Bill Text: FL H0247 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Disabled Parking Permits

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [H0247 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-H0247-Introduced.html

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HB 247

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to disabled parking permits; amending s.
3	318.18, F.S.; providing for a parking enforcement
4	specialist or agency to validate compliance for the
5	disposition of a citation issued for illegally parking in
6	a space provided for people who have disabilities;
7	amending s. 320.0848, F.S.; revising requirements for
8	renewal or replacement of a disabled parking permit;
9	prohibiting applying for a new disabled parking permit for
10	a certain period of time upon a second finding of guilt or
11	plea of nolo contendere to unlawful use of such permit;
12	requiring the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
13	Vehicles to audit disabled parking permit holders, verify
14	certain information, and invalidate the permit of a
15	deceased permitholder; directing the department to
16	implement a means for reporting abuse of disabled parking
17	permits; providing for the department to conduct a public
18	awareness campaign; providing an effective date.
19
20	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22	Section 1.  Subsection (6) of section 318.18, Florida
23	Statutes, is amended to read:
24	318.18  Amount of penalties.-The penalties required for a
25	noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 or a criminal
26	offense listed in s. 318.17 are as follows:
27	(6)  One hundred dollars or the fine amount designated by
28	county ordinance, plus court costs for illegally parking, under
29	s. 316.1955, in a parking space provided for people who have
30	disabilities. However, this fine will be waived if a person
31	provides to the law enforcement agency or parking enforcement
32	specialist or agency that issued the citation for such a
33	violation proof that the person committing the violation has a
34	valid parking permit or license plate issued pursuant to s.
35	316.1958, s. 320.0842, s. 320.0843, s. 320.0845, or s. 320.0848
36	or a signed affidavit that the owner of the disabled parking
37	permit or license plate was present at the time the violation
38	occurred, and that such a parking permit or license plate was
39	valid at the time the violation occurred. The law enforcement
40	officer or agency or the parking enforcement specialist or
41	agency, upon determining that all required documentation has
42	been submitted verifying that the required parking permit or
43	license plate was valid at the time of the violation, must sign
44	an affidavit of compliance. Upon provision of the affidavit of
45	compliance and payment of a dismissal fee of up to $7.50 to the
46	clerk of the circuit court, the clerk shall dismiss the
47	citation.
48	Section 2.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (1), paragraph (e)
49	of subsection (2), and subsection (8) of section 320.0848,
50	Florida Statutes, are amended, subsections (9) and (10) are
51	renumbered as subsections (11) and (12), respectively, and new
52	subsections (9) and (10) are added to that section, to read:
53	320.0848  Persons who have disabilities; issuance of
54	disabled parking permits; temporary permits; permits for certain
55	providers of transportation services to persons who have
56	disabilities.-
57	(1)
58	(d)  Beginning October 1, 2011 April 1, 1999, the
59	department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall renew the
60	disabled parking permit of any person certified as permanently
61	disabled on the application if the person applies for renewal in
62	person and provides a current certificate of disability pursuant
63	to this subsection.
64	(2)  DISABLED PARKING PERMIT; PERSONS WITH LONG-TERM
65	MOBILITY PROBLEMS.-
66	(e)  To obtain a replacement for a disabled parking permit
67	that has been lost or stolen, a person must appear in person,
68	submit an application on a form prescribed by the department,
69	and must pay a replacement fee in the amount of $1.00, to be
70	retained by the issuing agency. If the person submits with the
71	application a police report documenting that the permit was
72	stolen, there is no replacement fee.
73	(8)  A law enforcement officer or a parking enforcement
74	specialist may confiscate the disabled parking permit from any
75	person who fraudulently obtains or unlawfully uses such a
76	permit. A law enforcement officer or a parking enforcement
77	specialist may confiscate any disabled parking permit that is
78	expired, reported as lost or stolen, or defaced, or that does
79	not display a personal identification number.
80	(a)  Beginning April 1, 1999, The permit number of each
81	confiscated permit must be submitted to the department of
82	Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the fact that the permit
83	has been confiscated must be noted on the permitholder's record.
84	If two permits issued to the same person have been confiscated,
85	the department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall refer
86	the information to the central abuse hotline of the Department
87	of Children and Family Services for an investigation of
88	potential abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the permit owner.
89	(b)  A confiscated permit must be held as evidence until a
90	judicial decision about the violation has been made. After a
91	finding of guilt has been made or a plea of nolo contendere has
92	been entered, the charging agency shall destroy the confiscated
93	permit. A confiscated permit may not, under any circumstances,
94	be returned to its registered owner after a finding of guilt has
95	been made or a plea of nolo contendere has been entered in
96	court. If a finding of guilt has been made or a plea of nolo
97	contendere has been entered for fraudulent or other unlawful use
98	of a disabled parking permit after a prior finding of guilt or
99	plea of nolo contendere for fraudulent or other unlawful use of
100	a disabled parking permit issued to the same registered permit
101	owner, the permit owner may not apply for a new disabled parking
102	permit for a period of 4 years. The permit number of each
103	destroyed permit must be reported to the department, and the
104	department must record in the real-time disabled parking permit
105	database that the permit has been invalidated.
106	(9)(a)  At least once every 6 months, the department shall
107	randomly audit disabled parking permit holders to ensure that
108	all required criteria for the ownership and possession of such
109	permit are still valid. As a component of the audit, the
110	department shall, at a minimum:
111	1.  Review death records maintained by the Department of
112	Health to ensure that the permitholder has not died.
113	2.  Review the number of times the permit has been
114	confiscated for fraudulent or unlawful use, if at all.
115	3.  Determine if the permit has ever been reported lost or
116	stolen and, if so, determine the current status of the permit.
117	(b)  At least annually, the department shall verify that
118	the owner of each disabled parking permit has not died. Such
119	verification shall include, but is not limited to, consultation
120	with death records maintained by the Department of Health. If a
121	disabled parking permit owner is found to be deceased, the
122	department shall promptly invalidate the decedent's disabled
123	parking permit.
124	(10)  The department shall develop and implement a means by
125	which persons can report abuse of disabled parking permits by
126	telephone hotline or by submitting a form online or by mail.
127	Section 3.  (1)  The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
128	Vehicles shall make a public announcement and conduct a public
129	awareness campaign regarding the abuses of disabled parking
130	permits and the burdens such abuses inflict on disabled persons
131	throughout the state. The public awareness campaign shall also
132	inform the public about:
133	(a)  The requirement to appear in person to renew an
134	expired disabled parking permit or replace a lost or stolen
135	disabled parking permit.
136	(b)  The implementation of the new periodic disabled
137	parking permit audit system.
138	(c)  The implementation of the new complaint process for
139	reporting abuses of disabled parking permits.
140	(2)  The public awareness campaign shall commence within 30
141	days after the effective date of this act and shall continue for
142	not less than 6 months.
143	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.