HB 957 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to revising penalties for criminal 2
offenses; amending s. 893.13, F.S.; conforming a 3
provision to changes made by the act; creating s. 4
893.131, F.S.; providing for civil citations for 5
possession of small amounts of cannabis and cannabis 6
paraphernalia offenses in certain circumstances; 7
providing for civil fines; providing for community 8
service in lieu of civil fines; limiting the number of 9
civil citations that a person may receive; providing 10
that a person who contests the violation waives a 11
specified civil penalty and may receive a larger 12
penalty upon a finding of a violation; providing for 13
entry of default judgment in cases of noncompliance; 14
amending s. 893.147, F.S.; conforming a provision to 15
changes made by the act; amending s. 921.002, F.S.; 16
revising a principle of the Criminal Punishment Code 17
relating to a prisoner's required minimum term of 18
imprisonment; amending s. 944.275, F.S.; revising the 19
incentive gain-time that the Department of Corrections 20
may grant a prisoner; providing exceptions; providing 21
an effective date. 22
23
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24
25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section 26
893.13, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 27
893.13 Prohibited acts; penalties. — 28
(6) 29
(b) If the offense is the possession of 20 grams or less 30
of cannabis, as defined in this chapter, the person commits a 31
misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provi ded in s. 32
775.082 or s. 775.083 , or the person may be issued a civil 33
citation under s. 893.131 . As used in this subsection, the term 34
"cannabis" does not include the resin extracted from the plants 35
of the genus Cannabis, or any compound manufacture, salt, 36
derivative, mixture, or preparation of such resin. 37
Section 2. Section 893.131, Florida Statutes, is created 38
to read: 39
893.131 Cannabis offenses; civil citations. — 40
(1) The following misdemeanor violations are declared 41
civil infractions, and a person c ommitting such a violation may 42
be issued a civil citation, at the discretion of a law 43
enforcement officer, provided that such violation is not charged 44
in conjunction with any criminal charge: 45
(a) Possession, by a person 18 years of age or older, of 46
cannabis in an amount of 20 grams or less, as provided in s. 47
893.13(6)(b). 48
(b) Possession, by a person 18 years of age or older, of 49
drug paraphernalia, as defined in s. 893.145, used in connection 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
with the consumption of cannabis. 51
(2)(a) A person who is iss ued a civil citation pursuant to 52
this section is subject to a civil fine of $100 plus court 53
costs. 54
(b) In lieu of paying the civil fine under paragraph (a), 55
a person who is issued a civil citation pursuant to this section 56
may elect to participate in 10 h ours of community service at a 57
community service agency. The community service agency 58
supervising the person shall record the number of hours of 59
community service completed and the date on which the community 60
service hours were completed. The community ser vice agency shall 61
submit the data to the clerk of the court on the letterhead of 62
the community service agency, which must also bear the notarized 63
signature of the person designated to represent the community 64
service agency. 65
(c) A person may not receive m ore than two civil citations 66
pursuant to this section. 67
(d) The county court shall have jurisdiction over all 68
violations of this section. 69
(e) The clerk of the court shall accept designated fines, 70
issue receipts for the payment of such fines, and accept proof 71
of satisfactory completion of community service. 72
(f) A person issued a civil citation pursuant to 73
subsection (1) shall comply with all directives on such 74
citation. 75
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(g) A person who fails to make payment as provided on the 76
civil citation, and fail s to satisfactorily complete community 77
service within the period specified on such citation, is deemed 78
to have waived his or her right to pay the civil penalty as set 79
forth on such citation. 80
(h) A person who elects to appear before the court to 81
contest the civil citation is deemed to have waived his or her 82
right to pay the civil penalty. The court, after conducting a 83
hearing, shall determine whether a violation has occurred and 84
may impose a civil penalty not to exceed $500 plus court costs. 85
(i) If a person fails to pay the civil penalty and fails 86
to satisfactorily complete community service, or fails to appear 87
in court to contest the civil citation, he or she is deemed to 88
have waived his or her right to contest such citation, a default 89
judgment may be entered, and the judge shall impose a civil 90
fine. If the civil fine is paid, the case shall be disposed of. 91
If the civil fine is not paid, and no proof of satisfactory 92
completion of community service is provided, default judgment 93
shall be entered up to the m aximum civil penalty of $500 plus 94
court costs. 95
Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 893.147, Florida 96
Statutes, is amended to read: 97
893.147 Use, possession, manufacture, delivery, 98
transportation, advertisement, or retail sale of drug 99
paraphernalia, specified machines, and materials. — 100
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(1) USE OR POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA. —It is 101
unlawful for any person to use, or to possess with intent to 102
use, drug paraphernalia: 103
(a) To plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, 104
manufacture, compound, convert , produce, process, prepare, test, 105
analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, or conceal a controlled 106
substance in violation of this chapter; or 107
(b) To inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into 108
the human body a controlled substance in violation of this 109
chapter. 110
111
A Any person who violates this subsection commits is guilty of a 112
misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 113
775.082 or s. 775.083 , or, for violations involving cannabis 114
paraphernalia, a person who violates this subsection may be 115
issued a civil citation under s. 893.131 . 116
Section 4. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 117
921.002, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 118
921.002 The Criminal Punishment Code. —The Criminal 119
Punishment Code shall apply to all felony offense s, except 120
capital felonies, committed on or after October 1, 1998. 121
(1) The provision of criminal penalties and of limitations 122
upon the application of such penalties is a matter of 123
predominantly substantive law and, as such, is a matter properly 124
addressed by the Legislature. The Legislature, in the exercise 125
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of its authority and responsibility to establish sentencing 126
criteria, to provide for the imposition of criminal penalties, 127
and to make the best use of state prisons so that violent 128
criminal offenders ar e appropriately incarcerated, has 129
determined that it is in the best interest of the state to 130
develop, implement, and revise a sentencing policy. The Criminal 131
Punishment Code embodies the principles that: 132
(e) The sentence imposed by the sentencing judge r eflects 133
the length of actual time to be served, shortened only by the 134
application of incentive and meritorious gain -time as provided 135
by law, and may not be shortened if the defendant would 136
consequently serve less than 75 percent of his or her term of 137
imprisonment as provided in s. 944.275(4)(b)3.a. or less than 85 138
percent of his or her term of imprisonment as provided in s. 139
944.275(4). The provisions of chapter 947 , relating to parole 140
do, shall not apply to persons sentenced under the Criminal 141
Punishment Code. 142
Section 5. Paragraphs (b) and (f) of subsection (4) of 143
section 944.275, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 144
944.275 Gain-time.— 145
(4) 146
(b) For each month in which an inmate works diligently, 147
participates in training, uses time constructively, or otherwise 148
engages in positive activities, the department may grant 149
incentive gain-time in accordance with this paragraph. The rate 150
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of incentive gain-time in effect on the date the inmate 151
committed the offense that which resulted in his or her 152
incarceration shall be the inmate's rate of eligibility to earn 153
incentive gain-time throughout the period of incarceration and 154
may shall not be altered by a subsequent change in the severity 155
level of the offense for which the inmate was sentenced. 156
1. For sentences imposed for offenses committed before 157
prior to January 1, 1994, up to 20 days of incentive gain -time 158
may be granted. If granted, such gain -time shall be credited and 159
applied monthly. 160
2. For sentences imposed for offenses committed on or 161
after January 1, 1994, and before October 1, 1995: 162
a. For offenses ranked in offense severity levels 1 163
through 7, under former s. 921.0012 or former s. 921.0013, up to 164
25 days of incentive gain -time may be granted. If granted, such 165
gain-time shall be credited and applie d monthly. 166
b. For offenses ranked in offense severity levels 8, 9, 167
and 10, under former s. 921.0012 or former s. 921.0013, up to 20 168
days of incentive gain -time may be granted. If granted, such 169
gain-time shall be credited and applied monthly. 170
3. For sentences imposed for offenses, regardless of the 171
date committed, up to 20 days per month of incentive gain -time 172
may be granted, except that: 173
a. If the offense is a nonviolent felony, as defined in s. 174
948.08(6)(a), the prisoner is not eligible to earn any t ype of 175
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gain-time in an amount that would cause the prisoner's sentence 176
to expire, end, or terminate, or that would result in the 177
prisoner's release, before he or she serves a minimum of 75 178
percent of the sentence imposed. For purposes of this sub -179
subparagraph, credits awarded by the court for time physically 180
incarcerated must be credited toward satisfaction of 75 percent 181
of the sentence imposed. A prisoner who is granted incentive 182
gain-time pursuant to this sub -subparagraph may not accumulate 183
further gain-time awards at any point when the prisoner's 184
tentative release date is the same as that date at which the 185
prisoner will have served 75 percent of the sentence imposed. 186
State prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment must be 187
incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives unless granted 188
pardon or clemency. 189
b. If the offense is not a nonviolent felony, as defined 190
in s. 948.08(6)(a), the prisoner is not eligible to earn any 191
type of gain-time in an amount that would cause the prisoner's 192
sentence to expire, end , or terminate, or that would result in 193
the prisoner's release, before he or she serves a minimum of 85 194
percent of the sentence imposed. For purposes of this sub -195
subparagraph, credits awarded by the court for time physically 196
incarcerated must be credited t oward satisfaction of 85 percent 197
of the sentence imposed. A prisoner who is granted incentive 198
gain-time pursuant to this sub -subparagraph may not accumulate 199
further gain-time awards at any point when the prisoner's 200
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tentative release date is the same as tha t date at which the 201
prisoner will have served 85 percent of the sentence imposed. 202
State prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment must be 203
incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives unless granted 204
pardon or clemency For sentences imposed for offenses c ommitted 205
on or after October 1, 1995, the department may grant up to 10 206
days per month of incentive gain -time. 207
(f) An inmate who is subject to subparagraph (b)3. is not 208
eligible to earn or receive gain -time under paragraph (a), 209
paragraph (b), paragraph ( c), or paragraph (d) or any other type 210
of gain-time in an amount that would cause a sentence to expire, 211
end, or terminate, or that would result in a prisoner's release, 212
before prior to serving a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence 213
imposed. For purposes o f this paragraph, credits awarded by the 214
court for time physically incarcerated shall be credited toward 215
satisfaction of 85 percent of the sentence imposed. Except as 216
provided by this section, a prisoner may not accumulate further 217
gain-time awards at any p oint when the tentative release date is 218
the same as that date at which the prisoner will have served 85 219
percent of the sentence imposed. State prisoners sentenced to 220
life imprisonment shall be incarcerated for the rest of their 221
natural lives, unless grante d pardon or clemency. 222
Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 223