Florida 2024 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0767 Introduced / Bill

Filed 12/06/2023

                       
 
HB 767  	2024 
 
 
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to resident status for tuition 2 
purposes; amending s. 1009.21, F.S.; providing that an 3 
individual who has been incarcerated or released from 4 
incarceration within a specified 12 -month period may 5 
use expired documentation to establish residency for 6 
tuition purposes; providing that a person may not lose 7 
his or her resident status for tuition purposes due to 8 
incarceration; providing that the legal residence of 9 
an individual before incarceration is prima facie 10 
evidence of the individual's legal residence; 11 
providing an effective date. 12 
  13 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 
 15 
 Section 1.  Present subsections (4) through (13 ) of section 16 
1009.21, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (6) 17 
through (15), respectively, new subsections (4) and (5) are 18 
added to that section, and paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of 19 
that section is amended, to read: 20 
 1009.21  Determination of resident status for tuition 21 
purposes.—Students shall be classified as residents or 22 
nonresidents for the purpose of assessing tuition in 23 
postsecondary educational programs offered by charter technical 24 
career centers or career centers operated by school d istricts, 25     
 
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in Florida College System institutions, and in state 26 
universities. 27 
 (3) 28 
 (c)  Each institution of higher education shall 29 
affirmatively determine that an applicant who has been granted 30 
admission to that institution as a Florida resident meets the 31 
residency requirements of this section at the time of initial 32 
enrollment. The residency determination must be documented by 33 
the submission of written or electronic verification that 34 
includes two or more of the documents identified in this 35 
paragraph. No single piece of evidence shall be conclusive. 36 
 1.  The documents must include at least one of the 37 
following: 38 
 a.  A Florida voter's registration card. 39 
 b.  A Florida driver license. 40 
 c.  A State of Florida identification card. 41 
 d.  A Florida vehicle registrat ion. 42 
 e.  Proof of a permanent home in Florida which is occupied 43 
as a primary residence by the individual or by the individual's 44 
parent if the individual is a dependent child. 45 
 f.  Proof of a homestead exemption in Florida. 46 
 g.  Transcripts from a Florida high school for multiple 47 
years if the Florida high school diploma or high school 48 
equivalency diploma was earned within the last 12 months. 49 
 h.  Proof of permanent full -time employment in Florida for 50     
 
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at least 30 hours per week for a 12 -month period. 51 
 2.  The documents may include one or more of the following: 52 
 a.  A declaration of domicile in Florida. 53 
 b.  A Florida professional or occupational license. 54 
 c.  Florida incorporation. 55 
 d.  A document evidencing family ties in Florida. 56 
 e.  Proof of membership in a Florida-based charitable or 57 
professional organization. 58 
 f.  Any other documentation that supports the student's 59 
request for resident status, including, but not limited to, 60 
utility bills and proof of 12 consecutive months of payments; a 61 
lease agreement and proof of 12 consecutive months of payments; 62 
or an official state, federal, or court document evidencing 63 
legal ties to Florida. 64 
 3.  With respect to an individual who is currently 65 
incarcerated in a state or federal correctional facility in this 66 
state or who has been released from such facility within the 12 67 
months preceding the individual's residency determination, 68 
documentation that is provided to support the individual's 69 
request for resident status may be expired if he or she also 70 
provides evidence of such incarceration within the last 12 71 
months in this state. 72 
 (4)  An individual may not lose his or her resident status 73 
for tuition purposes solely by reason of incarceration in a 74 
state or federal correctional facility in this state. 75     
 
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 (5)  The legal resid ence of an individual before his or her 76 
incarceration in a state or federal correctional facility in 77 
this state is prima facie evidence of the individual's legal 78 
residence, which evidence may be reinforced or rebutted by the 79 
other evidence of legal residen ce required of or presented by 80 
the individual pursuant to this section. With respect to an 81 
individual who did not have legal residence in this state before 82 
his or her incarceration in a state or federal correctional 83 
facility in this state, legal residence may be established if 84 
all of the following conditions are met: 85 
 (a)  The individual was sentenced to a period of 86 
incarceration of at least 3 years. 87 
 (b)  The individual has served at least 18 months of the 88 
sentence before his or her initial enrollment in a n institution 89 
of higher education. 90 
 (c)  The individual provides documentation evidencing ties 91 
to Florida. 92 
 Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 93