HB 597 2024
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hb0597-00
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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 fleeing or attempting to elude a 2
law enforcement officer; amending s. 316.1935, F.S.; 3
providing mandatory minimum sentences for violations; 4
providing for pretrial diversion for first -time 5
offenders; conforming provisions to changes made by 6
the act; providing an effective date. 7
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9
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Section 1. Subsections (5), (6), and (7) of sectio n 11
316.1935, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (7), 12
(8), and (9), respectively, subsections (3) and (4) of that 13
section are amended, new subsections (5) and (6) are added to 14
that section, and subsections (1) and (2) of that section are 15
republished, to read: 16
316.1935 Fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement 17
officer; aggravated fleeing or eluding. — 18
(1) It is unlawful for the operator of any vehicle, having 19
knowledge that he or she has been ordered to stop such vehicle 20
by a duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully to 21
refuse or fail to stop the vehicle in compliance with such order 22
or, having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, 23
willfully to flee in an attempt to elude the officer, and a 24
person who violates this subse ction commits a felony of the 25
HB 597 2024
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hb0597-00
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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
third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, 26
or s. 775.084. 27
(2) Any person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a 28
law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement patrol 29
vehicle, with agency in signia and other jurisdictional markings 30
prominently displayed on the vehicle, with siren and lights 31
activated commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as 32
provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 33
(3) Any person who willfully flees or at tempts to elude a 34
law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement patrol 35
vehicle, with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings 36
prominently displayed on the vehicle, with siren and lights 37
activated, and during the course of the fleeing or attempted 38
eluding: 39
(a) Drives at high speed, or in any manner which 40
demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or 41
property, commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as 42
provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 43
(b) Drives at high speed, or in any manner which 44
demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or 45
property, and causes serious bodily injury or death to another 46
person, including any law enforcement officer involved in 47
pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the 48
person's vehicle, commits a felony of the first degree, 49
punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 50
HB 597 2024
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hb0597-00
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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
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall 51
sentence any person convicted of committing the off ense 52
described in this paragraph to a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 53
years imprisonment in addition to the mandatory minimum sentence 54
provided under subsection (5) . Nothing in This paragraph does 55
not shall prevent a court from imposing a greater sentence of 56
incarceration as authorized by law. 57
(4) Any person who, in the course of unlawfully leaving or 58
attempting to leave the scene of a crash in violation of s. 59
316.027 or s. 316.061, having knowledge of an order to stop by a 60
duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully refuses or 61
fails to stop in compliance with such an order, or having 62
stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully flees 63
in an attempt to elude such officer and, as a result of such 64
fleeing or eluding: 65
(a) Causes injury to another person or causes damage to 66
any property belonging to another person, commits aggravated 67
fleeing or eluding, a felony of the second degree, punishable as 68
provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 69
(b) Causes serious bodily injury or death to another 70
person, including any law enforcement officer involved in 71
pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the 72
person's vehicle, commits aggravated fleeing or eluding with 73
serious bodily injury or death, a felony of the first degree, 74
punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 75
HB 597 2024
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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
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The felony of aggravated fleeing or eluding and the felony of 77
aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or 78
death constitute separate offenses for which a person may be 79
charged, in addition to the offenses under ss. 316.027 and 80
316.061, relating to unlawfully leaving the scene of a crash, 81
which the person had been in the course of committing or 82
attempting to commit when the order to stop was given. 83
Notwithstanding any other provision o f law, the court shall 84
sentence any person convicted of committing aggravated fleeing 85
or eluding with serious bodily injury or death to a mandatory 86
minimum sentence of 3 years imprisonment in addition to the 87
mandatory minimum sentence provided under subsec tion (5). 88
Nothing in This subsection does not shall prevent a court from 89
imposing a greater sentence of incarceration as authorized by 90
law. 91
(5) A person convicted of a violation of subsection (1), 92
subsection (2), subsection (3), or subsection (4) shall: 93
(a) For a first offense, be sentenced to a mandatory 94
minimum sentence of 364 days' imprisonment. 95
(b) For a second offense, be sentenced to a mandatory 96
minimum sentence of 5 years' imprisonment. 97
(c) For a third or subsequent offense, be sentenced to a 98
mandatory minimum sentence of 8 years' imprisonment. 99
(6) In lieu of a criminal conviction under this section, a 100
HB 597 2024
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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
judge has the option for first -time offender to order a pretrial 101
diversion program under which, at a minimum, any vehicle owned 102
by the offender shall be impounded for 30 days and the 103
offender's driver license suspended for 6 months. 104
Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2024. 105