Bill Text: FL S0676 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Animal Control or Cruelty Ordinances
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [S0676 Detail]
Download: Florida-2011-S0676-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2011 SB 676 By Senator Rich 34-00800A-11 2011676__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to animal control or cruelty 3 ordinances; amending s. 828.27, F.S.; requiring a 4 county or municipality enacting an ordinance relating 5 to animal control or cruelty to impose a specified 6 surcharge on the civil penalty for violations of the 7 ordinance; specifying use of the proceeds of the 8 surcharge; prohibiting the governing body of a county 9 or municipality from charging owners of animals more 10 than a certain amount for the spaying or neutering of 11 their animals in specified circumstances; authorizing 12 the animal control authority to allocate certain 13 excess funds to the program to spay and neuter cats 14 and dogs; providing construction; providing an 15 effective date. 16 17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18 19 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 20 828.27, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraphs (c) and (d) 21 are added to that subsection, to read: 22 828.27 Local animal control or cruelty ordinances; 23 penalty.— 24 (4) 25 (b) The governing body of a county or municipality enacting 26 an ordinance relating to animal control or cruelty shallmay27 impose and collect a surcharge of $15up to $5upon each civil 28 penalty imposed for each violation of theanordinancerelating29to animal control or cruelty. One dollar of the surcharge may be 30 retained by the clerk of the court, $5 of the surchargeproceeds31from such surchargesshall be used to pay the costs of training 32 for animal control officers, and the remainder of the surcharge 33 shall be used to subsidize the costs to spay or neuter dogs and 34 cats in the possession of the animal control authority or whose 35 owners voluntarily submit their animals for sterilization. 36 Owners of such animals may not be charged more for the spaying 37 or neutering than the cost of sterilization less the subsidy 38 paid from the surcharge. 39 (c) If the surcharge funds collected to pay the costs of 40 training animal control officers exceed the funds needed to 41 conduct the training for the animal control officers in a given 42 locality, the animal control authority may apply the excess 43 surcharge funds to the program to spay and neuter cats and dogs. 44 (d) This subsection does not require the governing body of 45 a county or municipality to enact such an ordinance. 46 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.