Florida Senate - 2020                                     SB 550
       
       
        
       By Senator Brandes
       
       
       
       
       
       24-00770-20                                            2020550__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to sentencing; amending s. 921.00241,
    3         F.S.; revising the criteria under which certain
    4         offenders sentenced after a specified date may be
    5         sentenced to a nonstate prison sanction under a prison
    6         diversion program; providing an effective date.
    7          
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9  
   10         Section 1. Section 921.00241, Florida Statutes, is amended
   11  to read:
   12         921.00241 Prison diversion program.—
   13         (1) Notwithstanding s. 921.0024 and effective for offenders
   14  sentenced on or after October 1, 2020 offenses committed on or
   15  after July 1, 2009, a court may divert from the state
   16  correctional system an offender who would otherwise be sentenced
   17  to a state facility by sentencing the offender to a nonstate
   18  prison sanction as provided in subsection (2). An offender may
   19  be sentenced to a nonstate prison sanction if the offender meets
   20  all of the following criteria:
   21         (a) The offender’s primary offense is a felony of the third
   22  degree or a felony of the second degree.
   23         (b) The offender’s total sentence points score, as provided
   24  in s. 921.0024, is 60 points or fewer not more than 48 points,
   25  or the offender’s total sentence points score is 54 points and 6
   26  of those points are for a violation of probation, community
   27  control, or other community supervision, and do not involve a
   28  new violation of law.
   29         (c) The offender has not been convicted or previously
   30  convicted of a forcible felony as defined in s. 776.08, but
   31  excluding any third degree felony violation under chapter 810.
   32         (d) The offender’s primary offense does not require a
   33  minimum mandatory sentence.
   34         (2) If the court elects to impose a sentence as provided in
   35  this section, the court must shall sentence the offender to a
   36  term of probation, community control, or community supervision
   37  with mandatory participation in a prison diversion program of
   38  the Department of Corrections if such program is funded and
   39  exists in the judicial circuit in which the offender is
   40  sentenced. The prison diversion program shall be designed to
   41  meet the unique needs of each judicial circuit and of the
   42  offender population of that circuit. The program may require
   43  residential, nonresidential, or day-reporting requirements;
   44  substance abuse treatment; employment; restitution; academic or
   45  vocational opportunities; or community service work.
   46         (3) The court that sentences a defendant to a nonstate
   47  prison sanction pursuant to subsection (2) shall make written
   48  findings that the defendant meets the criteria in subsection
   49  (1); and the sentencing order must indicate that the offender
   50  was sentenced to the prison diversion program pursuant to
   51  subsection (2). The court may order the offender to pay all or a
   52  portion of the costs related to the prison diversion program if
   53  the court determines that the offender has the ability to pay.
   54         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2020.