Florida Statute 916.303 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLVII
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND CORRECTIONS

Chapter 916
MENTALLY ILL AND INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED DEFENDANTS

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F.S. 916.303

916.303 Determination of incompetency; dismissal of charges.—

(1) The charges against any defendant found to be incompetent to proceed due to intellectual disability or autism shall be dismissed without prejudice to the state if the defendant remains incompetent to proceed within a reasonable time after such determination, not to exceed 2 years, unless the court in its order specifies its reasons for believing that the defendant will become competent to proceed within the foreseeable future and specifies the time within which the defendant is expected to become competent to proceed. The charges may be refiled by the state if the defendant is declared competent to proceed in the future.

(2) If the charges are dismissed and if the defendant is considered to lack sufficient capacity to give express and informed consent to a voluntary application for services and lacks the basic survival and self-care skills to provide for his or her well-being or is likely to physically injure himself or herself or others if allowed to remain at liberty, the agency, the state attorney, or the defendant’s attorney shall apply to the committing court to involuntarily admit the defendant to residential services pursuant to s. 393.11.

(3) If the defendant is considered to need involuntary residential services for reasons described in subsection (2) and, further, there is a substantial likelihood that the defendant will injure another person or continues to present a danger of escape, and all available less restrictive alternatives, including services in community residential facilities or other community settings, which would offer an opportunity for improvement of the condition have been judged to be inappropriate, the agency, the state attorney, or the defendant’s counsel may request the committing court to continue the defendant’s placement in a secure facility pursuant to this part. Any placement so continued must be reviewed by the court at least annually at a hearing. The annual review and hearing must determine whether the defendant continues to meet the criteria described in this subsection and, if so, whether the defendant still requires involuntary placement in a secure facility and whether the defendant is receiving adequate care, treatment, habilitation, and rehabilitation, including psychotropic medication and behavioral programming. Notice of the annual review and review hearing shall be given to the state attorney and the defendant’s attorney. A defendant’s placement in a secure facility may not exceed the maximum sentence for the crime for which the defendant was charged.

History.—s. 27, ch. 98-92; s. 56, ch. 99-7; s. 21, ch. 2006-195; s. 35, ch. 2013-162.

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Amendments to 916.303

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 916.303

Total Results: 21

Gonzalez v. State

15 So. 3d 37, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 5513, 2009 WL 1393071

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 20, 2009 | Docket: 1192581

Cited 14 times | Published

motion to dismiss the criminal charge under section 916.303(1). After a hearing, the court denied the motion

Hines v. State

931 So. 2d 148, 2006 WL 1210208

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 8, 2006 | Docket: 1522297

Cited 8 times | Published

pursuant to section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes (2002). The issue before us is whether section 916.303(1) creates

J.R. v. Michael Hansen

736 F.3d 959, 2013 WL 6223684, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 17380

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | Filed: Aug 20, 2013 | Docket: 673032

Cited 4 times | Published

a non-secure setting. Compare id. § 916.303(3) (review for secure settings) with id

State v. Smith

982 So. 2d 756, 2008 WL 2261539

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 4, 2008 | Docket: 1199923

Cited 4 times | Published

retardation is involved. The state appeals. Section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes, provides for the dismissal

J.R. v. Michael Hansen

803 F.3d 1315, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 17893, 2015 WL 5973269

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | Filed: Oct 15, 2015 | Docket: 2924122

Cited 3 times | Published

involuntary admission. Compare Fla. Stat. § 916.303(3) (mandating that admissions to a secure

Amendments to Rules of Criminal Procedure

942 So. 2d 407, 2006 WL 3229930

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Nov 9, 2006 | Docket: 1471518

Cited 3 times | Published

Rule 3.213 to reflect such a distinction."). Section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes (2005), provides that

Henry v. State

178 So. 3d 928, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 16711, 2015 WL 6757300

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Nov 6, 2015 | Docket: 60251630

Cited 2 times | Published

the denial of his motion to dismiss under section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes (2013). We grant the petition

State v. Everette

911 So. 2d 119, 2004 WL 2389922

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 27, 2004 | Docket: 1751717

Cited 2 times | Published

916.145, which has since been renumbered to section 916.303(a), Florida Statutes (2003), required the dismissal

Byrd v. State

834 So. 2d 872, 2002 WL 31373628

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 23, 2002 | Docket: 2583639

Cited 2 times | Published

without prejudice, which was filed pursuant to section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes (1999). We agree with

Tyrell L. Holly v. State

187 So. 3d 313

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 29, 2016 | Docket: 3045462

Cited 1 times | Published

dismiss without prejudice, filed pursuant to section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes (2015). Based upon the

Everette v. FLORIDA DCF

961 So. 2d 270, 2007 WL 1836953

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Jun 28, 2007 | Docket: 468770

Cited 1 times | Published

commitment to a secure facility pursuant to section 916.303(2)(b) of the Florida Statutes (2004), Everette

ANTONIO REYES REINA v. STATE OF FLORIDA

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 31, 2024 | Docket: 68814397

Published

order denying his motion to dismiss under section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes (2023); and (2) an order

Columbus Williams v. State of Florida

256 So. 3d 954

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 2, 2018 | Docket: 7968008

Published

two-year limit under section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes, has yet to expire. Section 916.303(1) mandates dismissal

Charles Vansmith v. State of Florida

247 So. 3d 64

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 10, 2018 | Docket: 6565397

Published

in a secure residential facility based on section 916.303(3), Florida Statutes (2017). We find that the

Charles Hughes v. State

221 So. 3d 1238, 2017 WL 2491605, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 8532

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jun 9, 2017 | Docket: 6076393

Published

his charges without prejudice pursuant to section 916.303, Florida Statutes (2016). The trial court separately

Tillman v. State

208 So. 3d 307, 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 18771

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 21, 2016 | Docket: 60258210

Published

request dismissal of his charges pursuant to section 916.303, Florida Statutes (2014), for incompetency

J.R. v. Barbara Palmer, etc.

175 So. 3d 710, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 267, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 1055, 2015 WL 2236760

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: May 14, 2015 | Docket: 2656904

Published

detention of intellectually disabled persons under section 916.303(3), Florida Statutes, involuntary commitment

Kendrick Joseph v. State

152 So. 3d 741, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 19609, 39 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 2496

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 3, 2014 | Docket: 2610806

Published

that he is entitled to dismissals pursuant to section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes (2013), which provides:

Paolercio v. State

129 So. 3d 1174, 2014 WL 92317, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 250

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 10, 2014 | Docket: 60237321

Published

pretrial release. See § 916.145, Fla. Stat. (2012); § 916.303(1), Fla. Stat. (2012). In such cases, the defendant

Drayton v. Agency for Persons with Disabilities

27 So. 3d 243, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 1798, 35 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 423

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 19, 2010 | Docket: 60288102

Published

without prejudice in April 2006 pursuant to section 916.303(1), Florida Statutes (2005), and Drayton was

Agency for Persons with Disabilities v. Ramos

925 So. 2d 455, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 5356, 2006 WL 931938

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 12, 2006 | Docket: 64843464

Published

concerned a statutorily-mandated evaluation under section 916.303(2)(b), Florida Statutes (2004), to determine