Boaters will no longer be stopped by state wildlife officers for random boat-safety inspections, under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The measure (SB 1388), which will take effect July 1, will require Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers to have probable cause to halt boaters.
“When you have somebody who has been stopped three times in one day without there ever being a basis to stop them, then you know something's wrong,” DeSantis said during an appearance at Watson Landings Marina in Panama City.
DeSantis said such inspections have created friction between boaters and law-enforcement officers. He pushed for lawmakers to approve the change this year, in part because of an incident last year involving a boater in Jupiter that drew heavy attention online.
“They board his vessel, they have him blow the breathalyzer, 0.0. He wasn't drinking, and there was no basis to do it,” DeSantis said Monday. “There was no activity that was suspicious. There was no safety violations. There was no reckless boating. And it was this whole thing, this guy ends up getting arrested. I'm just thinking to myself, ‘That is not what we want.’”
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Roger Young said the agency will focus “on violations that are occurring, that we're seeing, reckless operation, careless operation.”
The House voted 104-7 to pass the bill, while the Senate approved it in a 35-2 vote.