RULE NO.: RULE TITLE:
11B-27.007: Denial of Certification
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission has declined to rule on the petition for declaratory statement filed by Paul Salone on April 11, 2011. The following is a summary of the agency's declination of the petition:
The Notice of Petition for Declaratory Statement was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly, Vol. 37, No. 16, on April 22, 2011. The Petition sought the Commission’s interpretation of Rule 11B-27.007, F.A.C., and Section 943.13(4), F.S., and asks if the bar to criminal justice professional certification presented by a felony conviction can be overcome by a judicially issued Certificate of Relief from Disabilities issued by a court in New York. The Commission considered the petition at it regularly scheduled business agenda meeting held in Ocala, Florida, on May 19, 2011. The Commission’s order, filed May 19, 2011, denied the requested interpretation of Rule 11B-27.007, F.A.C., and Section 943.13(4), F.S., by the Petitioner. The Petitioner sought to have the Commission interpret Rule 11B-26.007, F.A.C., and Section 943.13(4), F.S., in such a way as to make his New York felony conviction for Criminal Sale of Controlled Substance no longer a disqualification for certification as a criminal justice professional in Florida. Petitioner urged that the judicially rendered New York Certificate of Relief from Disabilities operates in the same manner as an executive full pardon in Florida. In Florida, only an executive full pardon will permit a candidate with a felony conviction to potentially become a certified officer. The Commission found that Florida case law is clear. Only an executive full pardon will serve to permit a convicted felon to be considered for a criminal justice professional certification. The Commission found that the judicial Certificate of Relief from Disabilities issued by the New York court in Petitioner’s case is not the equivalent of an executive full pardon issued by the Governor of Florida because the Certificate of Relief from Disabilities is not a pardon. The Certificate of Relief from Disabilities cannot overcome the bar to certification faced by the Petitioner in both Rule 11B-27.007, F.A.C. and Section 943.13(4), F.S.
A copy of the Order Declining of the Petition for Declaratory Statement may be obtained by contacting: Grace A. Jaye, Assistant General Counsel, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, P. O. Box 1489, Tallahassee, FL 32302.