzheimer's disease or a related 275
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form of dementia, including instruction on techniques for 276
recognizing behavioral symptoms and characteristics, effective 277
communication, employing the use of alternatives to physical 278
restraints, and identifying signs of abuse, neglect, or 279
exploitation. Completion of the training component may count 280
toward the 40 hours of instruction for continued employment or 281
appointment as a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, 282
or correctional probation officer required under s. 943.135. 283
Section 13. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 284
act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon 285
this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect July 1, 286
2026. 287