Bill Text: FL S1068 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Crime Victim Assistance

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-05-03 - Died in Appropriations, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 7125 (Ch. 2019-167) [S1068 Detail]

Download: Florida-2019-S1068-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 1068
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-01278A-19                                           20191068__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to crime victim assistance; amending
    3         s. 960.03, F.S.; redefining the term “crime” to
    4         include the commission of certain lewd or lascivious
    5         offenses; amending s. 960.28, F.S.; increasing the
    6         maximum amount the Crime Victims’ Services Office of
    7         the Department of Legal Affairs is required to pay for
    8         certain medical expenses of victims of specified
    9         crimes; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
   14  960.03, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (g) is added
   15  to that subsection, to read:
   16         960.03 Definitions; ss. 960.01-960.28.—As used in ss.
   17  960.01-960.28, unless the context otherwise requires, the term:
   18         (3) “Crime” means:
   19         (a) A felony or misdemeanor offense committed by an adult
   20  or a juvenile which results in physical injury or death, a
   21  violation of s. 800.04 or a forcible felony committed by an
   22  adult or juvenile which directly results in psychiatric or
   23  psychological injury, or a felony or misdemeanor offense of
   24  child abuse committed by an adult or a juvenile which results in
   25  a mental injury, as defined in s. 827.03, to a person younger
   26  than 18 years of age who was not physically injured by the
   27  criminal act. The mental injury to the minor must be verified by
   28  a psychologist licensed under chapter 490, by a physician
   29  licensed in this state under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who has
   30  completed an accredited residency in psychiatry, or by a
   31  physician who has obtained certification as an expert witness
   32  pursuant to s. 458.3175. The term also includes a criminal act
   33  that is committed within this state but that falls exclusively
   34  within federal jurisdiction.
   35         (g) An act of intentionally touching in a lewd or
   36  lascivious manner the breasts, genitals, genital area, or
   37  buttocks, or the clothing covering those areas, of a person 16
   38  or 17 years of age or forcing or enticing a person 16 or 17
   39  years of age to so touch the actor, when such act is without the
   40  person’s consent and directly results in psychiatric or
   41  psychological injury.
   42         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 960.28, Florida
   43  Statutes, is amended to read:
   44         960.28 Payment for victims’ initial forensic physical
   45  examinations.—
   46         (2) The Crime Victims’ Services Office of the department
   47  shall pay for medical expenses connected with an initial
   48  forensic physical examination of a victim of sexual battery as
   49  defined in chapter 794 or a lewd or lascivious offense as
   50  defined in chapter 800. Such payment shall be made regardless of
   51  whether the victim is covered by health or disability insurance
   52  and whether the victim participates in the criminal justice
   53  system or cooperates with law enforcement. The payment shall be
   54  made only out of moneys allocated to the Crime Victims’ Services
   55  Office for the purposes of this section, and the payment may not
   56  exceed $1,000 $500 with respect to any violation. The department
   57  shall develop and maintain separate protocols for the initial
   58  forensic physical examination of adults and children. Payment
   59  under this section is limited to medical expenses connected with
   60  the initial forensic physical examination, and payment may be
   61  made to a medical provider using an examiner qualified under
   62  part I of chapter 464, excluding s. 464.003(14); chapter 458; or
   63  chapter 459. Payment made to the medical provider by the
   64  department shall be considered by the provider as payment in
   65  full for the initial forensic physical examination associated
   66  with the collection of evidence. The victim may not be required
   67  to pay, directly or indirectly, the cost of an initial forensic
   68  physical examination performed in accordance with this section.
   69         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.