ARTICLE III. - ALARM SYSTEMS - Sarasota County Sheriff's Office

PART II - CODE OF ORDINANCES
Chapter 50 - EMERGENCY SERVICES
ARTICLE III. - ALARM SYSTEMS
Sec. 50-71. - [Private burglar alarm systems.]
Sec. 50-72. - Reserved.
ARTICLE III. - ALARM SYSTEMS
Sec. 50-71. - [Private burglar alarm systems.]
(a)
The Board of County Commissioners hereby makes the following findings of fact:
(1) Privately owned burglary alarm systems are causing substantial misuse of manpower and
resources of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Department by causing them to respond to numerous
false alarms; and
(2) Telephone alarm devices regulated or programmed to make connection with the Sheriff's
Department will seize and hold Sheriff's Department telephone lines to the exclusion of other calls;
and
(3) Said false alarms and the use of telephone alarm devices create a threat to the safety of the
people of Sarasota County; and
(4) The owner or manager of any premises where a privately owned burglary alarm system has
been installed and is being used should be required to reimburse Sarasota County for the actual
cost incurred while responding to a false alarm.
(b) Prior to the installation or use of any type burglary alarm within the unincorporated area of
Sarasota County, Florida, the owner or manager of the premises shall furnish to the Sarasota County
Sheriff's Department information regarding the full names and phone numbers of at least two people
who can be reached at all times and who are authorized to enter the premises and deactivate the alarm
system. If any such person shall fail to appear and turn off any such alarm within one-half hour after
being notified by the Sheriff's Department to do so, then the owner or manager of the premises shall be
charged a fee of $25.00 for each such occurrence or, failing to pay such fee, shall be notified in writing
by the Sheriff's Department that the Sheriff's Department will not respond to any further alarms at that
location. The assessed fee shall be paid by check made payable to Sarasota County.
(c) (1) For the purposes of this section, the term "false alarm" shall mean the activation of a burglary
alarm by other than a forced entry or attempted forced entry to the premises and at a time when no
burglary is being committed or attempted on the premises.
(2) For a Sheriff's Department response to any false alarm the Sheriff shall charge and collect
from the person having or maintaining such burglary alarm on premises owned or occupied by
him, fees as follows:
a. The calendar year shall be divided into two six-month periods, January-June and
July-December. The person having or maintaining a burglary alarm system upon any
premises within the unincorporated area of Sarasota County, Florida, shall not be required to
pay a fee for the costs incurred by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Department in response to
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Sarasota County, Florida, Code of Ordinances

PART II - CODE OF ORDINANCES
Chapter 50 - EMERGENCY SERVICES
ARTICLE III. - ALARM SYSTEMS
the first three false alarms in each six-month period. Upon notification of each false alarm,
however, the person having or maintaining such burglary alarm shall, within three working
days, make a written report to the Sheriff on forms prescribed by him setting forth the cause
of such false alarm, the corrective action taken, and whether such alarm has been inspected
by an authorized serviceman, and such other information as the Sheriff may reasonably
require.
b. The person having or maintaining a burglary alarm system shall be required to pay a fee
of $25.00 to reimburse Sarasota County for each response to a false alarm, regardless of the
cause thereof, after the first three responses in each six-month period. Said fee shall be paid
by check made payable to Sarasota County.
c. The Sheriff may order any person having or maintaining a burglary alarm system to
disconnect said system if that system constantly malfunctions.
d. It shall be a violation of this section to disobey an order of the Sheriff to disconnect a
malfunctioning burglary alarm system, or to reconnect such system before ordered corrective
action is taken.
(d) (1) A "telephone alarm device" means any device which, when activated, automatically transmits
by telephone line a recorded alarm message or electronic or mechanical alarm signal to any telephone
instrument installed in the Sheriff's Department.
(2) It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or association to install, maintain, own,
possess, operate or use any telephone alarm device regulated or programmed to make
connection with any telephone installed in any facility of the Sarasota County Sheriff's
Department.
(e) Anyone convicted of a violation of or failure to comply with any of the provisions of this section
shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00 or imprisonment in the Sarasota County jail for a
term not to exceed 60 days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(f) If any subsection, sentence, clause, provision or part of this section shall be held invalid for any
reason, the remainder of this section shall not be affected thereby, but shall remain in full force and
effect.
(Ord. No. 97-115, §§ 1—6, 10-21-1997)
Sec. 50-72. - Reserved.
Editor's note— Per the county's instructions, § 50-72, private fire alarm systems, has been removed from the Code.
The provisions contained therein derived from Ord. No. 97-036, and because of no further action by the Board, sunset
on Dec. 31, 2003.
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Sarasota County, Florida, Code of Ordinances