Public Corruption Bill Passes Senate, Heads to House

By David Royse
Associated Press Writer
Mar 21, 2000 - 04:10 PM

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Government officials who abuse their office for personal gain could face up to 15 years in prison under a bill the Senate passed Tuesday in response to a string of corruption scandals.

The proposed state law also imposes the same penalties on officials who falsify or destroy documents or block an investigation.

The bill would create several new types of public corruption crimes, increase the penalties for many existing state laws, make it easier for prosecutors to file charges, and increase the maximum sentence for bribery from five years to 15 years.

Florida prosecutors and law enforcement officials now complain they cannot charge officials for some conduct which appears to be corrupt, and even when they can, penalties are too light.

They are pushing for the changes in an effort to prosecute corrupt officials under state law instead of relying on federal prosecutors.

"They are saying, 'We need these tools to ferret out public corruption,'" said Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, the bill's sponsor. The Senate passed the bill unanimously.

The measure heads to the House, where the leadership has pushed a much narrower ethics reform effort.

Gov. Jeb Bush has indicated his support for the legislation (SB 946).

Bush feared confidence in government was eroding in the wake of widely publicized corruption scandals in Miami, including one that led to the overturning of a mayoral election, and the recent criminal convictions of a few lawmakers.

He appointed a commission to study the issue, which made several recommendations for changing the law.

Under the bill, public officials would be prohibited from using their office to benefit their business, or to secure a benefit that's not generally available to the public. Violators could spend up to 15 years in prison.

The bill expands the state's official misconduct law to include such actions as falsifying or destroying documents, blocking an investigation, or not performing duties required by law.

Potential prison sentences would increase from five years to 15 years.

The Senate earlier passed a package of other bills that came out of the commission's recommendations, mostly dealing with the way elected officials report their personal incomes. One of the bills passed by the Senate earlier and awaiting action by the House also requires elected officials to take a three-hour course on open meetings and records.

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