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HB 1519 2026
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hb1519-00
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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 use of substances affecting 2
cognitive function; creating s. 406.139, F.S.; 3
defining terms; requiring medical examiners to take 4
specified actions when performing an autopsy on a 5
decedent who is a violent offender; requiring that 6
autopsy reports for such individuals include certain 7
findings and information; requiring notification of 8
certain findings and information to the Department of 9
Law Enforcement, the Department of Health, and the 10
Agency for Health Care Administration; amending s. 11
456.057, F.S.; authorizing the release of certain 12
patient records to law enforcement agencies without 13
patient authorization under certain circumstances; 14
amending s. 1006.07, F.S.; requiring school safety 15
specialists to provide school district staff with 16
certain training on the adverse effects of specified 17
substances; specifying requirements for training; 18
amending s. 1006.12, F.S.; requiring safe-school 19
officers to complete certain training on the adverse 20
effects of specified substances; specifying 21
requirements for training; amending s. 381.028, F.S.; 22
conforming a cross-reference; providing an effective 23
date. 24
25
HB 1519 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
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26
27
Section 1. Section 406.139, Florida Statutes, is created 28
to read: 29
406.139 Autopsy of a suspected violent offender.— 30
(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 31
(a) "Intoxicating substance" means any alcoholic beverage, 32
controlled substance controlled under chapter 893, or chemical 33
substance set forth in s. 877.111. 34
(b) "Psychotropic drug" means any drug prescribed to 35
affect an individual's mental state, including, but not limited 36
to, antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and 37
antianxiety medications. 38
(c) "Violent offender" means any person who is suspected 39
by law enforcement of engaging in unprovoked violence that 40
results in, or is likely to result in, the death or serious 41
bodily injury of another. 42
(2) CONSULTATION; TOXICOLOGY SCREENING.—If a medical 43
examiner's office performs an autopsy on a decedent who is a 44
violent offender, the medical examiner must do all of the 45
following: 46
(a)1. Make reasonable efforts to determine the identity of 47
any treating mental health professional or primary care 48
physician of the decedent; and 49
2. Consult such individuals, if known and available, to 50
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obtain information and records regarding the decedent's history 51
of psychotropic drug use, including any prescribed or 52
discontinued medications. 53
(b) Order and perform a toxicology screening on the 54
decedent to determine whether psychotropic drugs or intoxicating 55
substances are present in the decedent's body. 56
(3) AUTOPSY REPORT; NOTIFICATION.— 57
(a) All findings under subsection (2) must be documented 58
and included in the final autopsy report, along with any 59
available corroborating information. 60
(b)1. Any findings relating to the use of intoxicating 61
substances or psychotropic drugs must be reported to the 62
Department of Law Enforcement. 63
2. Any findings relating to the use of psychotropic drugs 64
and, if known, the prescribing facility, must be reported to the 65
Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care 66
Administration. 67
Section 2. Present subsections (8) through (20) of section 68
456.057, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (9) 69
through (21), respectively, and a new subsection (8) is added to 70
that section, to read: 71
456.057 Ownership and control of patient records; report 72
or copies of records to be furnished; disclosure of 73
information.— 74
(8) Notwithstanding any other law, records must be 75
HB 1519 2026
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furnished to a law enforcement agency as defined in s. 914.28 76
for the purpose of investigating a violent offender as defined 77
in s. 406.139, provided: 78
(a) Such release is limited to only those records that 79
confirm whether the suspected person was ever treated with 80
psychotropic drugs as defined in s. 406.139; 81
(b) The records reasonably relate to such treatment; and 82
(c) The law enforcement agency requests such records. 83
Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) of section 84
1006.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 85
1006.07 District school board duties relating to student 86
discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall 87
provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the 88
attendance and control of students at school, and for proper 89
attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the 90
welfare of students, including: 91
(6) SAFETY AND SECURITY BEST PRACTICES.—Each district 92
school superintendent shall establish policies and procedures 93
for the prevention of violence on school grounds, including the 94
assessment of and intervention with individuals whose behavior 95
poses a threat to the safety of the school community. 96
(a) School safety specialist.—Each district school 97
superintendent shall designate a school safety specialist for 98
the district. The school safety specialist must be a school 99
administrator employed by the school district or a law 100
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enforcement officer employed by the sheriff's office located in 101
the school district. Any school safety specialist designated 102
from the sheriff's office must first be authorized and approved 103
by the sheriff employing the law enforcement officer. Any school 104
safety specialist designated from the sheriff's office remains 105
the employee of the office for purposes of compensation, 106
insurance, workers' compensation, and other benefits authorized 107
by law for a law enforcement officer employed by the sheriff's 108
office. The sheriff and the school superintendent may determine 109
by agreement the reimbursement for such costs, or may share the 110
costs, associated with employment of the law enforcement officer 111
as a school safety specialist. The school safety specialist must 112
earn a certificate of completion of the school safety specialist 113
training provided by the Office of Safe Schools within 1 year 114
after appointment and is responsible for the supervision and 115
oversight for all school safety and security personnel, 116
policies, and procedures in the school district. The school 117
safety specialist, or his or her designee, shall: 118
1. In conjunction with the district school superintendent, 119
annually review school district policies and procedures for 120
compliance with state law and rules, including the district's 121
timely and accurate submission of school environmental safety 122
incident reports to the department pursuant to s. 1001.212(8). 123
At least quarterly, the school safety specialist must report to 124
the district school superintendent and the district school board 125
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any noncompliance by the school district with laws or rules 126
regarding school safety. 127
2. Provide the necessary training and resources to 128
students and school district staff in matters relating to youth 129
mental health awareness and assistance; emergency procedures, 130
including active shooter training; and school safety and 131
security. 132
3. Provide the necessary training and resources to school 133
district staff in matters relating to the adverse effects of 134
psychotropic drugs and intoxicating substances as those terms 135
are defined in s. 406.139, including the irrational, violent, or 136
suicidal behavior that may be demonstrated by students under the 137
influence of such drugs or substances. The training must include 138
instruction on how such staff can identify and safely interact 139
with students who may be under the influence of such drugs or 140
substances, including de-escalation techniques to ensure student 141
and staff safety. 142
4. Serve as the school district liaison with local public 143
safety agencies and national, state, and community agencies and 144
organizations in matters of school safety and security. 145
5.4. In collaboration with the appropriate public safety 146
agencies, as that term is defined in s. 365.171, by October 1 of 147
each year, conduct a school security risk assessment at each 148
public school using the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool 149
developed by the Office of Safe Schools pursuant to s. 150
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1006.1493. Based on the assessment findings, the district's 151
school safety specialist shall provide recommendations to the 152
district school superintendent and the district school board 153
which identify strategies and activities that the district 154
school board should implement in order to address the findings 155
and improve school safety and security. Each district school 156
board must receive such findings and the school safety 157
specialist's recommendations at a publicly noticed district 158
school board meeting to provide the public an opportunity to 159
hear the district school board members discuss and take action 160
on the findings and recommendations. Each school safety 161
specialist, through the district school superintendent, shall 162
report such findings and school board action to the Office of 163
Safe Schools within 30 days after the district school board 164
meeting. 165
6.5. Conduct annual unannounced inspections, using the 166
form adopted by the Office of Safe Schools pursuant to s. 167
1001.212(13), of all public schools, including charter schools, 168
while school is in session and investigate reports of 169
noncompliance with school safety requirements. 170
7.6. Report violations of paragraph (f) by administrative 171
personnel and instructional personnel to the district school 172
superintendent or charter school administrator, as applicable. 173
Section 4. Subsection (6) of section 1006.12, Florida 174
Statutes, is amended to read: 175
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1006.12 Safe-school officers at each public school.—For 176
the protection and safety of school personnel, property, 177
students, and visitors, each district school board and school 178
district superintendent shall partner with law enforcement 179
agencies or security agencies to establish or assign one or more 180
safe-school officers at each school facility within the 181
district, including charter schools. A district school board 182
must collaborate with charter school governing boards to 183
facilitate charter school access to all safe-school officer 184
options available under this section. The school district may 185
implement any combination of the options in subsections (1)-(4) 186
to best meet the needs of the school district and charter 187
schools. 188
(6) CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING; SUBSTANCE USE TRAINING.— 189
(a) Each safe-school officer who is also a sworn law 190
enforcement officer shall complete mental health crisis 191
intervention training using a curriculum developed by a national 192
organization with expertise in mental health crisis 193
intervention. The training must improve the officer's knowledge 194
and skills as a first responder to incidents involving students 195
with emotional disturbance or mental illness, including de-196
escalation skills to ensure student and officer safety. 197
(b) Each safe-school officer shall complete training on 198
the adverse effects of psychotropic drugs and intoxicating 199
substances as those terms are defined in s. 406.139, including 200
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the irrational, violent, or suicidal behavior that may be 201
demonstrated by students under the influence of such drugs or 202
substances. The training must include instruction on how such a 203
safe-school officer can identify and safely interact with 204
students who may be under the influence of such drugs or 205
substances, including de-escalation techniques to ensure student 206
and officer safety. 207
208
If a district school board, through its adopted policies, 209
procedures, or actions, denies a charter school access to any 210
safe-school officer options pursuant to this section, the school 211
district must assign a school resource officer or school safety 212
officer to the charter school. Under such circumstances, the 213
charter school's share of the costs of the school resource 214
officer or school safety officer may not exceed the safe school 215
allocation funds provided to the charter school pursuant to s. 216
1011.62(12) and shall be retained by the school district. 217
Section 5. Paragraph (c) of subsection (7) of section 218
381.028, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 219
381.028 Adverse medical incidents.— 220
(7) PRODUCTION OF RECORDS.— 221
(c)1. Fees charged by a health care facility for copies of 222
records requested by a patient under s. 25, Art. X of the State 223
Constitution may not exceed the reasonable and actual cost of 224
complying with the request, including a reasonable charge for 225
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the staff time necessary to search for records and prevent the 226
disclosure of the identity of any patient involved in the 227
adverse medical incident through redaction or other means as 228
required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 229
Act of 1996 or its implementing regulations. The health care 230
facility may require payment, in full or in part, before acting 231
on the records request. 232
2. Fees charged by a health care provider for copies of 233
records requested by a patient under s. 25, Art. X of the State 234
Constitution may not exceed the amount established under s. 235
456.057(18) s. 456.057(17), which may include a reasonable 236
charge for the staff time necessary to prevent the disclosure of 237
the identity of any patient involved in the adverse medical 238
incident through redaction or other means as required by the 239
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or 240
its implementing regulations. The health care provider may 241
require payment, in full or in part, before acting on the 242
records request. 243
Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 244