CRC - 2017 CS for CS for P 26
By the Committees on Local Government; and Executive; and
Commissioners Keiser, Nocco, and Karlinsky
330-00248-17 201726c2
1 A proposal to amend
2 Section 4 of Article IV of the State Constitution to
3 establish the Office of Domestic Security and Counter
4 Terrorism within the Department of Law Enforcement and
5 to specify the authority and responsibilities of
6 county sheriffs in ensuring public safety and
7 security.
8
9 Be It Proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission of
10 Florida:
11
12 Section 4 of Article IV of the State Constitution is
13 amended to read:
14 ARTICLE IV
15 EXECUTIVE
16 SECTION 4. Cabinet.—
17 (a) There shall be a cabinet composed of an attorney
18 general, a chief financial officer, and a commissioner of
19 agriculture. In addition to the powers and duties specified
20 herein, they shall exercise such powers and perform such duties
21 as may be prescribed by law. In the event of a tie vote of the
22 governor and cabinet, the side on which the governor voted shall
23 be deemed to prevail.
24 (b) The attorney general shall be the chief state legal
25 officer. There is created in the office of the attorney general
26 the position of statewide prosecutor. The statewide prosecutor
27 shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the state attorneys to
28 prosecute violations of criminal laws occurring or having
29 occurred, in two or more judicial circuits as part of a related
30 transaction, or when any such offense is affecting or has
31 affected two or more judicial circuits as provided by general
32 law. The statewide prosecutor shall be appointed by the attorney
33 general from not less than three persons nominated by the
34 judicial nominating commission for the supreme court, or as
35 otherwise provided by general law.
36 (c) The chief financial officer shall serve as the chief
37 fiscal officer of the state, and shall settle and approve
38 accounts against the state, and shall keep all state funds and
39 securities.
40 (d) The commissioner of agriculture shall have supervision
41 of matters pertaining to agriculture except as otherwise
42 provided by law.
43 (e) The governor as chair, the chief financial officer, and
44 the attorney general shall constitute the state board of
45 administration, which shall succeed to all the power, control,
46 and authority of the state board of administration established
47 pursuant to Article IX, Section 16 of the Constitution of 1885,
48 and which shall continue as a body at least for the life of
49 Article XII, Section 9(c).
50 (f) The governor as chair, the chief financial officer, the
51 attorney general, and the commissioner of agriculture shall
52 constitute the trustees of the internal improvement trust fund
53 and the land acquisition trust fund as provided by law.
54 (g) The governor as chair, the chief financial officer, the
55 attorney general, and the commissioner of agriculture shall
56 constitute the agency head of the Department of Law Enforcement.
57 The Office of Domestic Security and Counter-Terrorism is created
58 within the Department of Law Enforcement. The Office of Domestic
59 Security and Counter-Terrorism shall provide support for
60 prosecutors and federal, state, and local law enforcement
61 agencies that investigate or analyze information relating to
62 attempts or acts of terrorism or that prosecute terrorism, and
63 shall perform any other duties that are provided by law.
64 Recognizing the importance and authority of the sheriffs and
65 local law enforcement agencies in the prevention of terrorist
66 acts and other crimes in the community, the county sheriff, in
67 consultation with local stakeholders recognized in the Florida
68 Statutes, shall have responsibility for the security of county
69 owned or -operated courthouses, court facilities, and court
70 service buildings. The sheriff’s authority shall include
71 decision-making regarding the security of these courthouses,
72 court facilities, and court service buildings, as well as local
73 decisions regarding the administration and operations of the
74 office of the sheriff that affect security and law enforcement.