Below are some of the new Florida Laws that apply to Criminal Justice.

• Senate Bill 450 reduces the threshold from 12-0 for a death verdict to 8-4. (April 20, 2023)
• House Bill 1297 makes capital sexual battery, punishable by death with an 8-4 vote (October. 1, 2023)
• House Bill 1627 directs who must be held for the first appearance. It produces a uniform bond schedule for dangerous crimes listed in Florida Statute 907.0471 (January 1, 2024)
• House Bill 667 requires that a victim be told the person’s name contacting them in the fact that they may be working on behalf of the defendant.  (July 1, 2023)
• Senate Bill 1438 prohibits children from going to an adult live performance showing lewd conduct (May 17, 2023)
• House Bill 543 authorizes a person to carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm if he is licensed under 790.06 or otherwise satisfies the criteria for receiving and maintaining such a concealed firearm license. If no license, then they must carry identification such as a driver’s license.  (July 1, 2023)
• House Bill 1465 adds human trafficking to the 10-20-life statute. Theft of a firearm becomes a second-degree felony for a second offense. The theft of a firearm is raised from level six to level seven for a second offense. Juvenile court can extend 21-day detention based on a firearm offense (October 1, 2023)
• 365 expands the ability to sentence drug dealers to death if their customers died from their supply. It replaces the proximate cause standard with a substantial factor. Makes it a second-degree felony to distribute heroin or Fentanyl where the user dies or suffers serious bodily injury and the substance is proven to be a substantial factor in causing the death or injury.  (July 1, 2023)
• Senate Bill 164 decriminalizes Fentanyl test strips.  (July 1, 2023)
• House Bill 431 makes it a third-degree felony for a person 24 years of age or older to solicit a 16 or 17-year-old in writing to commit a lewd or lascivious act. It is reduced to level three from level seven. (October 1, 2023)
• House Bill 537 specifies certain completed sex crimes ineligible for gain time. It also includes attempts.  (July 1, 2023)
• House Bill 949 requires anyone driving a golf cart under 18 to have either a driver’s license or a learner’s license. Over 18 must have a photo ID.  (October 1, 2023)
• Senate Bill 232 deals with scamming an elderly person. If over $50,000 then 1st° felony; if between $10,000 and $50,000 a second-degree felony and below $10,000 a third-degree felony. The state can motion the judge to advance the trial on the docket after considering the age and health of the victim. It adds an extra five years to the statute of limitations after discovery of the offense if it involves fraud or breach of a fiduciary. (October 1, 2023)
• House Bill 319 creates a first-degree misdemeanor to intentionally touch or strike a coach or player against their will or cause bodily harm. Same penalty to willfully enter or remain without being invited.  (October 1, 2023)
• House Bill 825 (Florida statute 784.07) is amended to add hospital personnel to the list of special victims that go from a first-degree misdemeanor battery charge to a third-degree felony.  (October 1, 2023)
• House Bill 1047 (Florida statute 843.01) calls for a third-degree felony to willfully resist a police dog or horse by offering to do violence to the animal. Also, intentionally, maliciously touching a dog or horse is upgraded from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony. Intentionally teasing or harassing a police dog while it’s working is upgraded from a second-degree misdemeanor to a first-degree misdemeanor. (October 1, 2023)
• House Bill 67 adds judicial assistants to the list of people that you can be charged with for making a death threat against. It also creates Florida Statute 816.12 (3) which reads “Any person who knowingly and willfully harasses a law enforcement officer, a state attorney, an assistant state attorney, a firefighter, a judge, a justice, a judicial assistant, a clerk of court, clerk personnel or an elected official with intent to intimidate or coerce such a person to perform or refrain from performing a lawful duty” (misdemeanor 1st). (October 1, 2023)
• House Bill 1375 creates 784.031 making it a third-degree felony to strangle anyone, not just a spouse. It makes the crime a level four as opposed to a level six (domestic battery by strangulation). (October 1, 2023)
• Senate Bill 384 modifies the law enforcement protection multiplier 2.5 on the score sheet to include victims who are defense attorneys. (July 1, 2023)
• Senate Bill 376 amends Florida Statute 943.0595 to require the clerk to make all records confidential that involve dismissals and acquittals. This is in addition to FDLE sealing.  (July 1, 2023)
• Senate Bill 508 replaces the one-year drug court requirement to “clinical needs of the defendant”. It removes “has never been charged with a crime involving violence” to “is not also charged”. It removes language that barred admission to drug court based on previously rejected offers. Removes language that barred admission to mental health court based on prior felony convictions. It removes language that limited misdemeanor drug courts to nonviolent non-traffic offenses.  (July 1, 2023)