97.022 Office of Election Crimes and Security; creation; purpose and duties.

(1) The Office of Election Crimes and Security is created within the Department of State. The purpose of the office is to aid the Secretary of State in completion of his or her duties under s. 97.012(12) and (15) by: (a) Receiving and reviewing notices and reports generated by government officials or any other person regarding alleged occurrences of election law violations or election irregularities in this state. (b) Initiating independent inquiries and conducting preliminary investigations into allegations of election law violations or election irregularities in this state.

(2) The office may review complaints and conduct preliminary investigations into alleged violations of the Florida Election Code or any rule adopted pursuant thereto and any election irregularities.

(3) The secretary shall appoint a director of the office.

(4) The office shall be based in Tallahassee and shall employ nonsworn investigators to conduct any investigations. The positions and resources necessary for the office to accomplish its duties shall be established through and subject to the legislative appropriations process.

(5) The office shall oversee the department’s voter fraud hotline.

(6) This section does not limit the jurisdiction of any other office or agency of the state empowered by law to investigate, act upon, or dispose of alleged election law violations.

(7) By January 15 of each year, the department shall submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives detailing information on investigations of alleged election law violations or election irregularities conducted during the prior calendar year. The report must include the total number of complaints received and independent investigations initiated and the number of complaints referred to another agency for further investigation or prosecution, including the total number of those matters sent to a special officer pursuant to s. 102.091. For each alleged violation or irregularity investigated, the report must include: (a) The source of the alleged violation or irregularity; (b) The law allegedly violated or the nature of the irregularity reported; (c) The county in which the alleged violation or irregularity occurred; (d) Whether the alleged violation or irregularity was referred to another agency for further investigation or prosecution and, if so, to which agency; and (e) The current status of the investigation or resulting criminal case.

History: s. 3, ch. 2022-73.