Locksmith Services Act
This bill creates the Florida Locksmith Services Act within part XII, ch. 559, F.S., to regulate locksmith services and preempt all local regulation of the locksmith industry beginning July 1, 2011.
This bill requires each locksmith service business to be licensed (or more precisely, registered) by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (department) and each license must be renewed biennially. Applicants for a license are required to identify each employee providing locksmith services as well as each officer, director, owner, and partner and submit fingerprints from these individuals to the department to forward to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a background check and retain a copy of the background check in the individual’s personnel file. Additionally, employees are required to be trained in industry ethics and in other areas affecting their trade and are subject to continuing-education requirements.
This bill provides certain exceptions to the licensing requirement (e.g. emergency personnel, retail sales representatives, hardware stores, manufacturers, and landlords).
Each business is responsible for training and supervising its employees, maintaining a minimum of $100,000 in liability insurance per incident, and maintaining proper records. This bill also provides for the regulation of apprentice locksmiths and requires that apprentices be trained and directly supervised. Additionally, this bill provides for criminal, administrative, and civil penalties. (See bill for details)
Locksmith Industry story from 10 Connects
