Florida Statute 903.105 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLVII
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND CORRECTIONS

Chapter 903
BAIL

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¹903.105 Appearance bonds.—Any criminal defendant who is required to meet monetary bail or bail with any monetary component may satisfy such bail by providing a surety bond as otherwise provided by law or by providing an appearance bond as follows:

(1) Any defendant posting an appearance bond shall apply therefor in writing. Each defendant charged with a felony of the second degree or higher, and each defendant appearing before a court in connection with bail, shall sign the application upon oath in open court.

(2) After the application is completed and the quantity and other conditions of the bond are determined as required by law, the defendant may deposit with the clerk of the court before which the action is pending or with the sheriff, if designated by the clerk, a sum of money equal to 10 percent of the bond and any additional collateral for all or part of the remaining portion of the bond as the court may require.

(3) Upon depositing such sum and additional collateral and agreeing in writing to all nonmonetary conditions of the bond which the court may require, the defendant shall be released from custody subject to all conditions of release imposed by the court.

(4)(a) If the conditions of release have been performed and the defendant has been discharged from all obligations in the action, the clerk of the court shall return to the defendant, unless the court orders otherwise, 75 percent of the 10-percent sum deposited, plus any additional required collateral, and shall retain as bail costs 25 percent of the 10-percent sum deposited. At the request of the defendant, the court may order the amount repayable to the defendant from such deposit to be paid to the defendant’s attorney of record.

(b) Moneys retained by the clerk under this provision shall be disbursed as directed by the county commission for law enforcement, criminal justice, and criminal court operations relating to pretrial release, including, but not limited to, screening, supervision, and apprehension, subject to the following conditions:

1. The clerk must receive a sum equal to actual, demonstrable increased costs, if any, attributable to the implementation of this section.

2. Moneys distributed to the sheriff must be used for increased expenditures in connection with the apprehension of defendants who fail to appear as required.

(5) If a final judgment for a fine and court costs, or either a fine or court costs, is entered in an action in which a deposit has been made in accordance with this section, the balance of such deposit, after deduction of bail costs as provided for herein, shall be applied to the satisfaction of the judgment.

(6) In the event that this section becomes effective, the Supreme Court shall promulgate rules as necessary to implement this section.

History.—s. 47, ch. 82-175.

¹Note.—Pursuant to s. 73, ch. 82-175, effective “if and only if chapter 648 . . . is . . . repealed, in which event [this] section shall take effect upon the effective date of such repeal.”

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Amendments to 903.105

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 903.105

Total Results: 4 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Abusaid v. Hillsborough Cnty. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 405 F.3d 1298 (11th Cir. 2005).

Cited 60 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 6341, 2005 WL 858296

...” each year. Fla. Stat. § 30.49(1); see also id. § 129.03(2) (requiring sheriff to submit budget as part of board of 7 The Sheriff tries to make this argument, but the only provisions he cites in support of it are Fla. Stat. § 903.105, which states that sheriffs may use the bond posted by a defendant awaiting trial to apprehend the defendant if he fails to appear, and Fla....

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Ellis v. Hunter, 3 So. 3d 373 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009).

Cited 2 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 1974, 2009 WL 102221

...nt's cases in which fines, costs, or criminal penalties remain unpaid. If the Legislature intended to restrict section 903.286 to the case in which the bond was posted, it certainly knew how to employ the appropriate language to convey that meaning. Section 903.105, Florida Statutes, for example, allows a defendant to post an appearance bond by depositing a certain sum of money with the clerk or the sheriff. [4] Section 903.105(5) specifically states: If a final judgment for a fine and court costs, or either a fine or court costs, is entered in an action in which a deposit has been made in accordance with this section, the balance of such deposit, after deduction of bail costs as provided for herein, shall be applied to the satisfaction of the judgment. § 903.105(5), Fla....

...This statute makes it apparent that the appearance bond will only be applied to satisfy fines, costs, or penalties associated with the case in which the bond was posted. However, when the Legislature drafted section 903.286, rather than include language similar to that used in section 903.105(5) to restrict application of the bond proceeds to the case in which the bond was posted, it included language that specifically states that the statute applies to "a cash bond posted on behalf of a criminal defendant" and further inc...

...section 903.286 on the basis of due process, equal protection, and eminent domain. The same arguments directed to each constitutional challenge that were considered and rejected in Biddle are raised in the instant proceedings. [4] Oddly, even though section 903.105 was enacted in 1982, it provides that it will become effective only if chapter 648, Florida Statutes, is repealed. Chapter 648 has not been repealed. Nevertheless, the provisions of section 903.105(5) clearly illustrate that the Legislature knows how to include provisions in a bond statute that restrict application of the bond proceeds to satisfaction of fines, costs, and criminal penalties imposed only in the case in which the...

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United States v. William Raymond Beach (11th Cir. 2023).

Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Argued: Mar 8, 2023

...The 7 detectives would observe her as she approached Smith. Once 6 Under Florida law, a criminal defendant can satisfy his bail requirements by posting a bond for the bail. Fla. Stat. § 903.105. The defendant can post a bond by depositing “a sum of money equal to 10 percent of” the required bail with the clerk of the court. Id. § 903.105(2). 7 Molish planned to purchase crack instead of fentanyl from Smith because she had purchased crack from Smith on multiple occasions in the past. USCA11 Case: 21-11342 Document: 48-1 Date Filed: 08/30/2023 P...

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Minasian v. State, 655 So. 2d 1143 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1995).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 3645, 1995 WL 169924

...pal. Martin v. Johnson, 54 Fla. 487 , 44 So. 949 (1907); Amoroso v. Samuel Friedland Family Enter., 604 So.2d 827 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), decision approved, 630 So.2d 1067 (Fla. 1994). . A defendant may himself deposit a cash bond and, when he does so, section 903.105(5) allows the court to deduct any fine or court costs from the defendant's cash bond....

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