Florida Senate - 2022 SB 470 By Senator Powell 30-00673-22 2022470__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to revising penalties for nonviolent 3 offenses; amending s. 893.13, F.S.; conforming a 4 provision to changes made by the act; creating s. 5 893.131, F.S.; authorizing the issuance of civil 6 citations for the possession of 20 grams or less of 7 cannabis and the possession of drug paraphernalia used 8 in connection with the consumption of cannabis; 9 providing for civil fines; providing for community 10 service in lieu of civil fines; limiting the number of 11 civil citations that a person may receive; providing 12 that a person who contests the violation waives a 13 specified civil penalty and may receive a larger 14 penalty upon a finding of a violation; providing for 15 entry of default judgment in cases of noncompliance; 16 amending s. 893.147, F.S.; conforming a provision to 17 changes made by the act; amending s. 921.002, F.S.; 18 revising a principle of the Criminal Punishment Code 19 relating to a prisoners required minimum term of 20 imprisonment; amending s. 944.275, F.S.; revising the 21 incentive gain-time that the Department of Corrections 22 may grant a prisoner; providing exceptions; providing 23 an effective date. 24 25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26 27 Section 1.Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section 28 893.13, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 29 893.13Prohibited acts; penalties. 30 (6) 31 (b)If the offense is the possession of 20 grams or less of 32 cannabis, as defined in this chapter, the person commits a 33 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 34 775.082 or s. 775.083, or the person may be issued a civil 35 citation under s. 893.131. As used in this subsection, the term 36 cannabis does not include the resin extracted from the plants 37 of the genus Cannabis, or any compound manufacture, salt, 38 derivative, mixture, or preparation of such resin. 39 Section 2.Section 893.131, Florida Statutes, is created to 40 read: 41 893.131Cannabis offenses; civil citations. 42 (1)The following misdemeanor violations are declared civil 43 infractions, and a person committing such violation may be 44 issued a civil citation at the discretion of a law enforcement 45 officer, provided that such violation is not charged in 46 conjunction with any criminal charge: 47 (a)Possession, by a person 18 years of age or older, of 48 cannabis in an amount of 20 grams or less, as provided in s. 49 893.13(6)(b). 50 (b)Possession, by a person 18 years of age or older, of 51 drug paraphernalia, as defined in s. 893.145, used in connection 52 with the consumption of cannabis. 53 (2)(a)A person who is issued a civil citation pursuant to 54 this section is subject to a civil fine of $100 plus court 55 costs. 56 (b)In lieu of paying the civil fine under paragraph (a), a 57 person who is issued a civil citation pursuant to this section 58 may elect to participate in 10 hours of community service at a 59 community service agency. The community service agency 60 supervising the person shall record the number of hours of 61 community service completed and the date on which the community 62 service hours were completed. The community service agency shall 63 submit the data to the clerk of the court on the letterhead of 64 the community service agency, which must also bear the notarized 65 signature of the person designated to represent the community 66 service agency. 67 (c)A person may not receive more than two civil citations 68 pursuant to this section. 69 (d)The county court shall have jurisdiction over all 70 violations of this section. 71 (e)The clerk of the court shall accept designated fines, 72 issue receipts for the payment of such fines, and accept proof 73 of satisfactory completion of community service. 74 (f)A person issued a civil citation pursuant to subsection 75 (1) shall comply with all directives on such citation. 76 (g)A person who fails to make payment as provided on the 77 civil citation, and fails to satisfactorily complete community 78 service within the period specified on such citation, is deemed 79 to have waived his or her right to pay the civil penalty as set 80 forth on such citation. 81 (h)A person who elects to appear before the court to 82 contest the civil citation is deemed to have waived his or her 83 right to pay the civil penalty. The court, after conducting a 84 hearing, shall determine whether a violation has occurred and 85 may impose a civil penalty not to exceed $500 plus court costs. 86 (i)If a person fails to pay the civil penalty and fails to 87 satisfactorily complete community service, or fails to appear in 88 court to contest the civil citation, he or she is deemed to have 89 waived his or her right to contest such citation, a default 90 judgment may be entered, and the judge shall impose a civil 91 fine. If the civil fine is paid, the case shall be disposed of. 92 If the civil fine is not paid, and no proof of satisfactory 93 completion of community service is provided, a default judgment 94 shall be entered up to the maximum civil penalty of $500 plus 95 court costs. 96 Section 3.Subsection (1) of section 893.147, Florida 97 Statutes, is amended to read: 98 893.147Use, possession, manufacture, delivery, 99 transportation, advertisement, or retail sale of drug 100 paraphernalia, specified machines, and materials. 101 (1)USE OR POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.It is unlawful 102 for any person to use, or to possess with intent to use, drug 103 paraphernalia: 104 (a)To plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, 105 manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test, 106 analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, or conceal a controlled 107 substance in violation of this chapter; or 108 (b)To inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into 109 the human body a controlled substance in violation of this 110 chapter. 111 112 A Any person who violates this subsection commits is guilty of a 113 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 114 775.082 or s. 775.083, or, for violations involving cannabis 115 paraphernalia, a person who violates this subsection may be 116 issued a civil citation under s. 893.131. 117 Section 4.Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 118 921.002, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 119 921.002The Criminal Punishment Code.The Criminal 120 Punishment Code shall apply to all felony offenses, except 121 capital felonies, committed on or after October 1, 1998. 122 (1)The provision of criminal penalties and of limitations 123 upon the application of such penalties is a matter of 124 predominantly substantive law and, as such, is a matter properly 125 addressed by the Legislature. The Legislature, in the exercise 126 of its authority and responsibility to establish sentencing 127 criteria, to provide for the imposition of criminal penalties, 128 and to make the best use of state prisons so that violent 129 criminal offenders are appropriately incarcerated, has 130 determined that it is in the best interest of the state to 131 develop, implement, and revise a sentencing policy. The Criminal 132 Punishment Code embodies the principles that: 133 (e)The sentence imposed by the sentencing judge reflects 134 the length of actual time to be served, shortened only by the 135 application of incentive and meritorious gain-time as provided 136 by law, and may not be shortened if the defendant would 137 consequently serve less than 75 percent of his or her term of 138 imprisonment as provided in s. 944.275(4)(b)3.a. or less than 85 139 percent of his or her term of imprisonment as provided in s. 140 944.275(4). The provisions of chapter 947, relating to parole 141 do, shall not apply to persons sentenced under the Criminal 142 Punishment Code. 143 Section 5.Paragraphs (b) and (f) of subsection (4) of 144 section 944.275, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 145 944.275Gain-time. 146 (4) 147 (b)For each month in which an inmate works diligently, 148 participates in training, uses time constructively, or otherwise 149 engages in positive activities, the department may grant 150 incentive gain-time in accordance with this paragraph. The rate 151 of incentive gain-time in effect on the date the inmate 152 committed the offense that which resulted in his or her 153 incarceration shall be the inmates rate of eligibility to earn 154 incentive gain-time throughout the period of incarceration and 155 may shall not be altered by a subsequent change in the severity 156 level of the offense for which the inmate was sentenced. 157 1.For sentences imposed for offenses committed before 158 prior to January 1, 1994, up to 20 days of incentive gain-time 159 may be granted. If granted, such gain-time shall be credited and 160 applied monthly. 161 2.For sentences imposed for offenses committed on or after 162 January 1, 1994, and before October 1, 1995: 163 a.For offenses ranked in offense severity levels 1 through 164 7, under former s. 921.0012 or former s. 921.0013, up to 25 days 165 of incentive gain-time may be granted. If granted, such gain 166 time shall be credited and applied monthly. 167 b.For offenses ranked in offense severity levels 8, 9, and 168 10, under former s. 921.0012 or former s. 921.0013, up to 20 169 days of incentive gain-time may be granted. If granted, such 170 gain-time shall be credited and applied monthly. 171 3.For sentences imposed for offenses, regardless of the 172 date committed, up to 20 days per month of incentive gain-time 173 may be granted, except that: 174 a.If the offense is a nonviolent felony as defined in s. 175 948.08(6)(a), the prisoner is not eligible to earn any type of 176 gain-time in an amount that would cause the prisoners sentence 177 to expire, end, or terminate, or that would result in the 178 prisoners release, before he or she serves a minimum of 75 179 percent of the sentence imposed. For purposes of this sub 180 subparagraph, credits awarded by the court for time physically 181 incarcerated must be credited toward satisfaction of 75 percent 182 of the sentence imposed. A prisoner who is granted incentive 183 gain-time pursuant to this sub-subparagraph may not accumulate 184 further gain-time awards at any point when the prisoners 185 tentative release date is the same as that date at which the 186 prisoner will have served 75 percent of the sentence imposed. 187 State prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment must be 188 incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives unless granted 189 pardon or clemency. 190 b.If the offense is not a nonviolent felony as defined in 191 s. 948.08(6)(a), the prisoner is not eligible to earn any type 192 of gain-time in an amount that would cause the prisoners 193 sentence to expire, end, or terminate, or that would result in 194 the prisoners release, before he or she serves a minimum of 85 195 percent of the sentence imposed. For purposes of this sub 196 subparagraph, credits awarded by the court for time physically 197 incarcerated must be credited toward satisfaction of 85 percent 198 of the sentence imposed. A prisoner who is granted incentive 199 gain-time pursuant to this sub-subparagraph may not accumulate 200 further gain-time awards at any point when the prisoners 201 tentative release date is the same as that date at which the 202 prisoner will have served 85 percent of the sentence imposed. 203 State prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment must be 204 incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives unless granted 205 pardon or clemency For sentences imposed for offenses committed 206 on or after October 1, 1995, the department may grant up to 10 207 days per month of incentive gain-time. 208 (f)An inmate who is subject to subparagraph (b)3. is not 209 eligible to earn or receive gain-time under paragraph (a), 210 paragraph (b), paragraph (c), or paragraph (d) or any other type 211 of gain-time in an amount that would cause a sentence to expire, 212 end, or terminate, or that would result in a prisoners release, 213 before prior to serving a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence 214 imposed. For purposes of this paragraph, credits awarded by the 215 court for time physically incarcerated shall be credited toward 216 satisfaction of 85 percent of the sentence imposed. Except as 217 provided by this section, a prisoner may not accumulate further 218 gain-time awards at any point when the tentative release date is 219 the same as that date at which the prisoner will have served 85 220 percent of the sentence imposed. State prisoners sentenced to 221 life imprisonment shall be incarcerated for the rest of their 222 natural lives, unless granted pardon or clemency. 223 Section 6.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.