Florida Senate - 2019                                     SB 288
       
       
        
       By Senator Baxley
       
       
       
       
       
       12-00219B-19                                           2019288__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to monuments and memorials; providing
    3         a short title; amending s. 1.01, F.S.; revising the
    4         definition of “veteran” to include additional periods
    5         of military service; creating s. 265.155, F.S.;
    6         defining the term “remembrance”; prohibiting specified
    7         activities concerning remembrances on public property;
    8         providing exceptions; granting certain persons
    9         standing for enforcement; amending s. 806.13, F.S.;
   10         prohibiting damage to or removal of certain
   11         remembrances; providing criminal penalties; providing
   12         an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Soldiers’ and
   17  Heroes’ Monuments and Memorials Protection Act.”
   18         Section 2. Subsection (14) of section 1.01, Florida
   19  Statutes, is amended to read:
   20         1.01 Definitions.—In construing these statutes and each and
   21  every word, phrase, or part hereof, where the context will
   22  permit:
   23         (14) The term “veteran” means a person who served in the
   24  active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or
   25  released under honorable conditions only or who later received
   26  an upgraded discharge under honorable conditions,
   27  notwithstanding any action by the United States Department of
   28  Veterans Affairs on individuals discharged or released with
   29  other than honorable discharges. To receive benefits as a
   30  wartime veteran, a veteran must have served in a campaign or
   31  expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized or
   32  during one of the following periods of wartime service:
   33         (a)Anglo-Spanish War: 1585 to 1604.
   34         (b)Battle of Fort Mose: June 26, 1740.
   35         (c) French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years’
   36  War: 1756 to 1763.
   37         (d)American Revolution: 1765 to 1783.
   38         (e)War of 1812: 1812 to 1815.
   39         (f)Seminole Wars: 1817 to 1858.
   40         (g)Mexican-American War: 1846 to 1848.
   41         (h)Civil War: 1861 to 1865.
   42         (i)(a) Spanish-American War: April 21, 1898, to July 4,
   43  1902, and including the Philippine Insurrection and the Boxer
   44  Rebellion.
   45         (j)(b) Mexican Border Period: May 9, 1916, to April 5,
   46  1917, in the case of a veteran who during such period served in
   47  Mexico, on the borders of, or in the waters adjacent to Mexico.
   48         (k)(c) World War I: April 6, 1917, to November 11, 1918;
   49  extended to April 1, 1920, for those veterans who served in
   50  Russia; also extended through July 1, 1921, for those veterans
   51  who served after November 11, 1918, and before July 2, 1921,
   52  provided such veterans had at least 1 day of service between
   53  April 5, 1917, and November 12, 1918.
   54         (l)(d) World War II: December 7, 1941, to December 31,
   55  1946.
   56         (m)(e) Korean War: June 27, 1950, to January 31, 1955.
   57         (n)(f) Vietnam War: February 28, 1961, to May 7, 1975.
   58         (o)Bay of Pigs Invasion: April 1961.
   59         (p)(g) Persian Gulf War: August 2, 1990, to January 2,
   60  1992.
   61         (q)(h) Operation Enduring Freedom: October 7, 2001, and
   62  ending on the date thereafter prescribed by presidential
   63  proclamation or by law.
   64         (r)(i) Operation Iraqi Freedom: March 19, 2003, and ending
   65  on the date thereafter prescribed by presidential proclamation
   66  or by law.
   67         Section 3. Section 265.155, Florida Statutes, is created to
   68  read:
   69         265.155Remembrance on public property.—
   70         (1)As used in this section, the term “remembrance” means
   71  an exhibit; artwork, including a painting, stained glass, or a
   72  statue; a monument; a memorial; a nameplate; a historical
   73  marker; a symbol, including a religious symbol; a tombstone; a
   74  plaque; a seal; a logo; a road name; a building, a structure, or
   75  an educational facility name; a historical flag or other
   76  display; a geographic area, natural or manmade landscape, or
   77  feature fountain; or a similar object that was made to honor or
   78  commemorate:
   79         (a)A soldier, a military figure, or a government official
   80  or civilian who provided material aid to the war effort during a
   81  time of war, including, but not limited to, a conflict
   82  enumerated in s. 1.01(14), who served 1 or more of the original
   83  13 colonies, the State of Florida, the United States, or a
   84  geographical area or territory that became part of the United
   85  States;
   86         (b)A military organization or military unit of 1 or more
   87  of the original 13 colonies, the State of Florida, the United
   88  States, or a geographical area or territory that became part of
   89  the United States;
   90         (c)An armed conflict, including, but not limited to, a
   91  conflict described in s. 1.01(14), in which residents of this
   92  state were involved; or
   93         (d)A law enforcement officer; a prison guard; a
   94  firefighter; or an astronaut.
   95         (2)A remembrance erected, named, or dedicated on or after
   96  March 22, 1822, on public property may only be relocated,
   97  removed, altered, renamed, rededicated, or otherwise disturbed
   98  if necessary to accommodate construction, repair, or
   99  improvements to the remembrance or to the surrounding property
  100  on which the remembrance is located. Such remembrance must be
  101  relocated or returned within 90 days after completion of
  102  construction.
  103         (3)A remembrance on public property that is sold or
  104  repurposed must be relocated to a location of equal prominence
  105  as the original location.
  106         (4) The concealment of a remembrance on public property
  107  exceeding 45 days in any 12-month period by the state, a county,
  108  a municipality, or other political subdivision is prohibited.
  109         (5)A resident of this state or an entity whose purpose is
  110  historic preservation, a veteran, or a law enforcement
  111  benevolent organization has standing to seek enforcement of this
  112  section through a civil action in the circuit court in the
  113  county in which the remembrance is located.
  114         Section 4. Present subsections (5) through (9) of section
  115  806.13, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (6)
  116  through (10), respectively, present subsection (8) of that
  117  section is amended, and a new subsection (5) is added to that
  118  section, to read:
  119         806.13 Criminal mischief; penalties; penalty for minor.—
  120         (5)(a)A person may not willfully and maliciously damage or
  121  deface, destroy, or remove by any means a remembrance, as
  122  defined in s. 265.155, which is owned or erected by a
  123  governmental entity, a museum, a historical society, or a
  124  similar organization or a remembrance that is located in a
  125  cemetery or on a grave or tomb.
  126         (b)A person who violates this subsection commits a felony
  127  of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s.
  128  775.083, or s. 775.084.
  129         (9)(8) A minor whose driver license or driving privilege is
  130  revoked, suspended, or withheld under subsection (8) (7) may
  131  elect to reduce the period of revocation, suspension, or
  132  withholding by performing community service at the rate of 1 day
  133  for each hour of community service performed. In addition, if
  134  the court determines that due to a family hardship, the minor’s
  135  driver license or driving privilege is necessary for employment
  136  or medical purposes of the minor or a member of the minor’s
  137  family, the court shall order the minor to perform community
  138  service and reduce the period of revocation, suspension, or
  139  withholding at the rate of 1 day for each hour of community
  140  service performed. As used in this subsection, the term
  141  “community service” means cleaning graffiti from public
  142  property.
  143         Section 5. This act shall take effect October 1, 2019.