FL H5501

Reorganizes the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles from three divisions into two divisions by eliminating the Division of Driver Licenses and Division of Motor Vehicles and establishing a new Division of Motorist Services.

Authorizes tax collectors who are constitutional officers to assume all driver's license issuance services by December 31, 2013, with the department able to adopt rules creating exceptions for small population counties and allowing interlocal agreements between counties.

Allows tax collectors to establish branch offices for conducting state or county business upon execution of an interagency agreement or county authorization, with the Department of Financial Services approving the tax collector's budget.

Provides that the creation and maintenance of records by the Division of Motorist Services shall not be regarded as law enforcement functions, and establishes that arrests based on objectively reasonable reliance on information from the division shall not be suppressed under the exclusionary rule.

Revises fee distribution for replacement driver's licenses and identification cards issued by tax collectors, with specified amounts deposited into the Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund or retained by the tax collector, and the remainder to the General Revenue Fund.