FDLE Replies to domestic travel inquiry
The FDLE has replied to FAC’s request for clarification on domestic travel. Several members have been MISINFORMED by their registration offices that anytime they leave the state of Florida they are required to report. The FDLE’s website also had this incorrect information in their Q&A section. Last month FAC reached out to the FDLE, seeking clarification and today we received their response.
Registrants DO NOT need to report when leaving the State. Only when establishing a permanent, temporary or transient residence in another state. If your local Sheriff’s office still requires you to provide notice when leaving the State, please let FAC know.
FAC appreciates FDLE’s response and taking action to correct their website.
A copy of the correspondence is below.
From: Sexual Predator Unit <[email protected]>
Date: July 14, 2022 at 12:22:31 PM EDT
To: Gail Colletta
Subject: RE: Letter to FDLE Domestic Travel
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your inquiry.
Per Florida Statutes 943.0435(7) and 775.21(6)(i), a sexual offender or predator who intends to establish a permanent, temporary, or transient residence in another state or jurisdiction other than the State of Florida shall report in person to the sheriff of the county of current residence within 48 hours before the date he or she intends to leave this state to establish residence in another state or jurisdiction or at least 21 days before the date he or she intends to travel if the intended residence of 5 days or more is outside of the United States. Any travel that is not known by the sexual offender 21 days before the departure date must be reported in person to the sheriff’s office as soon as possible before departure. The sexual offender or predator shall provide to the sheriff the address, municipality, county, state, and country of intended residence. For international travel, the sexual offender or predator shall also provide travel information, including, but not limited to, expected departure and return dates, flight number, airport of departure, cruise port of departure, or any other means of intended travel.
There is no language in s. 943.0435, F.S. or s. 775.21, F.S. requiring an offender or predator who has registered as required to report domestic travel to another state if they will not establish a residency outside of Florida.
Florida Statute 775.21 defines a “permanent residence” as a place where the person abides, lodges, or resides for three or more consecutive days, and “temporary residence” as a place where the person abides, lodges, or resides, including, but not limited to, vacation, business, or personal travel destinations in or out of this state, for a period of three or more days in the aggregate during any calendar year and which is not the person’s permanent address or, for a person whose permanent residence is not in this state, a place where the person is employed, practices a vocation, or is enrolled as a student for any period of time in this state. “Transient residence” means a county where a person lives, remains, or is located for a period of three or more days in the aggregate during a calendar year and which is not the person’s permanent or temporary address. The term includes, but is not limited to, a place where the person sleeps or seeks shelter and a location that has no specific street address.
We will review the information on our website and update it as appropriate.
Sincerely,
| Enforcement & Investigative Support
Florida Department of Law Enforcement |
|
| [email protected]
1-888-357-7332 850-410-8599 (fax) |
PO Box 1489
Tallahassee, FL 32302-1489 |
PLEASE NOTE: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business are considered to be public records and will be made available to the public and the media upon request. Your e-mail messages may, therefore, be subject to public disclosure.
From: Gail Colletta
Sent: Friday, June 10, 2022 2:36 PM
To: Sexual Predator Unit <[email protected]>
Subject: Letter to FDLE Domestic Travel
| CAUTION: This email originated outside of FDLE. Please use caution when opening attachments, clicking links, or responding to this email. |
To : [email protected]
Subject: Domestic Travel
To whom it may concern:
I am President of the Florida Action Committee (FAC), a 2500+ member not-for-profit organization whose focus is on public safety and specifically the Florida Sex Offender Registry.
I had previously written concerning domestic travel for those on the registry. Our members were being advised by their County registration office that any travel from Florida to another state requires in person notification. We did not believe this to be true, so we contacted your department for guidance. In your reply, you advised that, “There is no language in s. 943.0435, F.S. or s. 775.21, F.S. requiring an offender or predator who has registered as required to report domestic travel to another state if they will not establish a residency outside of Florida.” A copy of your email is below.
Notwithstanding this clarification, we continue to be informed by members that their local registration offices are requiring they report, in person, whenever they leave the state, even crossing into Georgia or Alabama and returning the same day. Further, on the FAQ section of your website (https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/sops/faq.jsf), you write that, “A sexual offender/predator planning to travel to other states within the U.S. must report in person to the sheriff of the county where he or she currently resides in Florida within 48 hours before the date he or she intends to leave Florida;” This seems to be in direct conflict with your earlier guidance. We know of no changes to s. 943.0435, F.S. or s. 775.21, F.S. between May 3, 2018 and today, that would require notification of “travel” or “leaving the state”.
Please reply to this email letting us know what the law requires and whether to rely on the information provided on your website or in your earlier email. If your earlier email is correct and there is no requirement for a registrant to report domestic travel if they will not establish a residency outside of Florida, we respectfully request you correct your website to avoid confusion. If the law now requires registrants to report domestic travel even if they will not establish a residency outside of Florida, kindly provide us with a reference to the new Statute.
Sincerely,
Gail Colleta, President
Florida Action Commitee
From: Sexual Predator Unit <[email protected]>
Date: May 3, 2018 at 2:15:04 PM EDT
To: ‘gail’
Subject: RE: Letter to FDLE RE: Domestic Travel
Good afternoon,
Per Florida Statutes 943.0435(7) and 775.21(6)(i), a sexual offender or predator who intends to establish a permanent, temporary, or transient residence in another state or jurisdiction other than the State of Florida shall report in person to the sheriff of the county of current residence within 48 hours before the date he or she intends to leave this state to establish residence in another state or jurisdiction or at least 21 days before the date he or she intends to travel if the intended residence of 5 days or more is outside of the United States. Any travel that is not known by the sexual offender 21 days before the departure date must be reported in person to the sheriff’s office as soon as possible before departure. The sexual offender or predator shall provide to the sheriff the address, municipality, county, state, and country of intended residence. For international travel, the sexual offender or predator shall also provide travel information, including, but not limited to, expected departure and return dates, flight number, airport of departure, cruise port of departure, or any other means of intended travel.
There is no language in s. 943.0435, F.S. or s. 775.21, F.S. requiring an offender or predator who has registered as required to report domestic travel to another state if they will not establish a residency outside of Florida. The definitions of permanent, temporary, and transient residency can be located in s. 775.21(2)(k), (n), & (o), F.S. As you noted in your letter, these definitions will change from 5 days to 3 days effective July 1, 2018.
Sincerely,
| Missing Persons & Offender Registration
Florida Department of Law Enforcement |
|
| [email protected]
1-888-357-7332 850-410-8599 (fax) |
PO Box 1489
Tallahassee, FL 32302-1489 |
PLEASE NOTE: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business are considered to be public records and will be made available to the public and the media upon request. Your e-mail messages may, therefore, be subject to public disclosure.
Discover more from Florida Action Committee (FAC)
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I’m not seeing any clarification here. The 2022 FDLE response is the same as their 2018 response. The first paragraph is exactly the same. The 2022 second paragraph merely removes the definition references and creates a third paragraph to state those definitions.
My analysis is, no, you do not have to report “travel” outside of Floriduh if you “will not establish a residency outside of Florida.” However, by definition, if you break the “3-day rule” for temporary residence, you are establishing a residence outside of Floriduh because it specifically says “destinations in or out of this state.”
Also, there are requirements in the states you travel to that must be followed:
LATEST UPDATED SUMMARY: https://a2twozee.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
MAIN PAGE [HAS SOME 2022 STATE UPDATES] https://a2twozee.blogspot.com/
MAP PAGE: https://a2twozee.blogspot.com/p/map-visitor-registration-requirements.html
Hello JZ, I believe just like you.
I have been following the guidelines of the 2018 FDLE letter. This time FAC did a great service for us in their follow up letter this year. I only report when I am going g to pass the threshold . I live in Orange county and have always been met with respect, I have been doing this since the inception of the reporting.
I only give the address for that place, if the rest of my travel does not push me over the threshold I don’t give it if they ask about I say we are traveling.
I hand them an itinerary and put traveling for the dates that are not over the threshold.
I think where some of the folks are hitting a wall, is going in and asking the question about t their travel plans to those at the registration office.
Well that’s my two cents worth.
What’s the chances of the Ex Post Factoid challenge succeeding now that we are all of sudden in a heightened state of SO frenzy all of a sudden?
If it wouldn’t be a blatant unconstitutional witch hunt,they would definitely require you to inform them if you crossed the Florida border into another state. That’s something they can’t get away with, but wish they could. The sex offender hysteria is raising its ugly head just as it did during the Jessica Lunsford frenzy. Hold on for the ride, because us about to get real. If people can’t have all the sex they crave, they want to destroy people, and who better than a sex offender?
Greetings,
I reside in Volusia County and therefore register at the VCSO location off of route 92 in Daytona. On at least 2 occasions 2 1/2 to 5 years ago I asked the “woman behing the glass” what i needed to do to be compliant with ttravelling out of state for 5 days. she stated:
I need to goto the Florida DMV and change my permanent address, the one on my drivers license to the address of the Motel or residense where I eould be staying out of state before I left. Conversely I needed to change it back once I returned back from out of state. This set off all kinds if bells and whistles in my head as all the issues that could go wrong could lead to serious implecations.
Are those woemn in the VCSO “sworn officers”? do they have the authority to mis state information based on their misguided beliefs. Is there any any checking of their work, and their interactiions by their superiors. I wonder how frequently mis information like this is given as truth. I would like to hear from other people if this is just a Volusia county Issue.
It may be just a Volusia County issue. I hope that doesn’t take away from others misadventures within their County. My experience in Volusia County was that the VCSO was all about fear and intimidation. I’m partially deaf. I found it next to impossible to hear them sometimes. Asking them to explain or repeat themselves only irritated them. Wasn’t much better when registrants had to go to the trailer on the side. I don’t miss Volusia.
I have been under the same understanding as many others on here. I register in Santa Rosa county, and the officer there has said if I plan to travel outside the state for more than 24 hours, I have to physically come into the office with my travel itinerary before I leave, and then physically “check in” when I return from my trip. I was under the understanding thst this was required by FDLE?
You were misinformed
Osceola county requires notice to leave state along with all travel plans, routes, ticket copies if going other than personal car, details of places staying on the way and being visited and return details and a call upon return.
They also require in state travel details to be reported BEFORE leaving (not within 48 hours after as stated in statute) with reservations to be made to the office weeks in advance (since 48 hour reservations are always unavailable) with all details of travel plans, the same as out of state travel.
This office has no idea of the regulations and uses one overworked clerk to perform all SO duties that does not understand the legal statutes at all and can not answer any questions concerning them. The sheriff has stated in public that all sex offenders need to be in jail.
FAC check out this INSANE guidance from Osceola.
From the replies, I now must ask: what is the point of obtaining FDLE clarification on ANYTHING, if FDLE won’t notify the sheriffs and the sheriffs won’t take our word for it as a third party?
An FDLE phone rep once instructed me, “your county sheriff’s office is the one empowered with arrest, so you should ask THEM.”
Do we know whether counties like Osceola have made any arrests, for failure to comply with rules such as those above?
We can do a freedom of information act request. Here’s the thing… if you read the comment to CherokeeJack from a few days ago, we have a lot of people who make the suggestions but very few who do the work. Jacob, I know that you provide some of the most intelligent commentary on here, so this comment is not directed to you but to the membership at general.
If we could get a couple of members to step up and say “we’d like to help with this project” and approach membership to volunteer, it will get done. If we just add it to the growing list of tasks that are already on the board’s “to do” list, this will either fall into a never ending queue where the top item is always going to be someone dying on the streets or getting picked up on a BS violation, or it will take a long time to get done.
Jethro, its interesting that Osceola County requires all this but neighboring Orange County does not since it is the same prosecutor for both counties.