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FloridaSB 13322026Senate

Career Offender Registration

Sponsored By: Jonathan Martin (Republican)

Signed by Governor

AppropriationCriminal JusticeAppropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil JusticeFiscal PolicyHouse Calendar

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

12 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 7 costs, 2 mixed.

Career offenders face lifetime registration

Beginning October 1, 2026, Florida requires lifetime registration for covered career offenders, unless a pardon or court relief ends it. Coverage includes designated habitual violent felony offenders, violent career criminals, three-time violent felony offenders, and prison releasee reoffenders. This includes people under state corrections custody, control, or supervision, including contractor-run facilities. Initial in-person sheriff registration is generally due within 48 hours after release or establishing a Florida residence. Covered people under corrections supervision but not incarcerated must register with corrections within 3 business days after sentencing. Required records include identity details, prints, photos, work, addresses, phones, vehicles, applicable passport and immigration documents, and professional licenses.

Career offenders must renew registration yearly

Beginning October 1, 2026, career offenders must appear at their local sheriff's office each year during their birthday month. They must update required personal, work, residence, vehicle, phone, passport, immigration, and professional-license details. A post office box cannot replace a physical home address; vehicle, mobile-home, and vessel homes require extra identifying details. Required changes must generally be reported in person within 48 hours. Offenders must answer address-verification letters within 3 weeks of the letter's date or face a third-degree felony.

Career offenders need visibly marked identification

Beginning October 1, 2026, covered community residents must visit Florida's driver license agency within 48 hours after registration. They must identify themselves as career offenders, complete photo and identity checks, and pay applicable license or ID costs. Their card must display “775.261, F.S.” on the front. During their birthday month, offenders must obtain an updated or renewed card if the required card was not already secured or updated. Covered people under corrections supervision who register under the named sexual-predator or sexual-offender laws follow those registration rules instead.

Helping offenders evade enforcement becomes felony

Beginning October 1, 2026, intentionally helping a noncompliant career offender evade registration enforcement is a third-degree felony. Covered acts include withholding information, failing to notify police, hiding the offender, helping conceal them, or knowingly giving false information. The helper must have reason to believe the offender is noncompliant and intend to help them avoid questioning or arrest. A relationship with the offender alone does not trigger this penalty. This rule does not apply while the offender is incarcerated in or held by a listed correctional facility.

Registration failures bring separate felony charges

Beginning October 1, 2026, registration failures and knowingly false registration information carry third-degree felony penalties; each failure is a separate offense. An advised arrest, service of formal charges, or arraignment for a registration violation counts as notice and requires immediate registration. A later failure can bring another charge without a lack-of-notice defense; registering later does not erase the original violation. Before moving outside Florida, offenders must report their intended address to the sheriff at least 48 hours before departure. When plans were not known earlier, reporting is due as soon as possible; supervised probationers must also follow interstate transfer rules. Failure to provide the intended out-of-state residence information is a second-degree felony. Prosecution can occur in more counties, including the release county and the county of the intended address reported before release.

Career offenders can seek registration relief

Beginning October 1, 2026, career offenders can ask the circuit court where they were designated to end registration. They must have been lawfully released from confinement, supervision, or sanctions for at least 20 years, with no arrests since release. Relief is not automatic; the court considers conduct and arrest history. State law enforcement and the local state attorney must receive at least 3 weeks' notice and may oppose the request. The department must remove the classification after receiving a certified court finding or order that registration is no longer required.

Nonregistrants' vehicle details stay off registry

Beginning October 1, 2026, Florida law enforcement cannot display or share nonregistrants' vehicle information through its public online registry. This protection applies when the vehicle owner is not required to register as a career offender. It limits public disclosure even when offender reporting rules require the vehicle's information.

Agencies share offender records more quickly

Beginning October 1, 2026, corrections must share covered offender records electronically with state law enforcement once compatible records enter its database. Records include current and planned addresses, legal status, supervision details, and a recent digital photo. Sheriffs must submit registration information and updates electronically within 2 working days. The state registry must work with Florida's crime-information system and provide immediate locator information to authorized law enforcement. Federal supervising agencies may share records and specify whether they are limited to police use or available for public notice. Covered agencies, staff, and people acting at their direction have civil immunity for good-faith compliance and disclosure; good faith is presumed.

Jails report offender intake and release

Beginning October 1, 2026, local jails must notify state law enforcement within 3 business days after a career offender enters custody for any reason. They must notify the agency again upon release and provide required records and a digital photo taken in custody. Corrections release records add palm prints, identifying marks, and current and planned addresses in Florida or elsewhere. Work and professional-license details are included if known; passport and immigration documents are included when applicable. Required photos must be taken within 60 days before release or within 60 days after supervision begins, as applicable. For offenders not sentenced to prison, court clerks must forward fingerprints within 48 hours after sentencing.

Career offenders must report more vehicles

Beginning October 1, 2026, vehicle reporting extends beyond vehicles a career offender owns outright. It includes vehicles they register, co-register, title, lease, or rent, plus rentals they are authorized to drive. Vehicles for which they are insured as a driver also count. The rule includes vehicles registered, co-registered, titled, leased, or rented by someone staying at their permanent home for at least 5 consecutive days. Changes must be reported in person to the sheriff within 48 hours.

Shorter stays trigger offender residence reporting

Beginning October 1, 2026, a career offender's primary home counts as a permanent residence after 3 consecutive days, down from 14. Temporary residence rules use at least 3 total days in a calendar year. Transient residence rules cover a county where the offender spends at least 3 total days in a calendar year. The first day is excluded; every later day counts, including part of a day. These definitions bring shorter stays into residence-based registration rules.

Public offender registry expands community notice

Beginning October 1, 2026, Florida law enforcement must keep current career-offender information online as a public record. The public also has access through other means, including a toll-free hotline; police receive locator and criminal-history information. Local sheriffs and police chiefs may notify communities when a career offender lives or stays nearby. Notice is required when the offender is also a designated sexual predator, coordinated under existing sexual-predator rules. Officials may release color photos, including license images, reducing registered offenders' privacy. Requestors must be warned that positive identification requires fingerprint comparison and that the information cannot be used to aid crime.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Jonathan Martin

    Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

  • Fiscal Policy

    Affiliation unavailable

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 174 • No: 5

House vote • 3/11/2026

House Floor Vote

Yes: 105 • No: 4

Senate vote • 3/5/2026

Senate Floor Vote

Yes: 36 • No: 1

Senate vote • 3/2/2026

Fiscal Policy Vote

Yes: 18 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/18/2026

Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice Vote

Yes: 8 • No: 0

Senate vote • 1/26/2026

Criminal Justice Vote

Yes: 7 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Chapter No. 2026-151

    6/17/2026

  2. Approved by Governor

    6/16/2026

  3. Signed by Officers and presented to Governor

    6/9/2026

  4. Ordered enrolled

    3/17/2026Senate

  5. CS passed; YEAS 105, NAYS 4

    3/11/2026House

  6. Read 3rd time

    3/11/2026House

  7. Added to Third Reading Calendar

    3/11/2026House

  8. Read 2nd time

    3/11/2026House

  9. 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 1)

    3/10/2026House

  10. Bill added to Special Order Calendar (3/11/2026)

    3/10/2026House

  11. Bill referred to House Calendar

    3/10/2026House

  12. In Messages

    3/5/2026House

  13. CS passed; YEAS 36 NAYS 1 -SJ 609

    3/5/2026Senate

  14. Read 3rd time -SJ 609

    3/5/2026Senate

  15. Read 2nd time -SJ 609

    3/5/2026Senate

  16. Placed on Special Order Calendar, 03/05/26

    3/4/2026Senate

  17. Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading

    3/4/2026Senate

  18. CS by Fiscal Policy read 1st time

    3/3/2026Senate

  19. Pending reference review -under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

    3/3/2026Senate

  20. CS by- Fiscal Policy; YEAS 18 NAYS 0

    3/2/2026Senate

  21. On Committee agenda-- Fiscal Policy, 03/02/26, 12:00 pm, 412 Knott Building

    2/25/2026Senate

  22. Now in Fiscal Policy

    2/18/2026Senate

  23. Favorable by Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice; YEAS 8 NAYS 0

    2/18/2026Senate

  24. On Committee agenda-- Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice, 02/18/26, 10:30 am, 37 Senate Building

    2/13/2026Senate

  25. Now in Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice

    1/27/2026Senate

Bill Text

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