The measures target repeat violent offenders, expand how gang affiliation can be established, strengthen penalties for animal-related crimes and address offenses involving substances such as xylazine and nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida lawmakers passed more than 100 measures during the 2026 legislative session, with several new laws scheduled to take effect Oct. 1.
The legislation establishes new criminal offenses and changes how existing crimes are investigated, prosecuted and punished. The laws also respond to the growing use of certain drugs, create additional tracking requirements for repeat violent offenders and people convicted of animal cruelty, and update the standards used to identify criminal gang members.
Here are 10 Florida laws residents should know about:
SB 1332: Career Offender Registration
Senate Bill 1332 adds new registration obligations for people classified as habitual or career violent felony offenders.
Their Florida driver’s licenses or identification cards must display “775.261,” the statute number associated with the state’s definition of career offenders.
Like individuals listed on the sex offender registry, qualifying repeat violent offenders must provide local law enforcement with information including their home address, telephone number, vehicles and employer each year. Any change to their address, phone number or job must be reported within 48 hours.
HB 429: Criteria for Determining Criminal Gang Membership
House Bill 429 broadens the factors prosecutors and law enforcement officers may consider when determining whether someone is a criminal gang member. It also updates the law to reflect the role social media and other digital platforms play in gang recruitment and coordination.
However, one social media post or online statement claiming gang membership will not, by itself, be enough to trigger that classification.
The law requires at least two statutory indicators. Those may include a person admitting in person or online to being part of a criminal gang, a gang identifying the person as a member, or a parent, guardian or live-in spouse making that identification.
It also lowers the number of documented occasions on which someone must be seen with gang members from four to two.
House Bill 559 establishes new felony offenses and raises the consequences for several forms of animal cruelty.
People convicted of animal fighting or baiting will face tougher penalties. Adults who push minors to take part in aggravated animal cruelty or animal fighting could also be charged with newly created felonies.
Minors found guilty of animal cruelty will have to receive a psychological evaluation and may be ordered to undergo treatment.
The measure also increases civil penalties for violations of local animal cruelty ordinances and imposes steeper fines on repeat offenders. The maximum penalty for a first violation will rise from $500 to $2,500.
HB 559 significantly expands Florida’s Aggravated Animal Cruelty offender database. New listings will include details such as the person’s date of birth, case number, county where the offense occurred and booking photograph. Those database changes must be implemented by Jan. 1, 2027.
The records will not necessarily remain public indefinitely. Someone with a single misdemeanor animal cruelty conviction may have their information removed after three years. Additional convictions can extend the listing by another 10 years.
SB 432: Intoxicating Substances
SB 432 creates criminal penalties for certain individuals who illegally possess or sell nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas,” or traffic the horse tranquilizer xylazine, commonly referred to as “tranq.”
Also known as “Meg’s Law,” Section 2 prohibits tobacco or nicotine retailers and their employees from possessing, selling, or giving someone nitrous oxide on or from the retailer’s premises. Nitrous oxide is sometimes abused and inhaled to induce a high. This law will not apply to permitted grocery stores or supermarkets.
Violators of the law may be subject to a third-degree felony charge.
SB 432 also creates a first-degree felony charge of “trafficking in xylazine.” Anyone who knowingly possesses, sells, purchases, manufactures or delivers 28 grams or more of xylazine into the state can be charged.
If the possessed substance is less than 100 grams, a convicted individual will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years imprisonment and a fine of $50,000. For 100 grams or more, punishments increase.
HB 397: Violations of Pretrial Release Conditions for Violent Crimes
HB 397 makes violations of pretrial release conditions for certain violent crimes a first-degree misdemeanor, and subsequent violations of pretrial release conditions a third-degree felony. It pertains to people granted pretrial release after being charged with the following crimes:
- Murder
- Manslaughter
- Assault and aggravated assault
- Battery and aggravated battery
- Stalking and aggravated stalking
- Kidnapping
- False imprisonment
- Sexual battery (rape)
- Lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon or in the presence of a minor under 16 years old
- Robbery
- Written or electronic threats to kill or do bodily injury to a person
This law also says people charged with violating these conditions must be held in jail until their first court appearance on the new charges. It directs judges to prioritize victims’ and public safety when determining whether a person found violating their pretrial release conditions should be granted pretrial release again.
The final provision of the law clears law enforcement officers from civil liability and allows them to arrest people on pretrial release if they have probable cause the person committed a violation of their release conditions.
HB 1293: Fraudulent Entry of Residential Dwellings
HB 1293 establishes a law making it a third-degree felony to make a false statement related to a person’s identity, present forged or fake documents to a landlord, or impersonate someone else on a rental application for the purpose of entering into a rental agreement and occupying a residential home.
In addition, this law also adds the fraudulent entry provisions covered in the new criminal code into the list of reasons a landlord can terminate a rental agreement under Florida tenant law statute.
HB 1525: Lewd or Lascivious Acts
HB 1525 prohibits a person from intentionally exposing or displaying his or her sexual organs in a lewd or lascivious manner while observing a child under 16 years of age. The provision also prohibits performing specified sexual acts while observing a child under 16 for specified purposes.
The law also establishes criminal penalties for violations and prohibits certain defenses from being raised in a court of law.
SB 490: Public Records/E-mail Addresses Collected by the Department of Highway Safety for Providing Renewal Notices
SB490 addresses public records requirements, expanding exemptions to include any e-mail addresses collected by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for any notification purpose. It also expands notifications that can be sent over email to include notices and orders related to vehicles, driver licenses and other identification cards.
“The department’s use of e-mail as a method for corresponding with customers has steadily increased in recent decades. E-mail addresses are unique to each individual and, when combined with other personal identifying information, can be used for identity theft, consumer scams, unwanted solicitations, or other invasive contacts,” the bill reads. “The public availability of personal e-mail addresses puts the department’s customers at increased risk of these problems. Such risks may be significantly limited by permitting the department to keep customer e-mail addresses exempt. The Legislature finds that these risks to consumers outweigh the state’s public policy favoring open government.”
The bill also calls for an automatic repeal of the exemption in 2031 unless reviewed and reenacted by the legislature.
SB 246: Specialty License Plates
SB 246 requires organizations with approved specialty license plates to submit specified financial information to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles within a designated timeframe. The law also prohibits certain specialty license plate fees and related interest from being distributed to specified entities.
The law also directs DHSMV to develop several specialty license plates, including the Endless Summer motorcycle plate, and revises issuance and fee distribution requirements for Fraternal Order of Police plates.
SB 488 requires companies that operate commercial motor vehicles to obtain a license rather than register, and revises the reporting periods and deadlines for motor fuel use tax returns. The law also changes the property damage threshold that requires drivers involved in a crash to notify law enforcement.
The law defines “REAL ID driver license or identification card” and clarifies that certain license plate frames and decorative border devices are permitted under specified conditions.
