Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
SB 1712
By
Senator Martin
33-00715-26 20261712__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Statewide Counterintelligence
3 and Counterterrorism Unit; creating s. 943.0316, F.S.;
4 providing legislative intent; defining the term
5 “adversary intelligence entity”; requiring the
6 Department of Law Enforcement to establish and
7 administer a Statewide Counterintelligence and
8 Counterterrorism Unit at a specified location;
9 requiring that a team from the unit be assigned to and
10 aligned with each regional domestic security task
11 force; specifying unit duties; requiring the
12 department to create a team by a specified date to
13 serve as the initial leadership and organizational
14 core of the full unit; requiring the department to
15 establish a statewide unit housed in a specified
16 location; requiring that the unit be composed of a
17 specified number of teams; requiring the department to
18 annually request a certain number of positions and
19 amount of funding for each position in order to
20 achieve full staffing by a specified date; specifying
21 team tasks, composition, and experience requirements;
22 providing an effective date.
23
24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26 Section 1. Section 943.0316, Florida Statutes, is created
27 to read:
28
943.03
16
Statewide Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism
29
Unit
.—
30
(1)
It is the intent of the
L
egislature to establish a
31
dedicated counterintelligence and counterterror
ism
unit whose
32
primary goal is to conduct statewide counterintelligence and
33
counterterror
ism
activities to detect, identify, neutralize, and
34
exploit adversary intelligence entities, international and
35
domestic terrorists, insider threats, corporate threats, and
36
other foreign adversaries to protect
this state and the
United
37
States
of America
.
38
(2)
As used in this section, the term “
adversary
39
intelligence entity
”
includes, but is not limited to, any
40
national
,
foreign,
multinational, friendly, competitor,
41
opponent, adversary, or recognized enemy government or
42
nongovernmental organization, company, business, corporation,
43
consortium, group, agency, cell, terrorist, insurgent, guerrilla
44
entity,
or
person whose demonstrated actions, views, or opinions
45
are
a threat or are
inimical to
the interests of this state and
46
the
United States
of America
.
47
(
3
)
The Department of Law Enforcement shall establish and
48
administer
a Statewide Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism
49
Unit
housed at the department’s regional operational center
,
50
with a team from the unit assigned to and aligned with each
51
regional domestic security task force
established
under s.
52
943
.0312. The unit
shall
identify threats by analyzing patterns
53
of life, gathering actionable intelligence, and formulating
54
effective plans of action, and
by
executing arrests or
by
55
revealing its intent to compel a response using all
56
counterintelligence and counterterror
ism
tradecraft necessary to
57
protect th
e
state from
adversary intelligence entities
.
The unit
58
may
conduct direct action missions on
its
own against
a
threat
59
or
may
incorporate with or into other units to counteract and
60
stop identifiable threats.
61
(4)
The department shall:
62
(a)
Create a 10-person team by July 1, 2027, whose main
63
purpose is to serve as the initial leadership and organizational
64
core of the full unit;
65
(b)
Establish a statewide unit, housed at the department’s
66
regional operational center which must be composed of at least
67
seven teams, with a team being assigned to each regional
68
domestic security task force; and
69
(c)
Each fiscal year, request the appropriate number of
70
positions and funding required for each position in order to be
71
fully staffed no later than December 30, 2033.
72
(5)(a)
Each team shall perform tasks in support of
the
73
state’s domestic security mission, including, but not limited
74
to
, providing technical operations to insider threat
75
investigations and
assigning
team officers
to
safeguard
the
76
state from
adversary intelligence entities
by
using
77
counterintelligence
to
detect, identify, assess, and counteract
78
threats posed
by
such
entities.
79
(b)
Each team must, at a minimum, be composed of all of the
80
following:
81
1.
A team leader who is an assistant special agent in
82
charge;
83
2.
A facility security officer who is a special agent
84
supervisor with counterintelligence experience, to be assigned
85
four intelligence analysts; and
86
3.
A deputy team leader who is a special agent supervisor,
87
to be assigned six counterintelligence agents, one of whom must
88
be a regional federal liaison officer, one of whom must be a
89
regional state liaison officer, and one of whom must be a local
90
liaison officer.
91
(c)
Each team member must:
92
1.
Have been a member of or have received formal training
93
in any United States government agency, have served as a United
94
States servicemember, or have experience with any law
95
enforcement agency as an officer, agent, analyst, or operative
96
serving in intelligence, counterintelligence, or
97
counterterrorism; or
98
2.
Have at least 3 years of experience of actively working
99
in the fields of intelligence, counterintelligence, or
100
counterterrorism.
101 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.