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HB 945 2026
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hb945-00
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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 Statewide Counterintelligence 2
and Counterterrorism Unit; creating s. 943.0316, F.S.; 3
providing legislative intent; defining the term 4
"adversary intelligence entity"; requiring the 5
Department of Law Enforcement to establish and 6
administer a Statewide Counterintelligence and 7
Counterterrorism Unit at a specified location; 8
requiring that a team from the unit be assigned to and 9
aligned with each regional domestic security task 10
force; specifying unit duties; requiring the 11
department to create a team by a specified date to 12
serve as the initial leadership and organizational 13
core of the full unit; requiring the department to 14
establish a statewide unit housed in a specified 15
location; requiring that the unit be composed of a 16
specified number of teams; requiring the department to 17
annually request a certain number of positions and 18
amount of funding for each position in order to 19
achieve full staffing by a specified date; specifying 20
team tasks, composition, and experience requirements; 21
providing an effective date. 22
23
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24
25
HB 945 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
Section 1. Section 943.0316, Florida Statutes, is created 26
to read: 27
943.0316 Statewide Counterintelligence and 28
Counterterrorism Unit.— 29
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a 30
dedicated counterintelligence and counterterrorism unit whose 31
primary goal is to conduct statewide counterintelligence and 32
counterterrorism activities to detect, identify, neutralize, and 33
exploit adversary intelligence entities, international and 34
domestic terrorists, insider threats, corporate threats, and 35
other foreign adversaries to protect this state and the United 36
States of America. 37
(2) As used in this section, the term "adversary 38
intelligence entity" includes, but is not limited to, any 39
national, foreign, multinational, friendly, competitor, 40
opponent, adversary, or recognized enemy government or 41
nongovernmental organization, company, business, corporation, 42
consortium, group, agency, cell, terrorist, insurgent, guerrilla 43
entity, or person whose demonstrated actions, views, or opinions 44
are a threat or are inimical to the interests of this state and 45
the United States of America. 46
(3) The Department of Law Enforcement shall establish and 47
administer a Statewide Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism 48
Unit housed at the department's regional operational center, 49
with a team from the unit assigned to and aligned with each 50
HB 945 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
regional domestic security task force established under s. 51
943.0312. The unit shall identify threats by analyzing patterns 52
of life, gathering actionable intelligence, and formulating 53
effective plans of action, and by executing arrests or by 54
revealing its intent to compel a response using all 55
counterintelligence and counterterrorism tradecraft necessary to 56
protect the state from adversary intelligence entities. The unit 57
may conduct direct action missions on its own against a threat 58
or may incorporate with or into other units to counteract and 59
stop identifiable threats. 60
(4) The department shall: 61
(a) Create a 10-person team by July 1, 2027, whose main 62
purpose is to serve as the initial leadership and organizational 63
core of the full unit; 64
(b) Establish a statewide unit, housed at the department's 65
regional operational center which must be composed of at least 66
seven teams, with a team being assigned to each regional 67
domestic security task force; and 68
(c) Each fiscal year, request the appropriate number of 69
positions and funding required for each position in order to be 70
fully staffed no later than December 30, 2033. 71
(5)(a) Each team shall perform tasks in support of the 72
state's domestic security mission, including, but not limited 73
to, providing technical operations to insider threat 74
investigations and assigning team officers to safeguard the 75
HB 945 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
state from adversary intelligence entities by using 76
counterintelligence to detect, identify, assess, and counteract 77
threats posed by such entities. 78
(b) Each team must, at a minimum, be composed of all of 79
the following: 80
1. A team leader who is an assistant special agent in 81
charge; 82
2. A facility security officer who is a special agent 83
supervisor with counterintelligence experience, to be assigned 84
four intelligence analysts; and 85
3. A deputy team leader who is a special agent supervisor, 86
to be assigned six counterintelligence agents, one of whom must 87
be a regional federal liaison officer, one of whom must be a 88
regional state liaison officer, and one of whom must be a local 89
liaison officer. 90
(c) Each team member must: 91
1. Have been a member of or have received formal training 92
in any United States government agency, have served as a United 93
States servicemember, or have experience with any law 94
enforcement agency as an officer, agent, analyst, or operative 95
serving in intelligence, counterintelligence, or 96
counterterrorism; or 97
2. Have at least 3 years of experience of actively working 98
in the fields of intelligence, counterintelligence, or 99
counterterrorism. 100
HB 945 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
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 101