NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on August 06, 2009, the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission has issued an order.
A petition for waiver of subsection 11B-27.002(4), F.A.C., was received from Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Clemente Martin on June 20, 2009. Notice of the petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 28, July 17, 2009. Deputy Martin requested a waiver of subsection 11B-27.002(4), F.A.C. He wished to waive that portion of the rule requiring an officer to become employed within four years of starting basic recruit training. Deputy Martin completed cross-over correctional to law enforcement basic recruit training on August 14, 2000. At that time he had four years from August 14, 2000, to obtain employment. He applied for employment as a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) on June 24, 2004. Deputy Martin was conditionally employed by OCSO on August 2, 2004. He was officially hired on October 1, 2004. He believed that he had four years from the date he passed the State Officer Certification Examination to become employed. Deputy Martin was employed continuously as a deputy after his initial employment and met all of the mandatory requirements for continuing as an active duty law enforcement officer. The Commission met on August 6, 2009, and considered Deputy Martin’s petition. The Commission found that Deputy Martin’s circumstances are unique and that he demonstrated a that strict application of the rule in his case would violate the principles of fairness. Specifically, Deputy Martin was employed actively as a certified law enforcement officer by his agency from the inception after laboring under a misunderstanding concerning the timeframe under which he was to become employed. Neither the deputy, nor his agency, were aware of the problem until an audit disclosed the timing issue. Deputy Martin demonstrated that the requirements of the underlying statute have been met and will continue to be met through granting this waiver. Accordingly, the Commission granted Deputy Martin’s request for a waiver of subsection 11B-27.002(4), F.A.C., on August 6, 2009, at its regularly scheduled Business Agenda meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Deputy Martin’s law enforcement certification will be activated retroactive to November 5, 2004, the date his processed fingerprints were received. His employment date, October 1, 2004, is the valid and correct hiring date. He is eligible to resume his duties as a law enforcement officer as of August 6, 2009, following the Commission's action.
A copy of the Order may be obtained by contacting: Grace A. Jaye, Assistant General Counsel, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Post Office Box 1489, Tallahassee, FL 32302, (850)410-7676.