Revenge porn will be illegal, half-gallon beer growlers will be legal and cities like Waldo won't be able to set ticket quotas for police officers under three of the 27 bills Gov. Rick Scott signed on Thursday.
 
Among other new laws: it will be illegal to use drones to take photo or video of private property without consent of the owner and to impersonate a firefighter. Also, five new synthetic drugs were made illegal.
 
The city of Waldo was an infamous speed trap and eventually had its police department disbanded during an investigation over ticket quotas that showed nearly half the city's $1 million annual budget came from traffic ticket revenue.
 
One of the bills Scott signed addresses that problem by banning departments from setting quotes. The law takes effect July 1.
 
Florida was also the only state in the country to outlaw half-gallon refillable beer containers, known as growlers. A law that takes effect July 1 legalizes them as part of a measure that regulates craft breweries.
 
On Oct. 1 it will become illegal to post sexually explicit photos and videos of exes on websites without their consent. The practice is known as revenge porn and involves photos and videos couples took in better days that were meant to remain private, but are later posted when the relationship goes bad.
 
A first offense would be a first-degree misdemeanor. A second violation would be a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
 
It will also be illegal to use drones to take photographs or record images of people on their property or their property from the air. The restrictions would also apply to state and local governments. The law, which takes effect July 1, does not call for any criminal penalties. Instead it allows people to sue someone who photographs them with a drone. It includes several exceptions, including drone use by utility companies and property appraisers.
 
The Legislature passed 227 bills during the session that ended two weeks ago.

Governor Rick Scott signed the following bills into law on Thursday:

  1. Closing the Gap Grant Program (SB 94) – This bill expands the list of priority health areas under the "Closing the Gap" grant program to include sickle cell disease.
  2. Disabled Parking Permits (SB 132) – This bill authorizes veterans to use alternative documentation for renewal or replacement of a disabled parking permit.
  3. Alcoholic Beverages (SB 186) – Please see press release HERE.
  4. Public Records/E-mail Addresses/Tax Notices (SB 200) – This bill provides an exemption from public records requirements for e-mail addresses used in official business between tax collectors and taxpayers.
  5. Electronic Commerce (SB 222) – The bill creates a civil cause of action for businesses that are victims of hacking to supplement the existing criminal and limited civil penalties.
  6. Traffic Enforcement Agencies and Traffic Citations (SB 264) – This bill prohibits a county or municipality from establishing traffic citation quotas.
  7. Nursing Home Facility Pneumococcal Vaccination Requirements (SB 332) – This bill changes the requirements for the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  8. No Contact Orders (SB 342) – This bill increases protection of victims by making no contact orders that are part of pretrial release effective immediately and specifies prohibited acts in the order.
  9. Animal Control (SB 420) – This bill provides alternatives to auction provisions for stray livestock, including adoptions, and allows cruelty violations to be pursued through code enforcement boards in lieu of the court system.
  10. Regulation of Health Care Facilities and Services (HB 441) - This bill revises requirements relating to home health agencies and other providers.
  11. Florida College System Boards of Trustees (SB 446) – This bill requires all Florida College System board of trustee members to serve staggered, four-year terms. The bill also requires St. Johns River State College to have seven board of trustee members from the area the college serves.
  12. Labor Pools (SB 456) – This bill authorizes certain employers to use a debit card as compensation.
  13. Long-Term Care Insurance (SB 520) - This bill allows an insurer to offer a non-forfeiture provision in a long term care insurance policy that returns a premium if the insured dies or the policy is completely surrendered or cancelled.
  14. Division of Bond Finance (SB 522) – This bill deletes the requirement that the Division of Bond Finance publishes a hard copy newsletter that is available online.
  15. Notaries Public (SB 526) – This bill revises the methods available to notaries for verifying documents including the use of reliable electronic means.
  16. Disclosure of Sexually Explicit Images (SB 538) - This bill provides criminal penalties for publishing sexually explicit images of a person with personal identification information on the internet without the person’s consent with the intent to cause emotional distress.
  17. City of Panacea (HB 593) - The bill creates the City of Panacea in Wakulla County if approved by voters in a referendum.
  18. Transitional Living Facilities (SB 682) - This bill revises and streamlines regulations for transitional living facilities.
  19. Surveillance by a Drone (SB 766) - This bill prohibits the use of drones to record an image of private property or conduct surveillance without consent.
  20. Estates (SB 872) – This bill updates Florida law to comply with federal law concerning the apportionment between eligible heirs for federal estate tax purposes.
  21. Controlled Substances (HB 897) - This bill adds five dangerous synthetic cannabinoids to Florida’s drug crime laws.
  22. Exemption from Legislative Lobbying Requirements (SB 984) -  This bill allows the use of public property made available by a governmental entity to a legislator for a public purpose.
  23. False Personation (SB 1010) - This bill makes it illegal to impersonate firefighters and fire or arson investigators.
  24. Community Development (SB 1216)– This bill revises several growth management laws as well as the geographic boundaries of regional planning councils.
  25. Corporate Income Tax (HB 7009) – This bill updates Florida’s corporate income tax law with the majority of 2014 Congressional law changes.
  26. State Ombudsman Program (SB 7018) - This bill revises requirements of citizen and state ombudsmen and the state Long -Term Care Ombudsman program.
  27. Public Records/E-mail Addresses/Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (SB 7040) – This bill provides an exemption from public records requirements for certain e-mail addresses collected by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.