| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to habitual misdemeanor offenders; |
| 3 | creating s. 775.0837, F.S.; providing definitions; |
| 4 | specifying alternatives for sentencing a habitual |
| 5 | misdemeanor offender; providing that such alternatives are |
| 6 | imprisonment, commitment, or detention; specifying a |
| 7 | minimum and maximum time period for such alternatives; |
| 8 | providing criminal penalties; limiting the applicability |
| 9 | of the sentencing alternatives; providing an effective |
| 10 | date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Section 775.0837, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 15 | to read: |
| 16 | 775.0837 Habitual misdemeanor offenders.-- |
| 17 | (1) As used in this section, the term: |
| 18 | (a) "Convicted" means a determination of guilt which is |
| 19 | the result of a trial or the entry of a plea of guilty or nolo |
| 20 | contendere, regardless of whether adjudication is withheld. |
| 21 | (b) "Habitual misdemeanor offender" means a defendant who |
| 22 | is before the court for sentencing for a specified misdemeanor |
| 23 | offense and who has previously been convicted, as an adult, of |
| 24 | four or more specified misdemeanor offenses which meet the |
| 25 | following criteria: |
| 26 | 1. The offenses, in relation to each other and the |
| 27 | misdemeanor before the court for sentencing, are separate |
| 28 | offenses that are not part of the same criminal transaction or |
| 29 | episode. |
| 30 | 2. The offenses were committed within 1 year of the date |
| 31 | that the misdemeanor before the court for sentencing was |
| 32 | committed. |
| 33 | (c) "Specified misdemeanor offense" means those |
| 34 | misdemeanor offenses described in chapter 741, chapter 784, |
| 35 | chapter 790, chapter 796, chapter 800, chapter 806, chapter 810, |
| 36 | chapter 812, chapter 817, chapter 831, chapter 832, chapter 843, |
| 37 | chapter 856, chapter 893, or chapter 901. |
| 38 | (d) "Imprisonment" means incarceration in a county jail |
| 39 | operated by the county or a private vendor. |
| 40 | (2) If the court finds that a defendant before the court |
| 41 | for sentencing for a misdemeanor is a habitual misdemeanor |
| 42 | offender, the court shall sentence the defendant as a habitual |
| 43 | misdemeanor offender and impose one of the following sentences: |
| 44 | (a) A term of imprisonment of not less than 6 months, but |
| 45 | not to exceed 1 year; |
| 46 | (b) Commitment to a residential treatment program for not |
| 47 | less than 6 months, but not to exceed 364 days, provided that |
| 48 | the treatment program is operated by the county or a private |
| 49 | vendor with which the county has contracted to operate such |
| 50 | program, or by a private vendor under contract with the state or |
| 51 | licensed by the state to operate such program or other |
| 52 | community-based treatment program or a combination of |
| 53 | residential and community-based program; or |
| 54 | (c) Detention for not less than 6 months, but not to |
| 55 | exceed 364 days, to a designated residence, if the detention is |
| 56 | supervised or monitored by the county or by a private vendor |
| 57 | with which the county has contracted to supervise or monitor the |
| 58 | detention. |
| 59 |
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| 60 | The court may not sentence a defendant under this subsection if |
| 61 | the misdemeanor offense before the court for sentencing has been |
| 62 | reclassified as a felony as a result of any prior qualifying |
| 63 | misdemeanor. |
| 64 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |