944.608 Notification to Department of Law Enforcement of information on career offenders.—
(1) As used in this section, the term:
(a) “Career offender” means a person who is in the custody or control of, or under the supervision of, the department or is in the custody or control of, or under the supervision of, a contractor-operated correctional facility, and who is designated as a habitual violent felony offender, a violent career criminal, or a three-time violent felony offender under s. 775.084 or as a prison releasee reoffender under s. 775.082(9).
(b) “Permanent residence,” “temporary residence,” and “transient residence” have the same meanings as provided in s. 775.261.
(c) “Professional license” has the same meaning as provided in s. 775.261.
(d) “Vehicles owned” has the same meaning as provided in s. 775.261.
(2) If a career offender is not sentenced to a term of imprisonment, the clerk of the court shall ensure that the career offender’s fingerprints are taken and forwarded to the Department of Law Enforcement within 48 hours after the court sentences the career offender. The fingerprints shall be clearly marked “Career Offender Registration.”
(3) A career offender, as described in this section, who is under the supervision of the department but is not incarcerated must register with the department within 3 business days after sentencing and provide information as required by this subsection.
(a) The career offender shall provide his or her name; social security number; race; sex; date of birth; height; weight; hair and eye color; tattoos or other identifying marks; employment information required to be provided pursuant to s. 775.261; permanent or legal residence and address of temporary residence within the state or out of state while the career offender is under supervision in this state, including any rural route address and a post office box; if no permanent or temporary address, any transient residence within this state; and address, location or description, and dates of any current or known future temporary residence within this state or out of state; the make, model, color, vehicle identification number (VIN), and license tag number of all vehicles owned; and all home telephone numbers and cellular telephone numbers required to be provided pursuant to s. 775.261. The career offender shall also produce his or her passport, if he or she has a passport, and, if he or she is an alien, shall produce or provide information about documents establishing his or her immigration status. The career offender shall also provide information about any professional licenses he or she has. The department shall verify the address of each career offender in the manner described in s. 775.261. The department shall report to the Department of Law Enforcement any failure by a career offender to comply with any registration requirements.
(b) A career offender shall report in person to the sheriff’s office within 48 hours after any change in vehicles owned to report those vehicle information changes.
(4) In addition to notification and transmittal requirements imposed by any other provision of law, the department shall compile information on any career offender and provide the information to the Department of Law Enforcement. The information shall be made available electronically to the Department of Law Enforcement as soon as this information is in the department’s database and must be in a format that is compatible with the requirements of the Florida Crime Information Center.
(5) The information provided to the Department of Law Enforcement must include:
(a) The information obtained from the career offender under subsection (3);
(b) The career offender’s most current address and permanent, temporary, or transient residence or residences within the state or out of state; the address, location or description, and dates of any known future temporary residence within this state or out of state while the career offender is under supervision in this state; and, if known, the intended place of permanent, temporary, or transient residence or residences and the address, location or description, and dates of any current or known future temporary residence within this state or out of state upon satisfaction of all sanctions;
(c) The legal status of the career offender and the scheduled termination date of that legal status;
(d) The location of, and local telephone number for, any Department of Corrections’ office that is responsible for supervising the career offender; and
(e) A digitized photograph of the career offender, which must have been taken within 60 days before the career offender is released from the custody of the department or a contractor-operated correctional facility or within 60 days after the onset of the department’s supervision of any career offender who is on probation, community control, conditional release, parole, provisional release, or control release. If the career offender is in the custody of a contractor-operated correctional facility, the facility shall take a digitized photograph of the career offender within the time period provided in this paragraph and shall provide the photograph to the department.
(6)(a) The department shall notify the Department of Law Enforcement if the career offender escapes, absconds, or dies while in the custody or control of, or under the supervision of, the department.
(b) If any information provided by the department changes during the time the career offender is under the department’s custody, control, or supervision, including any change in the career offender’s name by reason of marriage or other legal process, the department shall, in a timely manner, update the information and provide it to the Department of Law Enforcement in the manner prescribed in subsection (4).
(7) If the career offender is in the custody of a local jail, the custodian of the local jail shall notify the Department of Law Enforcement within 3 business days after intake of the offender for any reason and upon release, and shall forward the information to the Department of Law Enforcement. The custodian of the local jail shall also take a digitized photograph of the career offender while the career offender remains in custody and shall provide the digitized photograph to the Department of Law Enforcement.
(8) If the career offender is under federal supervision, the federal agency responsible for supervising the career offender may forward to the Department of Law Enforcement any information regarding the career offender which is consistent with the information provided by the department under this section, and may indicate whether use of the information is restricted to law enforcement purposes only or may be used by the Department of Law Enforcement for purposes of public notification.
(9) A career offender, as described in this section, who is under the supervision of the department but who is not incarcerated shall, in addition to the registration requirements provided in subsection (3), register and obtain a distinctive driver license or identification card in the manner provided in s. 775.261, unless the career offender is a sexual predator, in which case he or she shall register as required under s. 775.21, or is a sexual offender, in which case he or she shall register as required in s. 943.0435 or s. 944.607. A career offender who fails to comply with the requirements of s. 775.261 is subject to the penalties provided in s. 775.261(13).
(10)(a) The failure of a career offender to submit to the taking of a digitized photograph, or to otherwise comply with the requirements of this section, is a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(b) A career offender who commits any act or omission in violation of this section may be prosecuted for the act or omission in the county in which the act or omission was committed, in the county of the last registered address of the career offender, in the county in which the conviction occurred for the offense or offenses that meet the criteria for designating a person as a career offender, in the county in which he or she was designated a career offender, in the county where the career offender was released from incarceration, or in the county of the intended address of the career offender as reported by the offender before his or her release from incarceration.
(c) An arrest on charges of failure to register when the offender has been provided and advised of his or her statutory obligations to register under s. 775.261, the service of an information or a complaint for a violation of this section, or an arraignment on charges for a violation of this section constitutes actual notice of the duty to register. A career offender’s failure to register immediately as required by this section following such arrest, service, or arraignment constitutes grounds for a subsequent charge of failure to register. A career offender charged with the crime of failure to register who asserts, or intends to assert, a lack of notice of the duty to register as a defense to a charge of failure to register shall register immediately as required by this section. A career offender who is charged with a subsequent failure to register may not assert the defense of a lack of notice of the duty to register.
(d) Registration following such arrest, service, or arraignment is not a defense and does not relieve the career offender of criminal liability for the failure to register.
(11) The department, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the Department of Law Enforcement, personnel of those departments, and any individual or entity acting at the request or upon the direction of those departments are immune from civil liability for damages for good faith compliance with this section, and shall be presumed to have acted in good faith in compiling, recording, reporting, or providing information. The presumption of good faith is not overcome if technical or clerical errors are made by the department, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the Department of Law Enforcement, personnel of those departments, or any individual or entity acting at the request or upon the direction of those departments in compiling, recording, reporting, or providing information, or, if the information is incomplete or incorrect because the information has not been provided by a person or agency required to provide the information, or because the information was not reported or was falsely reported.
(12) Any person who has reason to believe that a career offender is not complying, or has not complied, with the requirements of this section and who, with the intent to assist the career offender in eluding a law enforcement agency that is seeking to find the career offender to question the career offender about, or to arrest the career offender for, his or her noncompliance with the requirements of this section:
(a) Withholds information from, or does not notify, the law enforcement agency about the career offender’s noncompliance with the requirements of this section, and, if known, the whereabouts of the career offender;
(b) Harbors or attempts to harbor, or assists another person in harboring or attempting to harbor, the career offender;
(c) Conceals or attempts to conceal, or assists another person in concealing or attempting to conceal, the career offender; or
(d) Provides information to the law enforcement agency regarding the career offender which the person knows to be false information,
commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. This subsection does not apply if the career offender is incarcerated in or is in the custody of a state correctional facility, a contractor-operated correctional facility, a local jail, or a federal correctional facility.
(13)(a) A career offender must report in person each year during the month of the career offender’s birthday to the sheriff’s office in the county in which he or she maintains a permanent, temporary, or transient residence or is otherwise located to reregister.
(b) The sheriff’s office may determine the appropriate times and days for reporting by the career offender, which must be consistent with the reporting requirements of this subsection. Reregistration must include any changes to the following information:
1. Name; social security number; race; sex; date of birth; height; weight; hair and eye color; tattoos or other identifying marks; fingerprints; palm prints; photograph; employment information required to be provided pursuant to s. 775.261; address of permanent residence and address of any current temporary residence, within the state or out of state, including a rural route address and a post office box; if no permanent or temporary address, any transient residence within this state; address, location or description, and dates of any current or known future temporary residence within the state or out of state; the make, model, color, vehicle identification number (VIN), and license tag number of all vehicles owned; and all home telephone numbers and cellular telephone numbers required to be provided pursuant to s. 775.261. A post office box may not be provided in lieu of a physical residential address. The career offender shall also produce his or her passport, if he or she has a passport, and, if he or she is an alien, shall produce or provide information about documents establishing his or her immigration status. The career offender shall also provide information about any professional licenses he or she has.
2. If the career offender’s place of residence is a motor vehicle, trailer, mobile home, or manufactured home, as those terms are defined in chapter 320, the career offender shall also provide the vehicle identification number (VIN); the license tag number; the registration number; and a description, including color scheme, of the motor vehicle, trailer, mobile home, or manufactured home. If the career offender’s place of residence is a vessel, live-aboard vessel, or houseboat, as those terms are defined in chapter 327, the career offender shall also provide the hull identification number; the manufacturer’s serial number; the name of the vessel, live-aboard vessel, or houseboat; the registration number of the vessel, live-aboard vessel, or houseboat; and a description, including color scheme, of the vessel, live-aboard vessel, or houseboat.
3. Any career offender who fails to report in person as required at the sheriff’s office, who fails to respond to any address verification correspondence from the department within 3 weeks after the date of the correspondence, or who knowingly provides false registration information by act or omission commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(c) The sheriff’s office shall, within 2 working days, electronically submit and update all information provided by the career offender to the Department of Law Enforcement in a manner prescribed by the Department of Law Enforcement.
History.—s. 4, ch. 2002-266; s. 11, ch. 2004-371; s. 63, ch. 2013-116; s. 53, ch. 2016-24; s. 29, ch. 2016-104; s. 25, ch. 2024-84; s. 7, ch. 2026-149; s. 3, ch. 2026-151.
