Candidate Qualification; Specifying that a person seeking to qualify for office as a candidate must be a registered member of a political party, or registered without any party affiliation, for 365 consecutive days preceding the beginning of qualifying for an election; specifying that such person may not have legally changed his or her name through a specified petition during such 365-day period; providing that compliance with specified requirements is mandatory; providing construction; authorizing qualified candidates or certain political parties to challenge compliance with specified provisions by filing suit in a specified circuit court; prohibiting a person from being qualified as a candidate for nomination or election and appearing on the ballot under specified circumstances.
OGSR/Florida Public Service Commission; Deleting the scheduled repeal of an exemption from public meeting requirements for portions of a hearing before the Florida Public Service Commission wherein certain proprietary confidential business information is discussed, etc.
Sexual Offenses; Replaces term "child pornography" with term "child sexual abuse material"; revises criteria related to reclassification of specified offenses; revises mandatory minimum sentences for certain sexual offenses by persons previously convicted of sexual offenses; increases penalty for employing, authorizing, or inducing child of specified age to engage in sexual performance; prohibits person from employing, authorizing, or inducing child younger than 12 years of age to engage in sexual performance; requires mandatory minimum sentences for certain offenses when committed by specified offenders; increases penalty for knowingly soliciting, possessing, controlling, or intentionally viewing certain materials that include child sexual abuse material; provides applicability of specified mandatory minimum sentences; increases penalty for intentionally creating generated child sexual abuse material; prohibits person from transmitting child sexual abuse material to another person; revises punishments for certain sexual activities involving animals; requires certain court order to be effective for certain number of years; increases criminal penalties for possessing child-like sex doll; provides that prosecution for certain acts in connection with obscene, lewd, etc., materials does not prohibit person from prosecution for other specified offenses; requires mandatory minimum sentences for certain offenses when committed by specified offenders; ranks offenses on offense severity ranking chart of Criminal Punishment Code.
HB 245 replaces the term "child pornography" with "child sexual abuse material" across multiple Florida statutes, including those defining offenses (like Chapter 847), court records (Section 92.56), and disqualification rules for child care workers (Section 435.07). It directly affects legal documents, court proceedings, and background checks related to child exploitation cases. The bill changes terminology only - no new penalties or policies are created - and applies to all referenced statutes, such as those governing sexual performance by children (Section 827.071) and possession of abusive material (Section 847.001). This is a procedural update to align terminology with current understanding of the harm caused.
Dangerous Crimes; Requires court to remand person who pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or is found guilty of, dangerous crime to custody immediately; requires such person to remain in custody pending sentencing without possibility of release on bond; revising definition of "dangerous crime."
Juvenile Justice; Authorizing the Governor to award a Medal of Heroism to juvenile detention and juvenile probation officers; authorizing certain entities to establish an award program to award a Medal of Valor to a juvenile detention officer or probation officer in certain circumstances; revising the definition of the term “officer” to include juvenile detention and juvenile probation officers; requiring the Department of Juvenile Justice to direct the Department of Revenue to deduct specified amounts owed to the Department of Juvenile Justice upon a certain determination; requiring the Department of Revenue to transfer such funds into a certain trust fund; specifying requirements relating to such reductions in amounts distributed to counties, etc.
Florida Statutes; Adopting the Florida Statutes 2026 and designating the portions thereof that are to constitute the official law of the state; providing that the Florida Statutes 2026 shall be effective immediately upon publication; providing that general laws enacted during the 2025 regular session and prior thereto and not included in the Florida Statutes 2026 are repealed; providing that general laws enacted after the 2025 regular session are not repealed by this adoption act, etc.
Commercial Service Airports; Preempts naming of major commercial service airports to state; provides names for major commercial service airports; provides that renaming specified airport is subject to approval of FAA & execution of certain agreement; provides that such airport names continue to be valid under certain circumstances; requires DOT to annually review provisions naming major commercial service airports for certain purpose; requires DOT to provide certain notice to Legislature; provides requirements for such notice; requires that certain government records created on or after certain date use such airport names; specifies that airport names are branding designations; provides that political subdivision is in compliance with certain provisions under specified circumstances.
Florida Statutes; Deleting provisions which have become inoperative by noncurrent repeal or expiration and, pursuant to s. 11.242(5)(b) and (i), F.S., may be omitted from the 2026 Florida Statutes only through a reviser’s bill duly enacted by the Legislature, etc.
Florida Statutes; Deleting provisions that have expired, have become obsolete, have had their effect, have served their purpose, or have been impliedly repealed or superseded; replacing incorrect cross-references and citations; correcting grammatical, typographical, and like errors; removing inconsistencies, redundancies, and unnecessary repetition in the statutes; and improving the clarity of the statutes and facilitating their correct interpretation, etc.
Parkinson's Disease Registry ; Requires physicians & advanced practice registered nurses to report certain information to Parkinson's disease registry; provides limited liability for physicians & advanced practice registered nurses under certain circumstances; requires President of Senate & Speaker of House of Representatives to each appoint one member to Parkinson's Disease Research Board; revises membership qualifications & terms; revises report requirements; requires Institute for Parkinson's Disease within University of South Florida, subject to appropriation, to establish & maintain statewide Parkinson's disease registry; provides requirements for such registry; requires institute to create & maintain Parkinson's disease registry-specific website; provides requirements for such website.
Pub. Rec./Parkinson's Disease Registry; Provides public records exemption for specified patient information for Parkinson's disease registry; authorizes certain information to be disclosed under certain circumstances; provides for future legislative review & repeal of exemption; provides statement of public necessity.
