CS/CS/HB 779 2023
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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 pregnant women in the criminal 2
justice system; providing a short title; creating s. 3
907.033, F.S.; requiring each female arrested and 4
detained in specified detention facilities to be 5
informed of her right to request a pregnancy test in 6
certain circumstances; requiring administration of 7
such a test within a specified timeframe; requiring 8
timely notification of the test results; providing for 9
the types of pregnancy tests that may be given; 10
creating s. 925.13, F.S.; authorizing a pregnant wo man 11
who is before the court for a felony offense for which 12
the court is authorized to impose a term of 13
incarceration in a state correctional institution to 14
petition the court to defer the incarcerative portion 15
of her sentence for a specified period of time ; 16
requiring a petitioning woman to provide verification 17
that she is pregnant; providing factors a court must 18
take into account when determining whether to grant 19
such a petition; requiring a court that grants such a 20
petition to place the pregnant woman on p robation 21
until she is incarcerated; requiring a special 22
condition of probation; authorizing a court to revoke 23
probation or impose sanctions if the pregnant woman 24
granted such a deferred sentence is arrested for 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
committing a new offense or violates conditio ns of 26
probation; amending s. 944.24, F.S.; requiring the 27
Department of Corrections to collect specified 28
information relating to births during a woman's term 29
of imprisonment and the health of pregnant inmates; 30
requiring the department to submit an annual re port; 31
requiring exclusion of personally identifying 32
information; providing an effective date. 33
34
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 35
36
Section 1. This act may be cited as "Ava's Law." 37
Section 2. Section 907.033, Florida Statu tes, is created 38
to read: 39
907.033 Pregnancy testing of female arrestees. — 40
(1)(a) Every female who is arrested and detained in either 41
a county detention facility or a municipal detention facility, 42
as those terms are defined in s. 951.23(1), or a detentio n 43
center or facility, as defined in s. 985.03(19), must: 44
1. Upon her initial booking into the facility, be informed 45
of her right to request a pregnancy test if she is still in 46
custody 72 hours after her arrest. 47
2. If she is still in custody 72 hours af ter her arrest, 48
upon request, be administered a pregnancy test within 24 hours 49
after making such request. 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
(b) A facility must timely inform the female of the 51
results of the pregnancy test. 52
(2) The pregnancy test may be conducted by a urine or 53
blood test, ultrasound scan, or any other standard pregnancy 54
testing protocols adopted by the facility. 55
Section 3. Section 925.13, Florida Statutes, is created to 56
read: 57
925.13 Sentence deferral for pregnant women. — 58
(1)(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a pr egnant woman who 59
is before the court for a felony offense for which the court is 60
authorized to impose a term of incarceration in a state 61
correctional institution, as defined in s. 944.02, may, at any 62
time before the imposition of her sentence by the court, 63
petition the sentencing court to defer the incarcerative portion 64
of her sentence for up to 12 weeks after the pregnant woman 65
gives birth to a child or the pregnancy ends, whichever occurs 66
sooner. 67
(b) A pregnant woman who petitions to defer her sentence 68
must provide verifiable proof of her pregnancy to the court 69
along with the petition for sentence deferral. Verifiable proof 70
may be demonstrated by providing records pursuant to a medical 71
examination or by other suitable means as determined by the 72
court. 73
(c) In determining whether to grant a petition for 74
sentence deferral, the sentencing court must consider the 75
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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
severity of the offense for which the pregnant woman was 76
convicted, the pregnant woman's prior criminal history, whether 77
deferring the incarcerativ e portion of the pregnant woman's 78
sentence poses a danger to the community, the health of the 79
pregnant woman, and any special circumstances related to the 80
woman's pregnancy. 81
(2) If the sentencing court grants a pregnant woman's 82
petition to defer the inca rcerative portion of her sentence, the 83
court must place the pregnant woman on probation, as defined in 84
s. 948.001(8), until the pregnant woman is incarcerated. The 85
sentencing court must require, in addition to the standard 86
conditions of probation in s. 948 .03, the pregnant woman to 87
timely inform her probation officer if she gives birth or her 88
pregnancy ends. The court may order electronic monitoring as a 89
condition of probation when deemed necessary. 90
(3) If a court grants a pregnant woman's petition to de fer 91
the incarcerative portion of her sentence and the pregnant woman 92
is arrested for committing a criminal offense during the 93
deferral period or violates any condition of probation imposed 94
by the court, the court may impose any sanction that may be 95
imposed under s. 948.06, including revoking the pregnant woman's 96
probation and requiring her term of incarceration to begin 97
immediately. 98
Section 4. Subsection (7) is added to section 944.24, 99
Florida Statutes, to read: 100
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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
944.24 Administration of correctional i nstitutions for 101
women.— 102
(7)(a) The department must collect all of the following 103
information, which the department must compile and submit 104
annually in a report to the Governor, the President of the 105
Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives: 106
1. The total number of pregnant inmates who give birth 107
during their term of imprisonment and whether the birth was a 108
live birth or stillbirth. 109
2. The gestational age and birth weight of each infant 110
born during the mother's term of imprisonment. 111
3. The total number of pregnant inmates who experience 112
complications during their term of imprisonment and the types of 113
complications experienced. 114
4. The total number of pregnant inmates who experience 115
miscarriages. 116
(b) The information reported pursuant to paragraph (a) 117
must exclude personally identifying information and must comply 118
with state and federal confidentiality laws. 119
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 120