SB 1230 referred to Senate Fiscal Policy Committee and HB 1235 added to Second Reading Calendar

 

We have met with some success because of the emails, calls, and in-person visits with legislators.  Both bills (SB 1230 and HB 1235) have removed the language that could have made it impossible for anyone to ever petition to be removed from the registry.  Our teamwork is showing some positive results, and now is not the time to quit as we have more work to do.

 

What you need to know about SB 1230 and HB 1235:

 

 

  • At the time of posting/emailing this Call to Action, no dates or times for future votes have been published, but we assume that they will be coming.

 

 

  • SB 1230 and HB 1235 are an attempt by FDLE and our legislators to amend the Sexual Predators Act (FS 775.21) and the Sexual Offenders Act (943.0435).

 

  • The sponsor of SB 1230 is Senator Jennifer Bradley, representing District 6 (Columbia, Baker, Union, Bradford, Clay, Gilchrist, and Northern Alachua Counties).  The sponsor of HB 1235 is Representative Jessica Baker, representing District 17 (part of Duval County).

 

  • The verbiage “a day includes any part of a calendar day” is back in these bills.  “For the purpose of calculating a temporary residence under this paragraph, the first day that a person abides, lodges, or resides at a place is excluded and each subsequent day is counted.  A DAY INCLUDES ANY PART OF A CALENDAR DAY.

 

  • ANY duration of travel outside the USA is reportable (previously 5 days or more).  The line “5 days” has been struck out.

 

  • Lines 1034-1036 and 1600-1602 in SB 1230 and lines 1034-1036 and 1601-1602 in HB 1235 state that EACH instance of a failure to register or report changes of the required information constitutes a SEPARATE offense.  A single misstep carries a maximum sentence of 5 years.  Someone on the registry could be facing decades in prison for one unintentional, paperwork violation, as it would be unreported each time you register. 

 

  • These entire bills are retroactive in the sense that they will apply to all people on the registry regardless of when they were convicted.  However, they are not retroactive in the sense that someone who did NOT register 4 cars a month before the law passed (if it passes) could be charged with 4 separate offenses.  That part would only apply to registration violations committed after the bills’ effective date.

 

Please do the following:

 

  • Email or call members of the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee first.  Then contact as many of the 120 House Representatives as you can.  Paul Renner is the Speaker of the House.

 

  • You will need to give your name.

 

  • If you are a constituent for any of the senators you are contacting, make sure you mention that you are.  You can click on these links to find your senator and representative.

 

  • Let the legislators know the reasons you OPPOSE a particular part of these bills.  Tell them what could happen to you and your family if these bills are not amended.  TELL YOUR STORY.

 

  • If you call in the evening or on a weekend, voicemail will pick up.  Leave a message.  Aides say that voicemails are counted.

 

  • Always be cordial in your communications with the legislators as they are more likely to listen to us.

 

Talking points:

 

The legislators are asking that we let them know how SB 1230 and HB 1235 will impact our lives.  TELL YOUR STORIES.  If you do not have a story to tell, then give a hypothetical story that could happen to you if the above-mentioned concerns we have with these bills are NOT removed.  More than one story would be great to share.

 

We also need for family members, friends, or anyone who would be negatively impacted by the changes being proposed in these bills to tell our legislators what will happen to them if the language is not removed from SB 1230 and HB 1235.

 

Do not try to use every suggestion or piece of information given in this Call to Action.  Pick out what is most important to you.  If you have time to write more than one email or make more than one call, then you could include additional information.

 

PERTAINING TO THE DEFINITION OF A DAY:

 

  • Representative Baker (the sponsor of HB 1235) recently gave the following example of how the definition “part of a day” is intended to be used in HB 1235:

 

1st day at temporary residence counts as Day 0.  Does not count.

2nd day at temporary residence counts as Day 1.

3rd day at temporary residence counts as Day 2.

4th day at temporary residence counts as Day 3.  Triggers obligation to register.

 

Representative Baker continued with her interpretation of HB 1235: Let’s say that you check out on the 4th day (also referred to as Day 3) at 8 am and return home.  Because you have stayed “any part” of Day 3, you have now triggered the obligation to register.  Had you left before midnight on the 3rd day (also referred to as Day 2), you would NOT have triggered the obligation to register.  

 

Representative Baler said that the “day includes any part of a calendar day” would only apply to Day 3, but these bills do NOT say that.  Some in law enforcement are saying there will be chaos in their departments if this passes.

 

  • Nowhere in these bills does it state that Days 1 and 2 cannot be considered as “parts of a calendar day.” 

 

  • Baker told the FAC members who met with her that the intent of this bill was NOT to keep people from visiting places or going to a barber shop, but the bill does not say that.  It says that a day includes “any part of a calendar day,” with a possible implication being that any PARTS of Days 1 and 2 would be considered a day in these bills.

 

  • One possible scenario: You are in your sister’s wedding which involves being at a temporary residence for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.  Since Friday is the first day, it would not count, but you would technically have to leave by 12:00 am (midnight) on Sunday as any part of Monday would count as a “day.”  What if your flight is canceled?  Use other scenarios that you can think of that would apply to your life if this part of these bills is not amended.  TELL YOUR STORY.

 

  • What do you do if it is a 3-day holiday weekend and your registration office is not open?  And your car breaks down late Friday afternoon, causing you to have to rent a car?  This is one reason we need for these bills to use the words “business day” rather than “day.”  TELL YOUR STORY.  If you do not have one, then describe hypothetically how such a situation could be disastrous for you.  Include family members’ stories.

 

  • If Florida legislators want people on the registry to remain compliant, then change the word “day” to “business day.”  In lines 571-575 of SB 1230 and HB 1235, “If the sexual predator is in the custody of a local jail, the custodian of the local jail shall register the sexual predator within 3 BUSINESS DAYS after intake of the sexual predator…”  If the custodian of a jail is given 3 business days, then why aren’t people on the registry, who are trying to remain compliant, also given 3 business days?  TELL YOUR STORY OF WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU OR A FAMILY MEMBER WHO COULD NOT RE-REGISTER OR REGISTER A CHANGE BECAUSE THE OFFICE WAS CLOSED.

 

PERTAINING TO HAVING EACH INCIDENCE OF FAILURE TO REGISTER OR REPORT CHANGES COUNTING AS A SEPARATE OFFENSE:

 

  • These are paperwork felonies with each offense coming with a maximum of 5 years in prison.

 

  • One possible scenario: Your wife receives a new license plate with her renewed car registration and forgets to tell you.  You re-register 3 times, not knowing that her car has a new license plate.  Law enforcement comes to your home and sees the license plate that you have not registered at any of your 3 previous re-registrations.  You have now committed 3 paperwork felonies that could land you in prison for 15 years.  TELL YOUR OWN STORY ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU OR COULD HAPPEN TO YOU IN THE FUTURE IF THIS LANGUAGE STAYS IN THESE BILLS.

 

  • Other benign violations that could land someone on the registry in prison for years if there is more than one occurrence:

 

  • Failure to maintain a driver’s license or identification card

 

  • Failure to provide an email address or an internet identifier

 

  • Failure to provide a phone number

 

  • If the wording “each incident is counted as a separate offense” remains in these bills, some people on the registry who are not sexually re-offending could end up with longer prison sentences than that for some violent offenders.  How is sending people on the registry to prison for years for these paperwork felonies making society safer?

 

  • If this language in SB 1230 and HB 1235 is not deleted, it is conceivable that someone could end up with a lifetime sentence for failure-to-register violations.  The Georgia State Supreme Court ruled that a lifetime sentence for failure to register is unconstitutional.  Decisions of state supreme courts, especially those of adjacent or nearby states, are persuasive authority, especially for matters of first impression, in another state.

 

  • FDLE has expressed significant concerns in previous years with vacation rental bills: “…sexual offender and predator registration is a civil and regulatory process, not punishment…If the impact on sexual predator and offender registration is viewed as punishment…, the FDLE advises that these concerns may lead to significant litigation…Such litigation may jeopardize constitutionality, and therefore the viability, of Florida sexual offender and predator registration laws.”  (Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2022 Agency Legislative Bill Analysis for SB 512, at 3 (Nov. 15, 2021))

 

  • The “every mistake is a separate offense” shows that even the intent of the law is to be punitive.

 

  • FDLE is asking for the proposed changes in current statutes (943.0435 and 775.21).  They are focusing only on the small minority of people on the registry who have sexually re-offended after release from prison for a previous sex crime.  Focus on this minority of sexual re-offenders only, but why continue to punish the tens of thousands of people on the Florida registry who are NOT sexually re-offending and never will?

 

  • There are already lawsuits in Florida against the registry, and more are coming if the Florida Legislature is not reined in concerning passing even more punitive laws that affect the thousands upon thousands of law-abiding citizens on the Florida registry.

 

  • It is time for Florida to begin using empirically-validated risk assessments (not the offense) to remove the thousands of people on the Florida registry who are now law-abiding citizens.  Then law enforcement could focus all resources on the small minority that continue to sexually re-offend.  Then and only then will society become safer.  (Florida is one of only three states in the United States where placement on the registry is for life.)

 

Contact information for members of the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee for SB 1230:

 

  1. Senator Travis Hutson (R) Chair:  [email protected];  (850) 487-5007 
  2. Senator Linda Stewart (D) Vice Chair:  [email protected]; (850) 487-5017
  3. Senator Ben Albritton (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5027  
  4. Senator Lori Berman (D):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5026
  5. Senator Jim Boyd (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5020
  6. Senator Colleen Burton (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5012
  7. Senator Alexis Calatayud (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5038
  8. Senator Jay Collins (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5014
  9. Senator Nick DiCeglie (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5018
  10. Senator Ileana Garcia (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5036
  11. Senator Shervin D. Jones (D):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5034
  12. Senator Debbie Mayfield (R):  [email protected]; (850) 487-5019
  13. Senator Rosalind Osgood (D):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5032
  14. Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5040
  15. Senator Corey Simon (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5003
  16. Senator Geraldine F. Thompson (D):  [email protected]; (850) 487-5015
  17. Senator Victor M. Torres, Jr. (D):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5025
  18. Senator Jay Trumbull (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5002
  19. Senator Tom A. Wright (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5008
  20. Senator Clay Yarborough (R):  [email protected];  (850) 487-5004

 

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];  

 

Contact for information for members of the Florida House of Representatives:

(Email addresses are grouped below.)

Name Email Phone
  1. Shane G. Abbott
[email protected] (850) 717-5005
2.  Thad Altman [email protected] (850) 717-5032
3.  Daniel Antonio “Danny” Alvarez [email protected] (850) 717-5069
4.  Carolina Amesty [email protected] (850) 717-5045
5.  Adam Anderson [email protected] (850) 717-5057
6.  Robert Alexander “Alex “Andrade [email protected] (850) 717-5002
7.  Bruce Hadley Antone [email protected] (850) 717-5041
8.  Kristen Aston Arrington [email protected] (850) 717-5046
9.  Jessica Baker [email protected] (850) 717-5017
10.  Douglas Michael “Doug” Bankson [email protected] (850) 717-5039
11.  Webster Barnaby [email protected] (850) 717-5029
12.  Robin Bartleman [email protected] (850) 717-5103
13.  Fabián Basabe [email protected] (850) 717-5106
14.  Melony M. Bell [email protected] (850) 717-5049
15.  Mike Beltran [email protected] (850) 717-5070
16.  Christopher Benjamin [email protected] (850) 717-5107
17.  Kimberly Berfield [email protected] (850) 717-5058
18.  Dean Black [email protected] (850) 717-5015
19.  David Borrero [email protected] (850) 717-5111
20.  Adam Botana [email protected] (850) 717-5080
21.  Robert A. “Robbie” Brackett [email protected] (850) 717-5034
22.  LaVon Bracy Davis [email protected] (850) 717-5040
23.  Robert Charles “Chuck” Brannan III [email protected] (850) 717-5010
24.  James Buchanan [email protected] (850) 717-5074
25.  Demi Busatta Cabrera [email protected] (850) 717-5114
26.  Daryl Campbell [email protected] (850) 717-5099
27.  Jennifer Canady [email protected] (850) 717-5050
28.  Michael A. “Mike” Caruso [email protected] (850) 717-5087
29.  Joe Casello [email protected] (850) 717-5090
30.  Hillary Cassel

31.  Ryan Chamberlain

[email protected]

[email protected]

(850) 717-5101

(850) 717-5024

32.  Kevin D. Chambliss [email protected] (850) 717-5117
33.  Linda Chaney [email protected] (850) 717-5061
34.  Charles Wesley “Chuck” Clemons Sr [email protected] (850) 717-5022
35.  Lindsay Michelle Cross [email protected] (850) 717-5060
36.  Dan Daley [email protected] (850) 717-5096
37.  Kimberly Daniels [email protected] (850) 717-5014
38.  Fentrice Driskell [email protected] (850) 717-5067
39.  Wyman Duggan [email protected] (850) 717-5012
40.  Lisa Dunkley [email protected] (850) 717-5097
41.  Jervonte “Tae” Edmonds [email protected] (850) 717-5088
42.  Anna V. Eskamani [email protected] (850) 717-5042
43.  Tiffany Esposito [email protected] (850) 717-5077
44.  Tom Fabricio [email protected] (850) 717-5110
45.  Randy Fine [email protected] (850) 717-5033
46.  Gallop Franklin II [email protected] (850) 717-5008
47.  Ashley Viola Gantt [email protected] (850) 717-5109
48.  Alina Garcia [email protected] (850) 717-5115
49.  Sam Garrison [email protected] (850) 717-5011
50.  Mike Giallombardo [email protected] (850) 717-5079
51.  Karen Gonzalez Pittman [email protected] (850) 717-5065
52.  Peggy Gossett-Seidman [email protected] (850) 717-5091
53.  Michael “Mike” Gottlieb [email protected] (850) 717-5102
54.  Michael Grant [email protected] (850) 717-5075
55.  Tommy Gregory [email protected] (850) 717-5072
56.  Philip Wayne “Griff” Griffitts Jr. [email protected] (850) 717-5006
57.  Jennifer “Rita” Harris [email protected] (850) 717-5044
58.  Dianne “Ms Dee” Hart [email protected] (850) 717-5063
59.  Yvonne Hayes Hinson [email protected] (850) 717-5035
60.  Jeff Holcomb [email protected] (850) 717-5053
61.  Christine Hunschofsky [email protected] (850) 717-5095
62.  Berny Jacques [email protected] (850) 717-5059
63.  Dotie Joseph

64.  Tom Keen

[email protected]

[email protected]

(850) 717-5108

(850) 717-5035

65.  Sam H. Killebrew [email protected] (850) 717-5048
66.  Traci Koster [email protected] (850) 717-5066
67.  Chip LaMarca [email protected] (850) 717-5100
68.  Thomas J. “Tom” Leek [email protected] (850) 717-5028
69.  Johanna López [email protected] (850) 717-5043
70.  Vicki L. Lopez [email protected] (850) 717-5113
71.  Randall Scott “Randy” Maggard [email protected] (850) 717-5054
72.  Patt Maney [email protected] (850) 717-5004
73.  Ralph E. Massullo, MD [email protected] (850) 717-5023
74.  Stan McClain [email protected] (850) 717-5027
75.  Lawrence McClure [email protected] (850) 717-5068
76.  Fiona McFarland [email protected] (850) 717-5073
77.  Lauren Melo [email protected] (850) 717-5082
78.  Kiyan Michael [email protected] (850) 717-5016
79.  James Vernon “Jim” Mooney Jr [email protected] (850) 717-5120
80.  Angela “Angie” Nixon [email protected] (850) 717-5013
81.  Tobin Rogers “Toby” Overdorf [email protected] (850) 717-5085
82.  Bobby Payne [email protected] (850) 717-5020
83.  Daniel Perez [email protected] (850) 717-5116
84.  Jenna Persons-Mulicka [email protected] (850) 717-5078
85.  Rachel Lora Saunders Plakon [email protected] (850) 717-5036
86.  Susan Plasencia [email protected] (850) 717-5037
87.  Juan Carlos Porras [email protected] (850) 717-5119
88.  Michele K. Rayner-Goolsby [email protected] (850) 717-5062
89.  Paul Renner [email protected] (850) 717-5019
90.  Alex Rizo [email protected] (850) 717-5112
91.  Spencer Roach [email protected] (850) 717-5076
92.  Felicia Simone Robinson [email protected] (850) 717-5104
93.  William Cloud “Will” Robinson Jr.

94.  Mike Redondo

[email protected]

[email protected]

(850) 717-5071

(850) 7175118

95.  Bob Rommel [email protected] (850) 717-5081
96.  Rick Roth [email protected] (850) 717-5094
97.  Dr. Joel Rudman [email protected] (850) 717-5003
98.  Michelle Salzman [email protected] (850) 717-5001
99.  Jason Shoaf [email protected] (850) 717-5007
100.  David Silvers [email protected] (850) 717-5089
101.  Tyler I. Sirois [email protected] (850) 717-5031
102.   Kelly Skidmore [email protected] (850) 717-5092
103.   David Smith [email protected] (850) 717-5038
104.   John Snyder [email protected] (850) 717-5086
105.   Paula A. Stark [email protected] (850) 717-5047
106.   Kevin M. Steele [email protected] (850) 717-5055
107.   Cyndi Stevenson [email protected] (850) 717-5018
108.   Allison Tant [email protected] (850) 717-5009
109.   John Paul Temple [email protected] (850) 717-5052
110.   Josie Tomkow [email protected] (850) 717-5051
111.   Dana Trabulsy [email protected] (850) 717-5084
112.   Chase Tramont [email protected] (850) 717-5030
113.   Keith L. Truenow [email protected] (850) 717-5026
114.   Kaylee Tuck [email protected] (850) 717-5083
115.   Susan L. Valdés [email protected] (850) 717-5064
116.   Katherine Waldron [email protected] (850) 717-5093
117.   Patricia H. Williams [email protected] (850) 717-5098
118.   Marie Paule Woodson [email protected] (850) 717-5105
119.   Taylor Michael Yarkosky [email protected] (850) 717-5025
120.   Bradford Troy “Brad” Yeager [email protected] (850) 717-5056

 

Representatives

 

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