Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 820
By the Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice;
and Senator Bradley
604-02519-26 2026820c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to problem-solving court reports;
3 amending s. 43.51, F.S.; requiring the Office of the
4 State Courts Administrator to provide a problem
5 solving court report to the Legislature annually by a
6 specified date; revising information that must be
7 included in such report; revising the definition of
8 the term “problem-solving court”; amending ss.
9 39.01304, 394.47891, 394.47892, and 397.334, F.S.;
10 requiring specified court programs to collect certain
11 data and information for program evaluation; requiring
12 each such court program to report such data and
13 information annually to the office; specifying
14 requirements for the annual problem-solving court
15 report prepared by the office; providing
16 applicability; providing an effective date.
17
18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20 Section 1. Section 43.51, Florida Statutes, is amended to
21 read:
22 43.51 Problem-solving court reports.—
23 (1) The Office of the State Courts Administrator shall
24 provide an annual report to the President of the Senate and the
25 Speaker of the House of Representatives on problem-solving
26 courts no later than January 31 of each year for the previous
27 fiscal year. The report must:
28 (a) Provide all of the following information for each
29 problem-solving court:
30 1. which details The number of participants for the in each
31 problem-solving court for each fiscal year. the court has been
32 operating and
33 2. The types of services provided.,
34 3. identifies Each source of funding for the each court
35 during each fiscal year., and
36 4. provides Information on the performance of the each
37 court based upon outcome measures established by the courts.
38 (b) Provide all of the following uniform aggregate data for
39 each problem-solving court:
40 1. The number of participants.
41 2. Participant primary offense that resulted in the court
42 program referral or sentence, if applicable.
43 3. Treatment compliance.
44 4. Program completion status and reasons for any failure to
45 complete.
46 5. Offenses committed during program participation, if
47 applicable.
48 6. Frequency of court appearances.
49 7. Units of service.
50 8. Participant changes in the status of employment,
51 housing, and child custody during program participation.
52 9. Other uniform information that demonstrates the
53 effectiveness of the program.
54 (2) For purposes of this section, the term “problem-solving
55 court” includes, but is not limited to, a drug court pursuant to
56 s. 397.334, s. 948.01, s. 948.06, s. 948.08, s. 948.16, or s.
57 948.20; a dependency drug court pursuant to s. 39.507 or s.
58 39.521; an early childhood court pursuant to s. 39.01304; a
59 veterans treatment court program pursuant to s. 394.47891, s.
60 948.08, s. 948.16, or s. 948.21; a mental health court program
61 pursuant to s. 394.47892, s. 948.01, s. 948.06, s. 948.08, or s.
62 948.16; a community court pursuant to s. 948.081; or a
63 delinquency pretrial intervention court program pursuant to s.
64 985.345.
65 Section 2. Present subsection (2) of section 39.01304,
66 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (3), and a new
67 subsection (2) is added to that section, to read:
68 39.01304 Early childhood court programs.—
69 (2) Each early childhood court program shall collect the
70 data and information prescribed in s. 43.51(1) for purposes of
71 program evaluation. In addition, early childhood court programs
72 shall collect the number of admissions and terminations,
73 referral and screening procedures, eligibility criteria, type
74 and duration of treatment offered, and residential treatment
75 resources. Each early childhood court program shall report
76 annually to the Office of the State Courts Administrator the
77 data and information required to be collected under this
78 subsection.
79 Section 3. Present subsection (12) of section 394.47891,
80 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (13), and a new
81 subsection (12) is added to that section, to read:
82 394.47891 Veterans treatment court programs.—
83 (12) PROGRAM DATA.—Each veterans treatment court program
84 shall collect the data and information prescribed in s. 43.51(1)
85 for purposes of program evaluation. In addition, veterans
86 treatment court programs shall collect the number of admissions
87 and terminations, referral and screening procedures, eligibility
88 criteria, type and duration of treatment offered, and
89 residential treatment resources. Each veterans treatment court
90 program shall report annually to the Office of the State Courts
91 Administrator the data and information required to be collected
92 under this subsection.
93 Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section
94 394.47892, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
95 394.47892 Mental health court programs.—
96 (5)
97 (b) Each mental health court program shall collect the
98 sufficient client-level data and programmatic information
99 prescribed in s. 43.51(1) for purposes of program evaluation. In
100 addition, mental health court programs shall collect the number
101 of admissions and terminations, Client-level data includes
102 primary offenses that resulted in the mental health court
103 program referral or sentence, treatment compliance, completion
104 status and reasons for failure to complete, offenses committed
105 during treatment and the sanctions imposed, frequency of court
106 appearances, and units of service. Programmatic information
107 includes referral and screening procedures, eligibility
108 criteria, type and duration of treatment offered, and
109 residential treatment resources. Each mental health court
110 program shall report annually to the Office of the State Courts
111 Administrator the data and information required to be collected
112 under this paragraph The programmatic information and aggregate
113 data on the number of mental health court program admissions and
114 terminations by type of termination shall be reported annually
115 by each mental health court program to the Office of the State
116 Courts Administrator.
117 Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section
118 397.334, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
119 397.334 Treatment-based drug court programs.—
120 (6)
121 (b) Each treatment-based drug court program shall collect
122 the sufficient client-level data and programmatic information
123 prescribed in s. 43.51(1) for purposes of program evaluation. In
124 addition, treatment-based drug court programs shall collect the
125 number of admissions and terminations, Client-level data
126 includes primary offenses that resulted in the treatment-based
127 drug court program referral or sentence, treatment compliance,
128 completion status and reasons for failure to complete, offenses
129 committed during treatment and the sanctions imposed, frequency
130 of court appearances, and units of service. Programmatic
131 information includes referral and screening procedures,
132 eligibility criteria, type and duration of treatment offered,
133 and residential treatment resources. Each treatment-based drug
134 court program shall must annually report annually to the Office
135 of the State Courts Administrator the data and programmatic
136 information required to be collected under this paragraph and
137 aggregate data on the number of treatment-based drug court
138 program admissions and terminations by type of termination to
139 the Office of the State Courts Administrator.
140 Section 6. The annual problem-solving court report prepared
141 by the Office of the State Courts Administrator (OSCA) pursuant
142 to s. 43.51, Florida Statutes, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year
143 must provide uniform aggregate data required by s. 43.51,
144 Florida Statutes, for at least 30 percent of problem-solving
145 courts funded by the state courts system’s problem-solving
146 courts appropriation. The annual problem-solving court report
147 prepared by OSCA pursuant to s. 43.51, Florida Statutes, for the
148 2026-2027 fiscal year must provide uniform aggregate data
149 required by s. 43.51, Florida Statutes, for every problem
150 solving court funded by the state courts system’s problem
151 solving court appropriation. For the 2027-2028 fiscal year, and
152 every fiscal year thereafter, the annual problem-solving court
153 report prepared by OSCA pursuant to s. 43.51, Florida Statutes,
154 must provide uniform aggregate data required by s. 43.51,
155 Florida Statutes, for all problem-solving courts.
156 Section 7. The amendments made by this act to ss. 39.01304,
157 394.47891, 394.47892, and 397.334, Florida Statutes, shall apply
158 to court programs funded by the state courts system’s problem
159 solving court appropriation on the effective date of this act
160 and shall apply to all other court programs on July 1, 2027.
161 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.