SB 644 Florida Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Attorney Fees, Suit Money, and Costs

Summary

Attorney Fees, Suit Money, and Costs; Authorizing a court to order attorney fees, suit money, and costs in appellate proceedings; authorizing the inclusion of certain fees, money, and costs in an award of attorney fees, suit money, and costs; authorizing the court to award, deny, or reduce attorney fees, suit money, and costs under certain circumstances, etc.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

S 644 c1 → S 644 c2 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates Florida's attorney fees and costs statute, adding new provisions for criminal contempt proceedings and clarifying enforcement mechanisms. The changes expand the court's authority in specific contexts while maintaining core protections for child support payments.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to explicitly include criminal contempt proceedings under Rule 3.840, which were not clearly addressed in the previous version.

SCOPE

Added new provisions allowing courts to appoint attorneys and assess fees in criminal contempt proceedings under Rule 3.840 of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.

ENFORCEMENT

Clarified that the Department of Revenue may not be considered a party for fee assessment purposes in Title IV-D cases, though fees can still be assessed against the department under existing law.

REQUIREMENT

Strengthened requirements for written findings in vexatious or bad faith litigation cases, specifying that courts must identify the specific conduct and reasons for their fee decisions.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and wording adjustments throughout the text, including changes to committee attribution and bill numbering.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

CS/CS by Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice; YEAS 7 NAYS 0

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice, 02/18/26, 10:30 am, 37 Senate Building

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Now in Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Judiciary, 02/10/26, 12:00 pm, 110 Senate Building

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

upper

Dec 9, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary; Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice; Rules

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors