HB 559 Florida House · 2026 Regular Session

Animal Welfare

Summary
Animal Welfare; Creating the offense of causing or enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor committing, animal cruelty; requiring a court to order a minor who commits specified acts of animal cruelty to undergo a psychological evaluation and receive counseling and treatment for a specified time period; requiring the minor's parent or guardian or the state to pay the cost of such evaluation, counseling, and treatment; providing an exception; authorizing the court to hold the parent or guardian in contempt under certain circumstances; requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to post on its website specified information relating to each individual convicted of specified animal cruelty offenses; specifying time periods for which the information shall be posted; requiring the department to develop a procedure to allow a person to petition for the removal of his or her information under specified circumstances; requiring the department to remove specified information under specified circumstances; specifying the time period within which such information must be removed; authorizing the department to adopt rules; requiring clerks of court and county detention facilities to provide the Department of Law Enforcement with specified information, data, and images; creating the offense of causing or enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor committing, fighting or baiting animals; creating the offense of causing or enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor committing, sexual activities involving animals; increasing the maximum civil penalty for specified violations of ordinances relating to animal control or cruelty; increasing the level on the offense severity ranking chart for fighting or baiting animals; ranking offenses created by the act on the offense severity ranking chart, etc.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
May 2026
Introduced Dec 1, 2025 Signed May 12, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

H 559 c1 H 559 er · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill has been updated from a Committee Substitute version to the final Enrolled version, marking its completion of the legislative process and readiness for the Governor's signature. The primary change is the addition of the 'ENROLLED' designation and the inclusion of '2026 Legislature' to indicate the specific session that passed the law. No substantive policy changes, such as new definitions, funding amounts, or enforcement mechanisms, were introduced in this diff.
TECHNICAL

The bill status was updated from 'CS' (Committee Substitute) to 'ENROLLED', signifying the final version approved by both legislative chambers.

The text '2026 Legislature' was added to the header to specify the legislative session in which the bill was enacted.

The 'CS' (Committee Substitute) designation was removed from the header.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 4, 2026 · House Feb 25, 2026

How they voted

380
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 40
Mar 4, 2026
D Democratic11
10 Yea 1
90% Yea
I Independent1
1 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican28
27 Yea 1
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
38
Key actions
12
Committee
13
May 13, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Chapter No. 2026-78; Companion bill(s) passed, see CS/SB 1004 (Ch. 2026-76)
legislature
May 12, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor
legislature
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
CS passed; YEAS 37 NAYS 0
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
Referred to Rules
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
CS passed; YEAS 114, NAYS 0
lower
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Judiciary Committee
lower
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Favorable by Judiciary Committee
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Added to Judiciary Committee agenda
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Now in Judiciary Committee
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Committee
Referred to Judiciary Committee
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Criminal Justice Subcommittee
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Favorable with CS by Criminal Justice Subcommittee
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
PCS added to Criminal Justice Subcommittee agenda
lower
Dec 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Now in Criminal Justice Subcommittee
lower
Dec 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to Judiciary Committee
lower
Dec 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to Justice Budget Subcommittee
lower
Dec 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Justice Subcommittee
lower
2 primary · 8 co-sponsors

Sponsors