| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to pretrial programs; providing state |
| 3 | policy and legislative intent; requiring each pretrial |
| 4 | release program established by ordinance of a county |
| 5 | commission, by administrative order of a court, or by any |
| 6 | other means in order to assist in the release of a |
| 7 | defendant from pretrial custody to conform to the |
| 8 | eligibility criteria set forth in the act; preempting any |
| 9 | conflicting local ordinances, orders, or practices; |
| 10 | requiring that the defendant satisfy certain eligibility |
| 11 | criteria in order to be assigned to a pretrial release |
| 12 | program; providing that the act does not prohibit a court |
| 13 | from releasing a defendant on the defendant's own |
| 14 | recognizance or imposing any other reasonable condition of |
| 15 | release on the defendant; authorizing a county to |
| 16 | reimburse a licensed surety agent for the premium costs of |
| 17 | a bail bond for the pretrial release of an indigent |
| 18 | defendant under certain circumstances; providing an |
| 19 | effective date. |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 22 |
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| 23 | Section 1. Eligibility criteria for government-funded |
| 24 | pretrial release.- |
| 25 | (1) It is the policy of this state that only defendants |
| 26 | who are indigent and therefore qualify for representation by the |
| 27 | public defender are eligible for government-funded pretrial |
| 28 | release. Further, it is the policy of this state that, to the |
| 29 | greatest extent possible, the resources of the private sector be |
| 30 | used to assist in the pretrial release of defendants. It is the |
| 31 | intent of the Legislature that this section not be interpreted |
| 32 | to limit the discretion of courts with respect to ordering |
| 33 | reasonable conditions for pretrial release for any defendant. |
| 34 | However, it is the intent of the Legislature that government- |
| 35 | funded pretrial release be ordered only as an alternative to |
| 36 | release on a defendant's own recognizance or release by the |
| 37 | posting of a surety bond. |
| 38 | (2) A pretrial release program established by an ordinance |
| 39 | of the county commission, an administrative order of the court, |
| 40 | or by any other means in order to assist in the release of |
| 41 | defendants from pretrial custody is subject to the eligibility |
| 42 | criteria set forth in this section. These eligibility criteria |
| 43 | supersede and preempt all conflicting local ordinances, orders, |
| 44 | or practices. Each pretrial release program shall certify |
| 45 | annually, in writing, to the chief circuit court judge, that it |
| 46 | has complied with the reporting requirements of s. 907.043(4), |
| 47 | Florida Statutes. |
| 48 | (3) A defendant is eligible to receive government-funded |
| 49 | pretrial release only by order of the court after the court |
| 50 | finds in writing upon consideration of the defendant's affidavit |
| 51 | of indigence that the defendant is indigent or partially |
| 52 | indigent as set forth in Rule 3.111, Florida Rules of Criminal |
| 53 | Procedure, and that the defendant has not previously failed to |
| 54 | appear at any required court proceeding. |
| 55 | (4) If a defendant seeks to post a surety bond pursuant to |
| 56 | a bond schedule established by administrative order as an |
| 57 | alternative to government-funded pretrial release, the defendant |
| 58 | shall be permitted to do so without any interference or |
| 59 | restriction by a pretrial release program. |
| 60 | (5) This section does not prohibit the court from: |
| 61 | (a) Releasing a defendant on the defendant's own |
| 62 | recognizance. |
| 63 | (b) Imposing upon the defendant any additional reasonable |
| 64 | condition of release as part of release on the defendant's own |
| 65 | recognizance or the posting of a surety bond upon a finding of |
| 66 | need in the interest of public safety, including, but not |
| 67 | limited to, electronic monitoring, drug testing, and substance |
| 68 | abuse treatment. |
| 69 | (6) In lieu of using a government-funded program to ensure |
| 70 | the court appearance of any defendant, a county may reimburse a |
| 71 | licensed surety agent for the premium costs of a surety bail |
| 72 | bond that secures the appearance of an indigent defendant at all |
| 73 | court proceedings if the court establishes a bail bond amount |
| 74 | for the indigent defendant. |
| 75 | Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2011. |