Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Guy Seligman updates on new criminal laws that may effect Fort Lauderdale people who are arrested.

Criminal Laws Signed

We are advised that there are three criminal reform hat have been  signed into Law.

Juvenile Justice

CS/SB1552- Juvenile Justice

Sponsored by Senator Bracy, the bill, now law, made several changes regarding juvenile arrests.

The current law only determines the overall treatment of a prolific juvenile offender (PJO) who is awaiting a disposition, not a PJO who violates the terms of his/her nonsecure detention. (A PJO is a youth with a high risk for recidivism.) Consequently, the new law deals with these violations. Its provisions went  into effect on July 1, 2018.

Most notably, the legislation:

Requires a PJO who violated conditions of his or her nonsecure detention to be held in secure detention until a detention hearing is held.[1]
Revises the Detention Risk Assessment Instrument (DRAI) used to determine placement of a juvenile in detention care.[2]
Additionally, SB 1552 supplies new guidelines to be considered in the DRAI. The Department of Juvenile Justice relies on DRAI to evaluate whether a juvenile should be placed in detention care. The bill removed several requirements the DRAI had traditionally included in its assessment, theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. The aforementioned will take effect in July 1, 2019.

The new law refines the wide range of factors that the DRAI uses, and limits them to:[3]

pending felony and misdemeanor offenses;
offenses committed pending adjudication;
prior offenses;
unlawful possession of a firearm;
violations of supervision;
supervision status at the time the child is taken into custody; and
all statutory mandates for detention care.
CS/HB1201 – Basic Education

Passed unanimously in both houses, this bill increases access to education for inmates who are finishing their sentencing.

The bill:

Permits a county or the Department of Corrections to contract with a district school board, the Florida Virtual School or a charter school to provide educational services in the Correctional Educational Program to its inmate.[4]
Allows state funding for postsecondary workforce programs to be used for the education of inmates within less than 24 months of finishing their sentence.[5]
The bill takes an important step in improving the present state of inmate reentry in Florida. Florida’s current laws do not permit funding for post-secondary education. This new law lifted that ban. Such a change is momentous; it would contribute to prisoners being better educated and equipped with skills upon release. This would, in turn, increase their probability of entering the workforce and reduce their probability of recidivism.

SB 1392 – Criminal Justice Data Collection
Introduced by Rep. Chris Sprowls, this legislation’s provisions are unprecedented in the state and nationally. Essentially, the bill seeks to create a criminal justice database and amends Florida’s current laws on juvenile and adult civil citation programs.

There are some groundbreaking features in this legislation. It will:

Require every local and state agency within the state’s criminal justice system to uniformly collect accurate data from state attorneys and public defenders and publish it in one publicly accessible database. These data which will be anonymized and include information on plea-deals, bail, bond, pre-trial risk assessment tools and defendants’ ethnicities. Moreover, it will collect county-level data on courts’ annual caseloads and the number of offenders being held in jail before their trials.[6]
Mandate each judicial circuit to create a civil citation pre-arrest diversion programs for minors.[7]
Encourage local communities and public or private educational institutions to provide pre-arrest diversion programs for adults.[8]
To implement all of the above, the state’s budget has allocated $1.75 million. Florida’s sixth circuit will pilot the project this year while the data-sharing requirements are expected to take effect in 2019.

These  new changes will promote diversion services to adults, which would have a sizable effect on the overall number of people incarcerated and recidivism rates.

If you have more questions bout these laws or if you have been arrested or have a son or daughter that has been arrested contact Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Guy Seligman