Florida Senate - 2020 SB 170 By Senator Stewart 13-00034-20 2020170__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the time limitation on the 3 prosecution of sexual battery cases; amending s. 4 775.15, F.S.; providing that a prosecution may be 5 commenced at any time for specified sexual battery 6 offenses against victims who were younger than a 7 certain age at the time the offense was committed; 8 providing applicability; providing an effective date. 9 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 12 Section 1. Subsection (20) is added to section 775.15, 13 Florida Statutes, and subsection (2) of that section is 14 republished, to read: 15 775.15 Time limitations; general time limitations; 16 exceptions.— 17 (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, 18 prosecutions for other offenses are subject to the following 19 periods of limitation: 20 (a) A prosecution for a felony of the first degree must be 21 commenced within 4 years after it is committed. 22 (b) A prosecution for any other felony must be commenced 23 within 3 years after it is committed. 24 (c) A prosecution for a misdemeanor of the first degree 25 must be commenced within 2 years after it is committed. 26 (d) A prosecution for a misdemeanor of the second degree or 27 a noncriminal violation must be commenced within 1 year after it 28 is committed. 29 (20) If a victim was younger than 18 years of age at the 30 time the offense was committed, a prosecution for a violation of 31 s. 794.011 may be commenced at any time. This subsection applies 32 to an offense that is not otherwise barred from prosecution on 33 or before July 1, 2020. 34 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.