Florida Statute 921.002 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research

The 2024 Florida Statutes

Title XLVII
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND CORRECTIONS

Chapter 921
SENTENCE

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F.S. 921.002

921.002 The Criminal Punishment Code.—The Criminal Punishment Code shall apply to all felony offenses, except capital felonies, committed on or after October 1, 1998.

(1) The provision of criminal penalties and of limitations upon the application of such penalties is a matter of predominantly substantive law and, as such, is a matter properly addressed by the Legislature. The Legislature, in the exercise of its authority and responsibility to establish sentencing criteria, to provide for the imposition of criminal penalties, and to make the best use of state prisons so that violent criminal offenders are appropriately incarcerated, has determined that it is in the best interest of the state to develop, implement, and revise a sentencing policy. The Criminal Punishment Code embodies the principles that:

(a) Sentencing is neutral with respect to race, gender, and social and economic status.

(b) The primary purpose of sentencing is to punish the offender. Rehabilitation is a desired goal of the criminal justice system but is subordinate to the goal of punishment.

(c) The penalty imposed is commensurate with the severity of the primary offense and the circumstances surrounding the primary offense.

(d) The severity of the sentence increases with the length and nature of the offender’s prior record.

(e) The sentence imposed by the sentencing judge reflects the length of actual time to be served, shortened only by the application of incentive and meritorious gain-time as provided by law, and may not be shortened if the defendant would consequently serve less than 85 percent of his or her term of imprisonment as provided in s. 944.275(4). The provisions of chapter 947, relating to parole, shall not apply to persons sentenced under the Criminal Punishment Code.

(f) Departures below the lowest permissible sentence established by the code must be articulated in writing by the trial court judge and made only when circumstances or factors reasonably justify the mitigation of the sentence. The level of proof necessary to establish facts that support a departure from the lowest permissible sentence is a preponderance of the evidence.

(g) The trial court judge may impose a sentence up to and including the statutory maximum for any offense, including an offense that is before the court due to a violation of probation or community control.

(h) A sentence may be appealed on the basis that it departs from the Criminal Punishment Code only if the sentence is below the lowest permissible sentence or as enumerated in s. 924.06(1).

(i) Use of incarcerative sanctions is prioritized toward offenders convicted of serious offenses and certain offenders who have long prior records, in order to maximize the finite capacities of state and local correctional facilities.

(2) When a defendant is before the court for sentencing for more than one felony and the felonies were committed under more than one version or revision of the former sentencing guidelines or the code, each felony shall be sentenced under the guidelines or the code in effect at the time the particular felony was committed. This subsection does not apply to sentencing for any capital felony.

(3) A court may impose a departure below the lowest permissible sentence based upon circumstances or factors that reasonably justify the mitigation of the sentence in accordance with s. 921.0026. The level of proof necessary to establish facts supporting the mitigation of a sentence is a preponderance of the evidence. When multiple reasons exist to support the mitigation, the mitigation shall be upheld when at least one circumstance or factor justifies the mitigation regardless of the presence of other circumstances or factors found not to justify mitigation. Any sentence imposed below the lowest permissible sentence must be explained in writing by the trial court judge.

(4)(a) The Department of Corrections shall report on trends in sentencing practices and sentencing score thresholds and provide an analysis on the sentencing factors considered by the courts and shall submit this information to the Legislature by October 1 of each year.

(b) The Criminal Justice Estimating Conference, with the assistance of the Department of Corrections, shall estimate the impact of any proposed change to the Criminal Punishment Code on future rates of incarceration and on the prison population. The Criminal Justice Estimating Conference shall base its projections on historical data concerning sentencing practices which have been accumulated by the Department of Corrections and other relevant data from other state agencies and records of the Department of Corrections which disclose the average time served for offenses covered by any proposed changes to the Criminal Punishment Code.

(c) In order to produce projects that are either required by law or requested by the Legislature to assist the Legislature in making modifications to the Criminal Punishment Code, the Department of Corrections is authorized to collect and evaluate Criminal Punishment Code scoresheets from each of the judicial circuits after sentencing. Beginning in 1999, by October 1 of each year, the Department of Corrections shall provide an annual report to the Legislature that shows the rate of compliance of each judicial circuit in providing scoresheets to the department.

History.—s. 3, ch. 97-194; s. 2, ch. 98-204; s. 124, ch. 2010-5; s. 8, ch. 2017-31.

F.S. 921.002 on Google Scholar

F.S. 921.002 on Casetext

Amendments to 921.002

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 921.002

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 921.002.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 921.002

Total Results: 20

Carissa Parker v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2024-10-30T00:00:00-07:00

Snippet: defendant is a valid sentencing consideration. See § 921.002(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (stating that “the circumstances

State of Florida v. Darien A. Hauter

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2024-08-19T00:00:00-07:00

Snippet: sentence and the reasons therefor. See §§ 921.002(1)(f) and 921.002(3), Fla. Stat. 3 … 3 on or after October 1, 1998. See § 921.002, Fla. Stat. (2018). The Florida Legislature enacted…criminal offenders are appropriately incarcerated.” § 921.002(1), Fla. Stat. Consistent with its stated … and local correctional facilities. § 921.002(1)(a)–(d), (i), Fla. Stat. Thus, as the …minimum sentence a trial court must impose. See § 921.002, et seq., Fla. Stat. 2 While the sentencing guidelines

Leon Bernard Camel v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2024-06-12T00:00:00-07:00

Snippet: probationer on probation”) (emphasis added); § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (stating that under the Criminal

Ronald Stuyvesant Boyd v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2024-06-05T00:00:00-07:00

Snippet: valid reasons for the sentence imposed. See § 921.002(1)(f), Fla. Stat. (requiring that departures below

JEFFERY GESKE v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2024-01-12T00:00:00-08:00

Snippet: sentence is a preponderance of the evidence." § 921.002(1)(f), Fla. Stat. (2021). Geske contends … of the evidence standard set forth in section 921.002(1)(f). We agree that it appears that the trial

ERIC ZONK WARD v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2023-08-30T00:00:00-07:00

Snippet: those grounds was made to the trial court. See § 921.002(1)(h), Fla. Stat. (2018) (“A sentence may be appealed…in writing by the trial court judge . . . .” § 921.002(1)(f), Fla. Stat. (2018). Where the trial court…order memorializing the reasons for departure); § 921.002(1)(f), Fla. Stat. (2018); cf. Hobgood, 166 So.

Eric Demond Parrish v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2022-09-28T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: becomes a productive member of society. See § 921.002(1)(b), Fla. Stat. (stating that rehabilitation

KELLY PETERSON MILLIEN v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2022-03-01T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: a potential statutory conflict between section 921.002(1)(g), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1998) (providing…555. The supreme court concluded that sections 921.002(1)(g) and 921.0024(2) were not in conflict and …Id. at 555-56. The court explained that section 921.002(1)(g) is a general sentencing provision, while …Punishment Code” to the “Code.” For instance, section 921.002(1)(f), Florida Statutes (2015), provides: “Departures

Alvin Davis v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2021-12-01T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: circumstances surrounding’ it.” Id. at 963 (quoting § 921.002(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (2017)). The district court noted…sentence by virtue of the conviction alone. See § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (2017) (“The trial court judge

JOHN POWERS v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2021-04-14T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: including the statutory maximum for any offense[,]” § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (2011), statutory construction

State of Florida v. Ridge Gabriel

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2021-04-08T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: offense before the court for sentencing. See also § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (2012) (“The trial court judge… potential statutory conflict between section 921.002(1)(g), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1998) (providing…defendant’s sentence was legal and that sections 921.002(1)(g) and 921.0024(2) were not in conflict and…555-56. Specifically, we explained that section 921.002(1)(g) applied to general sentencing, while section

CHANTERIA NICOLE LACEY v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2021-02-23T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: Criminal Punishment Code (CPC). See generally § 921.002(1)(b), (c), Fla. Stat. (2015). The State asserts

RALPH JAIME GARCIA v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2020-12-08T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: the Criminal Punishment Code, see generally § 921.002, Fla. Stat. (2011); see also § 775.084(4)(h), Fla…imposed under this section is not subject to s. 921.002 [The Criminal Punishment Code].”), making his sentencing

Christopher Armstrong v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2020-09-15T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: within the statutory-maximum term under section 921.002(1)(g), Florida Statutes. Lane v. State, 981 So.…So. 2d 596, 598 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (quoting § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (2006)) (“[t]he trial court judge…potential sentence of 120 years imprisonment. §§ 921.002(1)(g), 794.011(4)(a) Fla. Stat. (2008); George …separate jury finding for every felony offense. § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (“The trial court judge may impose…additional factual findings. See § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (2006) (stating that under

ALEX NICHOLS v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2019-11-07T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: offense and the defendant's prior record, see § 921.002(1)(c), (d), Fla. Stat. (2015), consideration of

DAVID FOX v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2019-10-02T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: nature of the offender’s prior record. § 921.002(1)(b), (c), and (d), Fla. Stat. (2010) . . . .

RAUL DELAROSA v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2019-08-21T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: Affirmed. See §§ 775.082(1), 794.011(2)(a), 921.002, Fla. Stat. (2001); Adaway v. State, 902 So. 2d

Derek Lang Shine, Jr. v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2019-06-13T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 273 So. 3d 935

Snippet: decision in Jackson . See §§ 921.002-.0026, Fla. Stat. (2018). Our decision in …s arguments on this issue. 2 §§ 921.002-.0026, Fla. Stat. (2014). SC18-688

Alvin Davis v. State of Florida

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2019-04-25T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: light of “the circumstances surrounding” it. § 921.002(1)(c), Fla. Stat. The United States Supreme Court… system” (albeit subordinate to punishment), § 921.002(1)(b), Fla. Stat., consideration of remorse or … 148 So. 3d 1251, 1258 (Fla. 2014); see also § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (“The trial court judge may impose…criminal defendant for a non- capital felony. See § 921.002(1)(g), Fla. Stat. (2017) (“The trial court judge…punishment, and danger to others upon release. § 921.002(1)(d) (“The severity of the sentence increases

RENALDO CHAMPAGNE v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2019-04-24T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: imposed under this section is not subject to s. 921.002."); see also Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.704(b) ("…sentencing is to punish the offender." § 921.002(1)(b). It also provides that "[t]he penalty…nature of the offender's prior record." § 921.002(1)(c), (d). "Primary offense" is defined…the statutory maximum for any offense," § 921.002(1)(g), and expressly allows for concurrent or …Butler, the supreme court determined that sections 921.002(1)(g) and 921.0024(2), respectively providing