SB 390 would change Florida election procedures by requiring law enforcement officers to transport ballot boxes and ballot transfer containers from supervisors of elections to precincts, and to transport sealed ballot boxes, ballots, stubs, memoranda, and related election papers back to the supervisor’s office after the election. The bill also states that ballot boxes and ballot transfer containers must remain under law enforcement supervision at all times until they are returned to the supervisor, and it makes conforming changes to related election statutes.
In addition to the election-transport provisions, the bill amends Florida’s body-camera law to require law enforcement agency policies to include guidelines for recording, storage, retention, and release of body-camera audio and video captured while officers are carrying out the new ballot-box transport duties. Agencies would also need to train personnel on those procedures. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025.
The bill would amend sections 101.24, 102.071, 102.101, and 943.1718 of the Florida Statutes. Its main legal effect is to shift custody and transport of election materials from ordinary election administration procedures to law enforcement-controlled transport, while preserving the existing rule that officers generally may not enter polling places except as allowed by the election statutes. It also expands body-camera policy requirements for agencies whose officers perform these election-related transport duties, creating new training and records-management obligations tied specifically to ballot transport.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no detailed public debate in the materials provided. The bill ultimately died in the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on June 16, 2025, which suggests it did not advance, but the context does not show whether that was due to support, opposition, or procedural timing. Based on the text alone, the measure appears to have been framed as an election-security and chain-of-custody proposal.
The likely point of contention is the requirement that law enforcement officers, rather than election personnel or other designated officials, transport and supervise ballot boxes and related election materials. Supporters would likely view this as strengthening security and chain of custody, while critics could see it as unnecessary, burdensome, or potentially disruptive to election administration. A secondary issue is the new body-camera policy mandate, which would impose additional operational and training requirements on law enforcement agencies for these election-related duties.