CALL TO ACTION ON SENATE BILL 1932

BACKGROUND

Senator Ed Hooper (portions of Pinellas and Pasco) has introduced SB 1932, “Sexual Offenders and Predators”.  At the present time, there is no companion bill in the House.

This bill is proposing to change the definition of the word “day” to include any part of a day.  Additionally, when a person requests to be removed from the registry, currently the State Attorney is notified so that they can attend the hearing to oppose the motion to be removed.  Under this new bill, FDLE would also be notified so that they could attend the hearing to oppose the motion, making it more difficult, if not impossible, to be removed from the registry.

It is currently sitting in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee with the committee order given as follows:

• Senate Committee on Criminal Justice (CJ)
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice (ACJ)
• Senate Committee on Appropriations (AP).

WHAT TO DO

Take action immediately by either calling or emailing each member of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice:

• Senator Jason W. B. Pizzo (D)-Chair                            (850) 487-5038                                    [email protected]
• Senator Jeff Brandes (R)-Vice Chair                            (850) 487-5024                                     [email protected]
• Senator Dennis Baxley (R)                                             (850) 487-5012                                    [email protected]
• Senator Danny Burgess (R)                                           (850) 487-5020                                     [email protected]
• Senator George B. Gainer (R)                                       (850) 487-5002                                     [email protected]
• Senator Ed Hooper (R)                                                   (850) 487-5016                                    [email protected]
• Senator Keith Perry (R)                                                  (850) 487-5008                                    [email protected]
• Senator Bobby Powell (D)                                             (850) 487-5030                                    [email protected]
• Senator Annette Taddeo (D)                                        (850) 487-5040                                    [email protected]
• TALKING POINTS

Why I oppose Senator Hooper’s SB 1932 definition of the word “day”:

• The topic of changing the definition of a day to include any part of a calendar day was brought up last year in a bill and was dropped due in part to opposition from Florida citizens. I am surprised to see it resurface again this year.
• Since the current statutes state that any place a registrant “remains” or is “located” for 3 days must be reported to the registrant’s local sheriff’s office, Senator Hooper’s change of a day to include any part of a calendar day would mean that registered citizens would have to report the addresses for ANY place where they “remain” or are “located” for 3 “parts of a calendar day”, such as: weekly attendance at church; favorite restaurants that the registrant likes to frequent; the home of family members or friends that the registrant visits on a regular basis, etc.  These 3 newly defined days do not have to be consecutive – just any 3 parts of a day of a calendar year.  Is this what Florida citizens want?  To have almost every address of every location in the state registered with the various sheriff’s offices?
• There is confusion enough in the 3-day period given in the current statutes. What constitutes a “day” within the given 3-day period already stated in Florida statutes?  From midnight to midnight?  3:00 pm to 3:00 pm the next day?  When you first arrive at the residence until 24 hours later?  Even law enforcement does not agree on the answers to these questions.  The statutes are already too vague, and now Senator Hooper wants to add to this vagueness.
• In the current statutes, a person who is on the registry must report a change of address within the first 48 hours if they will be residing at the residence for 3 days or longer. If a registrant spends 3 hours each on two different days fixing up his soon-to-be new residence, is Senator Hooper saying that each 3-hour period will constitute a full 24-hour period even though the registrant might not officially move from his current residence to the new one until a week later?  I doubt that even Senator Hooper will have answers for these questions as his bill is NOT well thought out.
• Senator Hooper is trying to change the definition of the word “day” that has been in existence for centuries. Why?
• Costs will be prohibitive for sheriff’s offices as they will be inundated with registrants trying to register every address for every place they frequent on a regular basis. How is this making society safer?  What is Senator Hooper’s research to show that such a change will make society safer?
• When the restaurant that the registered citizen frequents closes or their parent dies, then they will need to register with the sheriff’s office that they are no longer “remaining” or “located” at that particular place. Where is the money coming from to pay for the additional employees that the various sheriff’s offices will have to hire, along with other added costs?

Why I oppose Senator Hooper’s SB 1932 that would allow for the FDLE to be notified and attend hearings to oppose the removal of a person from the registry:

• This bill would stack the opposition against a registered citizen.
• FDLE is not going to have any additional information to bring to the hearing that the State Attorney has not already brought. FDLE tends to put forth accusations they cannot substantiate with any research, such as:  registrants are highly likely to sexually re-offend; society will be less safe if this particular person is removed from the registry, etc.
• FDLE has financial incentives to keep people on the registry: Millions are paid every year to the state of Florida to monitor 80,000 people on the registry.  The federal monetary amount funded is due in part to the number of people on the registry.  If the registry were reduced in number, there would be jobs lost as a result, along with other benefits that result from the federal money being given to Florida.

LINK FOR SENATE BILL 1932:  https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1932