Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 839.13 (2025)

Falsifying records.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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839.13 Falsifying records.—

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if any judge, justice, mayor, alderman, clerk, sheriff, coroner, or other public officer, or employee or agent of or contractor with a public agency, or any person whatsoever, shall steal, embezzle, alter, corruptly withdraw, falsify or avoid any record, process, charter, gift, grant, conveyance, or contract, or any paper filed in any judicial proceeding in any court of this state, or shall knowingly and willfully take off, discharge or conceal any issue, forfeited recognizance, or other forfeiture, or other paper above mentioned, or shall forge, deface, or falsify any document or instrument recorded, or filed in any court, or any registry, acknowledgment, or certificate, or shall fraudulently alter, deface, or falsify any minutes, documents, books, or any proceedings whatever of or belonging to any public office within this state; or if any person shall cause or procure any of the offenses aforesaid to be committed, or be in anywise concerned therein, the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(2)(a) Any person who knowingly falsifies, alters, destroys, defaces, overwrites, removes, or discards an official record relating to an individual in the care and custody of a state agency, which act has the potential to detrimentally affect the health, safety, or welfare of that individual, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “care and custody” includes, but is not limited to, a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415.

(b) Any person who commits a violation of paragraph (a) which contributes to great bodily harm to or the death of an individual in the care and custody of a state agency commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “care and custody” includes, but is not limited to, a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415.

(c) Any person who knowingly falsifies, alters, destroys, defaces, overwrites, removes, or discards records of the Department of Children and Families or its contract provider with the intent to conceal a fact material to a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits prosecution for a violation of paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) involving records described in this paragraph.

(d) This section does not prohibit the disposing or archiving of records as otherwise provided by law. In addition, this section does not prohibit any person from correcting or updating records.

(3) In any prosecution under this section, it shall not be necessary to prove the ownership or value of any paper or instrument involved.

History.—s. 19, Feb. 10, 1832; RS 2571; GS 3483; RGS 5357; CGL 7492; s. 1023, ch. 71-136; s. 1, ch. 2002-386; s. 2, ch. 2007-174; s. 303, ch. 2014-19.

Arrestable Offenses under F.S. 839.13

M = misdemeanor · F = felony · degree: F=1st S=2nd T=3rd

§839.13(1)FRAUDFALSIFY PUBLIC OR COURT RECORDM · 1st

§839.13FRAUDRENUMBERED. SEE REC # 8828M · 1st

§839.13(2a)FRAUDALTER DESTR RECORD OF PERSON IN STATE CUSTODYF · 3rd

§839.13(2a)PUBLIC ORDER CRIMESRENUMBERED. SEE REC # 8829F · 3rd

§839.13(2b)PUBLIC ORDER CRIMESRENUMBERED. SEE REC # 8830F · 2nd

§839.13(2b)FRAUDALTER DESTR RECORD CAUSE HARM OR DEATHF · 2nd

§839.13(2c)FRAUDALTER DESTR DCFS OR PROVIDER RECORDF · 3rd

§839.13(2c)PUBLIC ORDER CRIMESRENUMBERED. SEE REC # 8831F · 3rd

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 2 cases, 1998–2008 · leading case: Carl Robert Christy v. Sheriff of Palm Beach, 288 F. App'x 658 (11th Cir. 2008).

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Carl Robert Christy v. Sheriff of Palm Beach, 288 F. App'x 658 (11th Cir. 2008). “§§ 2, 4 1001(a), 1510, 1512(b)-(c), 1621, 1623, and ^962, various federal criminal statutes generally related to making false and misleading statements, obstructing an investigation, and racketeering; Fla. Stat. § 839.13 for falsifying records; and Fed.”

Vandiver v. State, 779 So. 2d 289 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). · cites it 2× “Appellant was charged with possession of methamphetamine (§ 839.13(6), Fla. Stat. (1995)), possession of cannabis *291 (§ 893.”

— 839.13(6) — 1 case

Vandiver v. State, 779 So. 2d 289 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). “Appellant was charged with possession of methamphetamine (§ 839.13(6), Fla. Stat. (1995)), possession of cannabis *291 (§ 893.”

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