Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 843.15 (2025)

Failure of defendant on bail to appear.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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843.15 Failure of defendant on bail to appear.—

(1) Whoever, having been released pursuant to chapter 903, willfully fails to appear before any court or judicial officer as required shall incur a forfeiture of any security which was given or pledged for her or his release and, in addition, shall:

(a) If she or he was released in connection with a charge of felony or while awaiting sentence or pending review by certiorari after conviction of any offense, be guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, or;

(b) If she or he was released in connection with a charge of misdemeanor, be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(2) Nothing in this section shall interfere with or prevent the exercise by any court of its power to punish for contempt.

History.—ss. 1, 2, ch. 8468, 1921; CGL 7545, 7546; s. 1, ch. 69-152; s. 1048, ch. 71-136; s. 1345, ch. 97-102.

Arrestable Offenses under F.S. 843.15

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

§843.15(1a)FAILURE TO APPEARF · 3rd

§843.15(1b)FAILURE TO APPEARM · 1st

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 57 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1973–2024 · leading case: Williams v. State, 500 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 1986).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Williams v. State, 500 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 1986). · cites it 5× “We are, first of all, persuaded by the rationale of the Fifth District in Monti Failure to appear for sentencing as required in a criminal case is itself a criminal offense violating section 843.15, Florida Statutes (1985), [1] and specifically punishable by up to five years in…”

McGee v. State, 438 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). · cites it 11× “NOTES [1] Section 843.15, Florida Statutes, provides in part: Whoever, having been released pursuant to chapter 903, willfully fails to appear before any court or judicial officer as required shall incur a forfeiture of any security which was given or pledged for his release…”

Wilson v. State, 776 So. 2d 347 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). · cites it 4× “§ 843.15, Fla. Stat.; Rahmings v. State, 660 So.”

Miles v. State, 418 So. 2d 1070 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). · cites it 3× “[3] Each of the two counts in information number 78-1589 related to a violation of one and the same statutorily defined offense (§ 843.15(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (1979)), so there can be absolutely no legal question relating to an identity of the statutory offenses which might lead to…”

Rahmings v. State, 660 So. 2d 1390 (Fla. 1995). · cites it 5× “…section 843.15, in which instance the State has the burden of proving that she "willfully" failed to appear. See § 843.15, Fla. Stat. (1993).”

Johnson v. State, 501 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). · cites it 2× “If, indeed, the State contends and it made no such contention in the trial court at any time that the defendant's non-appearance was willful, then it is free to prosecute the defendant under Section 843.15(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1985), for his failure to appear at…”

Hoag v. State, 511 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). · cites it 2× “He was later convicted twice for violation of section 843.15(1)(a), Florida Statutes, which made it an offense to willfully fail to appear as required.”

Patterson v. State, 512 So. 2d 1109 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). · cites it 2× “Appellant was charged with willful failure to appear in circuit court in Gainesville in violation of Section 843.15, Florida Statutes (1985). At trial, the state introduced evidence establishing that the appellant failed to appear before the court on the date and at the time…”

In re Stand. Jury Instructions in Crim. Cases-Report No. 2012-05, 131 So. 3d 755 (Fla. 2013). · cites it 2× “18 FAILURE TO APPEAR § 843.15, Fla. Stat. To prove the crime of Failure to Appear, the State must prove the following three elements beyond a reasonable doubt: 1.”

Jaffe v. State, 438 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). · cites it 3× “[4] The charging document and the judgment refer to § 843.15(1)( b ) which refers to a release in connection with a misdemeanor.”

State v. Gurican, 576 So. 2d 709 (Fla. 1991). · cites it 2× “NOTES [1] In addition, because of Gurican's failure to appear for sentencing and her plea of nolo contendere to that offense, the trial court later sentenced her to two and one-half years in state prison to run concurrent with her sentence for drug trafficking.”

Griffis v. State, 759 So. 2d 668 (Fla. 2000). · cites it 2× “[9] See § 843.15, Fla. Stat. (1997). [10] See §§ 38.”

Show all 57 citing cases →

— 843.15(1) — 2 cases

Jaffe v. State, 438 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). “[4] The charging document and the judgment refer to § 843.15(1)( b ) which refers to a release in connection with a misdemeanor.”

Giordano v. State, 32 So. 3d 96 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009).

— 843.15(1)(a) — 15 cases

Miles v. State, 418 So. 2d 1070 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). “[3] Each of the two counts in information number 78-1589 related to a violation of one and the same statutorily defined offense (§ 843.15(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (1979)), so there can be absolutely no legal question relating to an identity of the statutory offenses which might lead to…”

Wilson v. State, 776 So. 2d 347 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). “§ 843.15, Fla. Stat.; Rahmings v. State, 660 So.”

Johnson v. State, 501 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). “If, indeed, the State contends and it made no such contention in the trial court at any time that the defendant's non-appearance was willful, then it is free to prosecute the defendant under Section 843.15(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1985), for his failure to appear at…”

Hoag v. State, 511 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). “He was later convicted twice for violation of section 843.15(1)(a), Florida Statutes, which made it an offense to willfully fail to appear as required.”

Williams v. State, 500 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 1986). “We are, first of all, persuaded by the rationale of the Fifth District in Monti Failure to appear for sentencing as required in a criminal case is itself a criminal offense violating section 843.15, Florida Statutes (1985), [1] and specifically punishable by up to five years in…”

— 843.15(1)(b) — 1 case

Jaffe v. State, 438 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983). “[4] The charging document and the judgment refer to § 843.15(1)( b ) which refers to a release in connection with a misdemeanor.”

— 843.15(2) — 4 cases

Santamaria v. State, 528 So. 2d 941 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988).

Giordano v. State, 32 So. 3d 96 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009).

King v. State, 401 So. 2d 931 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981).

State v. Traber, 37 Fla. Supp. 2d 96 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 1989).

— 843.15(l)(a) — 10 cases

David Leon Lashley v. State of Florida, 194 So. 3d 1084 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016).

Williams v. State, 876 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004).

Wood v. State, 354 So. 2d 134 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978).

Schuhart v. State, 647 So. 2d 1049 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994).

Allen v. State, 580 So. 2d 339 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991).

— 843.15(l)(b) — 3 cases

Wood v. State, 354 So. 2d 134 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978).

Belcher v. State, 559 So. 2d 448 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990).

English v. State, 667 So. 2d 506 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996).

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.