Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2022                                     SB 470



       By Senator Powell





       30-00673-22                                            2022470__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to revising penalties for nonviolent
       offenses; amending s. 893.13, F.S.; conforming a
       provision to changes made by the act; creating s.
       893.131, F.S.; authorizing the issuance of civil
       citations for the possession of 20 grams or less of
       cannabis and the possession of drug paraphernalia used
       in connection with the consumption of cannabis;
       providing for civil fines; providing for community
       service in lieu of civil fines; limiting the number of
       civil citations that a person may receive; providing
       that a person who contests the violation waives a
       specified civil penalty and may receive a larger
       penalty upon a finding of a violation; providing for
       entry of default judgment in cases of noncompliance;
       amending s. 893.147, F.S.; conforming a provision to
       changes made by the act; amending s. 921.002, F.S.;
       revising a principle of the Criminal Punishment Code
       relating to a prisonerâs required minimum term of
       imprisonment; amending s. 944.275, F.S.; revising the
       incentive gain-time that the Department of Corrections
       may grant a prisoner; providing exceptions; providing
       an effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1.âParagraph (b) of subsection (6) of section
893.13, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
       893.13âProhibited acts; penalties.â
       (6)
       (b)âIf the offense is the possession of 20 grams or less of
cannabis, as defined in this chapter, the person commits a
misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
775.082 or s. 775.083, or the person may be issued a civil
citation under s. 893.131. As used in this subsection, the term
âcannabisâ does not include the resin extracted from the plants
of the genus Cannabis, or any compound manufacture, salt,
derivative, mixture, or preparation of such resin.
       Section 2.âSection 893.131, Florida Statutes, is created to
read:
       893.131âCannabis offenses; civil citations.â
       (1)âThe following misdemeanor violations are declared civil
infractions, and a person committing such violation may be
issued a civil citation at the discretion of a law enforcement
officer, provided that such violation is not charged in
conjunction with any criminal charge:
       (a)âPossession, by a person 18 years of age or older, of
cannabis in an amount of 20 grams or less, as provided in s.
893.13(6)(b).
       (b)âPossession, by a person 18 years of age or older, of
drug paraphernalia, as defined in s. 893.145, used in connection
with the consumption of cannabis.
       (2)(a)âA person who is issued a civil citation pursuant to
this section is subject to a civil fine of $100 plus court
costs.
       (b)âIn lieu of paying the civil fine under paragraph (a), a
person who is issued a civil citation pursuant to this section
may elect to participate in 10 hours of community service at a
community service agency. The community service agency
supervising the person shall record the number of hours of
community service completed and the date on which the community
service hours were completed. The community service agency shall
submit the data to the clerk of the court on the letterhead of
the community service agency, which must also bear the notarized
signature of the person designated to represent the community
service agency.
       (c)âA person may not receive more than two civil citations
pursuant to this section.
       (d)âThe county court shall have jurisdiction over all
violations of this section.
       (e)âThe clerk of the court shall accept designated fines,
issue receipts for the payment of such fines, and accept proof
of satisfactory completion of community service.
       (f)âA person issued a civil citation pursuant to subsection
(1) shall comply with all directives on such citation.
       (g)âA person who fails to make payment as provided on the
civil citation, and fails to satisfactorily complete community
service within the period specified on such citation, is deemed
to have waived his or her right to pay the civil penalty as set
forth on such citation.
       (h)âA person who elects to appear before the court to
contest the civil citation is deemed to have waived his or her
right to pay the civil penalty. The court, after conducting a
hearing, shall determine whether a violation has occurred and
may impose a civil penalty not to exceed $500 plus court costs.
       (i)âIf a person fails to pay the civil penalty and fails to
satisfactorily complete community service, or fails to appear in
court to contest the civil citation, he or she is deemed to have
waived his or her right to contest such citation, a default
judgment may be entered, and the judge shall impose a civil
fine. If the civil fine is paid, the case shall be disposed of.
If the civil fine is not paid, and no proof of satisfactory
completion of community service is provided, a default judgment
shall be entered up to the maximum civil penalty of $500 plus
court costs.
       Section 3.âSubsection (1) of section 893.147, Florida
Statutes, is amended to read:
       893.147âUse, possession, manufacture, delivery,
transportation, advertisement, or retail sale of drug
paraphernalia, specified machines, and materials.â
       (1)âUSE OR POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.âIt is unlawful
for any person to use, or to possess with intent to use, drug
paraphernalia:
       (a)âTo plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest,
manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test,
analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, or conceal a controlled
substance in violation of this chapter; or
       (b)âTo inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into
the human body a controlled substance in violation of this
chapter.

A Any person who violates this subsection commits is guilty of a
misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
775.082 or s. 775.083, or, for violations involving cannabis
paraphernalia, a person who violates this subsection may be
issued a civil citation under s. 893.131.
       Section 4.âParagraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
921.002, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
       921.002âThe Criminal Punishment Code.âThe Criminal
Punishment Code shall apply to all felony offenses, except
capital felonies, committed on or after October 1, 1998.
       (1)âThe provision of criminal penalties and of limitations
upon the application of such penalties is a matter of
predominantly substantive law and, as such, is a matter properly
addressed by the Legislature. The Legislature, in the exercise
of its authority and responsibility to establish sentencing
criteria, to provide for the imposition of criminal penalties,
and to make the best use of state prisons so that violent
criminal offenders are appropriately incarcerated, has
determined that it is in the best interest of the state to
develop, implement, and revise a sentencing policy. The Criminal
Punishment Code embodies the principles that:
       (e)âThe sentence imposed by the sentencing judge reflects
the length of actual time to be served, shortened only by the
application of incentive and meritorious gain-time as provided
by law, and may not be shortened if the defendant would
consequently serve less than 75 percent of his or her term of
imprisonment as provided in s. 944.275(4)(b)3.a. or less than 85
percent of his or her term of imprisonment as provided in s.
944.275(4). The provisions of chapter 947, relating to parole
do, shall not apply to persons sentenced under the Criminal
Punishment Code.
       Section 5.âParagraphs (b) and (f) of subsection (4) of
section 944.275, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
       944.275âGain-time.â
       (4)
       (b)âFor each month in which an inmate works diligently,
participates in training, uses time constructively, or otherwise
engages in positive activities, the department may grant
incentive gain-time in accordance with this paragraph. The rate
of incentive gain-time in effect on the date the inmate
committed the offense that which resulted in his or her
incarceration shall be the inmateâs rate of eligibility to earn
incentive gain-time throughout the period of incarceration and
may shall not be altered by a subsequent change in the severity
level of the offense for which the inmate was sentenced.
       1.âFor sentences imposed for offenses committed before
prior to January 1, 1994, up to 20 days of incentive gain-time
may be granted. If granted, such gain-time shall be credited and
applied monthly.
       2.âFor sentences imposed for offenses committed on or after
January 1, 1994, and before October 1, 1995:
       a.âFor offenses ranked in offense severity levels 1 through
7, under former s. 921.0012 or former s. 921.0013, up to 25 days
of incentive gain-time may be granted. If granted, such gain
time shall be credited and applied monthly.
       b.âFor offenses ranked in offense severity levels 8, 9, and
10, under former s. 921.0012 or former s. 921.0013, up to 20
days of incentive gain-time may be granted. If granted, such
gain-time shall be credited and applied monthly.
       3.âFor sentences imposed for offenses, regardless of the
date committed, up to 20 days per month of incentive gain-time
may be granted, except that:
       a.âIf the offense is a nonviolent felony as defined in s.
948.08(6)(a), the prisoner is not eligible to earn any type of
gain-time in an amount that would cause the prisonerâs sentence
to expire, end, or terminate, or that would result in the
prisonerâs release, before he or she serves a minimum of 75
percent of the sentence imposed. For purposes of this sub
subparagraph, credits awarded by the court for time physically
incarcerated must be credited toward satisfaction of 75 percent
of the sentence imposed. A prisoner who is granted incentive
gain-time pursuant to this sub-subparagraph may not accumulate
further gain-time awards at any point when the prisonerâs
tentative release date is the same as that date at which the
prisoner will have served 75 percent of the sentence imposed.
State prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment must be
incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives unless granted
pardon or clemency.
       b.âIf the offense is not a nonviolent felony as defined in
s. 948.08(6)(a), the prisoner is not eligible to earn any type
of gain-time in an amount that would cause the prisonerâs
sentence to expire, end, or terminate, or that would result in
the prisonerâs release, before he or she serves a minimum of 85
percent of the sentence imposed. For purposes of this sub
subparagraph, credits awarded by the court for time physically
incarcerated must be credited toward satisfaction of 85 percent
of the sentence imposed. A prisoner who is granted incentive
gain-time pursuant to this sub-subparagraph may not accumulate
further gain-time awards at any point when the prisonerâs
tentative release date is the same as that date at which the
prisoner will have served 85 percent of the sentence imposed.
State prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment must be
incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives unless granted
pardon or clemency For sentences imposed for offenses committed
on or after October 1, 1995, the department may grant up to 10
days per month of incentive gain-time.
       (f)âAn inmate who is subject to subparagraph (b)3. is not
eligible to earn or receive gain-time under paragraph (a),
paragraph (b), paragraph (c), or paragraph (d) or any other type
of gain-time in an amount that would cause a sentence to expire,
end, or terminate, or that would result in a prisonerâs release,
before prior to serving a minimum of 85 percent of the sentence
imposed. For purposes of this paragraph, credits awarded by the
court for time physically incarcerated shall be credited toward
satisfaction of 85 percent of the sentence imposed. Except as
provided by this section, a prisoner may not accumulate further
gain-time awards at any point when the tentative release date is
the same as that date at which the prisoner will have served 85
percent of the sentence imposed. State prisoners sentenced to
life imprisonment shall be incarcerated for the rest of their
natural lives, unless granted pardon or clemency.
       Section 6.âThis act shall take effect July 1, 2022.
Statutes affected: 
S 470 Filed: 893.13, 893.147, 921.002