The Florida Senate

947.16  Eligibility for parole; initial parole interviews; powers and duties of commission.--

(1)  Every person who has been convicted of a felony or who has been convicted of one or more misdemeanors and whose sentence or cumulative sentences total 12 months or more, who is confined in execution of the judgment of the court, and whose record during confinement or while under supervision is good, shall, unless otherwise provided by law, be eligible for interview for parole consideration of her or his cumulative sentence structure as follows:

(a)  An inmate who has been sentenced for an indeterminate term or a term of 3 years or less shall have an initial interview conducted by a hearing examiner within 8 months after the initial date of confinement in execution of the judgment.

(b)  An inmate who has been sentenced for a minimum term in excess of 3 years but of less than 6 years shall have an initial interview conducted by a hearing examiner within 14 months after the initial date of confinement in execution of the judgment.

(c)  An inmate who has been sentenced for a minimum term of 6 or more years but other than for a life term shall have an initial interview conducted by a hearing examiner within 24 months after the initial date of confinement in execution of the judgment.

(d)  An inmate who has been sentenced for a term of life shall have an initial interview conducted by a hearing examiner within 5 years after the initial date of confinement in execution of the judgment.

(e)  An inmate who has been convicted and sentenced under ss. 958.011-958.15, or any other inmate who has been determined by the department to be a youthful offender, shall be interviewed by a parole examiner within 8 months after the initial date of confinement in execution of the judgment.

(2)  The following special types of cases shall have their initial parole interview as follows:

(a)  An initial interview may be postponed for a period not to exceed 90 days. Such postponement shall be for good cause, which shall include, but need not be limited to, the need for the department to obtain a presentence or postsentence investigation report or a probation or parole or mandatory conditional release violation report. The reason for postponement shall be noted in writing and included in the official record. No postponement for good cause shall result in an initial interview being conducted later than 90 days after the inmate's initially scheduled initial interview.

(b)  An initial interview may be deferred for any inmate who is out to court. Such deferral shall not result in an initial interview being conducted later than 90 days after the department provides written notice to the commission that the inmate has been returned from court.

(c)  An initial interview may be deferred for any inmate confined in any appropriate treatment facility within the state, public or private, by virtue of transfer from the department under any applicable law. Such deferral shall not result in an initial interview being conducted later than 90 days after the department provides written notice to the commission that the inmate has been returned to the department.

(d)  An inmate designated a mentally disordered sex offender shall have an initial interview conducted within 90 days of receiving written notification by the department to the commission of the need for such interview and that the inmate's file contains all investigative reports deemed necessary by the commission to conduct such interview.

(e)  Any inmate who has been determined to be an incapacitated person pursuant to s. 744.331 shall have an initial interview conducted within 90 days after the date the commission is provided with written notice that the inmate has been restored to capacity by the court.

(f)  An initial interview may be held at the discretion of the commission after the entry of a commission order to revoke parole or mandatory conditional release.

(g)  For purposes of determining eligibility for parole interview and release, the mandatory minimum portion of a concurrent sentence will begin on the date the sentence begins to run as provided in s. 921.161. The mandatory minimum portions of consecutive sentences shall be served at the beginning of the maximum sentence as established by the Department of Corrections. Each mandatory minimum portion of consecutive sentences shall be served consecutively; provided, that in no case shall a sentence begin to run before the date of imposition. The commission shall conduct an initial interview for an inmate serving a mandatory minimum sentence according to the following schedule:

1.  An inmate serving a mandatory term of 7 years or less shall have an initial interview no sooner than 6 months prior to the expiration of the mandatory minimum portion of the sentence.

2.  An inmate serving a mandatory term in excess of 7 years but of less than 15 years shall have an initial interview no sooner than 12 months prior to the expiration of the mandatory minimum portion of the sentence.

3.  An inmate serving a mandatory term of 15 years or more shall have an initial interview no sooner than 18 months prior to the expiration of the mandatory minimum portion of the sentence.

(h)  If an inmate is serving a sentence imposed by a county or circuit court of this state concurrently with a sentence imposed by a court of another state or of the United States, and if the department has designated the correctional institution of the other jurisdiction as the place for reception and confinement of such person, the inmate so released to another jurisdiction shall be eligible for consideration for parole, except that the commission shall determine the presumptive parole release date and the effective parole release date by requesting such person's record file from the receiving jurisdiction. Upon receiving such records, the commission panel assigned by the chair shall determine such release dates based on the relevant information in that file. The commission may concur with the parole release decision of the jurisdiction granting parole and accepting supervision. The provisions of s. 947.174 do not apply to an inmate serving a concurrent sentence in another jurisdiction pursuant to s. 921.16(2).

(3)  Notwithstanding the provisions of ss. 775.021 and 921.16, if an inmate has received a consecutive sentence or sentences imposed by a court or courts of this state, the inmate shall be eligible for consideration for parole, unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law.

¹(4)  A person who has become eligible for an initial parole interview and who may, according to the objective parole guidelines of the commission, be granted parole shall be placed on parole in accordance with the provisions of this law; except that, in any case of a person convicted of murder, robbery, burglary of a dwelling or burglary of a structure or conveyance in which a human being is present, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, kidnapping, sexual battery or attempted sexual battery, incest or attempted incest, an unnatural and lascivious act or an attempted unnatural and lascivious act, lewd and lascivious behavior, assault or aggravated assault when a sexual act is completed or attempted, battery or aggravated battery when a sexual act is completed or attempted, arson, or any felony involving the use of a firearm or other deadly weapon or the use of intentional violence, at the time of sentencing the judge may enter an order retaining jurisdiction over the offender for review of a commission release order. This jurisdiction of the trial court judge is limited to the first one-third of the maximum sentence imposed. When any person is convicted of two or more felonies and concurrent sentences are imposed, then the jurisdiction of the trial court judge as provided herein applies to the first one-third of the maximum sentence imposed for the highest felony of which the person was convicted. When any person is convicted of two or more felonies and consecutive sentences are imposed, then the jurisdiction of the trial court judge as provided herein applies to one-third of the total consecutive sentences imposed.

(a)  In retaining jurisdiction for the purposes of this act, the trial court judge shall state the justification with individual particularity, and such justification shall be made a part of the court record. A copy of such justification shall be delivered to the department together with the commitment issued by the court pursuant to ²s. 944.16.

(b)  Gain-time as provided for by law shall accrue, except that an offender over whom the trial court has retained jurisdiction as provided herein shall not be released during the first one-third of her or his sentence by reason of gain-time.

(c)  In such a case of retained jurisdiction, the commission, within 30 days after the entry of its release order, shall send notice of its release order to the original sentencing judge and to the appropriate state attorney. The release order shall be made contingent upon entry of an order by the appropriate circuit judge relinquishing jurisdiction as provided for in paragraphs (d) and (f). If the original sentencing judge is no longer in service, such notice shall be sent to the chief judge of the circuit in which the offender was sentenced. The chief judge may designate any circuit judge within the circuit to act in the place of the original sentencing judge. Such notice shall stay the time requirements of s. 947.1745.

(d)  Within 10 days after receipt of the notice provided for in paragraph (c), the original sentencing judge or her or his replacement shall notify the commission as to whether or not the court further desires to retain jurisdiction. If the original sentencing judge or her or his replacement does not so notify the commission within the 10-day period or notifies the commission that the court does not desire to retain jurisdiction, then the commission may dispose of the matter as it sees fit.

(e)  Upon receipt of notice of intent to retain jurisdiction from the original sentencing judge or her or his replacement, the commission shall, within 10 days, forward to the court its release order, the findings of fact, the parole hearing examiner's report and recommendation, and all supporting information upon which its release order was based.

(f)  Within 30 days of receipt of the items listed in paragraph (e), the original sentencing judge or her or his replacement shall review the order, findings, and evidence; and, if the judge finds that the order of the commission is not based on competent substantial evidence or that the parole is not in the best interest of the community or the inmate, the court may vacate the release order. The judge or her or his replacement shall notify the commission of the decision of the court, and, if the release order is vacated, such notification shall contain the evidence relied on and the reasons for denial. A copy of such notice shall be sent to the inmate.

(g)  The decision of the original sentencing judge or, in her or his absence, the chief judge of the circuit to vacate any parole release order as provided in this section is not appealable. Each inmate whose parole release order has been vacated by the court shall be reinterviewed within 2 years after the date of receipt of the vacated release order and every 2 years thereafter, or earlier by order of the court retaining jurisdiction. However, each inmate whose parole release order has been vacated by the court and who has been:

1.  Convicted of murder or attempted murder;

2.  Convicted of sexual battery or attempted sexual battery; or

3.  Sentenced to a 25-year minimum mandatory sentence previously provided in s. 775.082,

shall be reinterviewed once within 5 years after the date of receipt of the vacated release order and once every 5 years thereafter, if the commission finds that it is not reasonable to expect that parole would be granted during the following years and states the bases for the finding in writing. For any inmate who is within 7 years of his or her tentative release date, the commission may establish a reinterview date prior to the 5-year schedule.

(h)  An inmate whose parole release order has been vacated by the court may not be given a presumptive parole release date during the period of retention of jurisdiction by the court. During such period, a new effective parole release date may be authorized at the discretion of the commission without further interview unless an interview is requested by no fewer than two commissioners. Any such new effective parole release date must be reviewed in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g).

(5)  Within 90 days after any interview for parole, the inmate shall be advised of the presumptive parole release date. Subsequent to the establishment of the presumptive parole release date, the commission may, at its discretion, review the official record or conduct additional interviews with the inmate. However, the presumptive parole release date may not be changed except for reasons of institutional conduct or the acquisition of new information not available at the time of the initial interview.

(6)  This section as amended by chapter 82-171, Laws of Florida, shall apply only to those persons convicted on or after the effective date of chapter 82-171; and this section as in effect before being amended by chapter 82-171 shall apply to any person convicted before the effective date of chapter 82-171.

History.--s. 12, ch. 20519, 1941; s. 3, ch. 21775, 1943; ss. 1, 2, ch. 71-110; s. 2, ch. 74-122; s. 88, ch. 77-120; s. 1, ch. 78-318; s. 11, ch. 78-417; s. 106, ch. 79-3; s. 5, ch. 79-42; s. 195, ch. 79-164; s. 2, ch. 79-310; s. 8, ch. 79-341; s. 1, ch. 81-30; s. 4, ch. 81-322; s. 9, ch. 82-171; ss. 1, 2, ch. 82-401; ss. 9, 34, ch. 83-131; s. 189, ch. 83-216; s. 1, ch. 85-107; s. 3, ch. 85-295; s. 37, ch. 86-183; s. 67, ch. 88-122; s. 111, ch. 89-96; s. 17, ch. 89-531; s. 20, ch. 90-337; s. 1, ch. 93-2; s. 1673, ch. 97-102; s. 1, ch. 97-289.

¹Note.--Section 4, ch. 97-289, provides that "[t]his act shall take effect October 1, 1997, and shall apply to the setting of subsequent interview dates as authorized by section 947.16(4)(g) . . . on or after such effective date."

²Note.--Repealed by s. 27, ch. 85-288.