Florida Statute 960.29 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLVII
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND CORRECTIONS

Chapter 960
VICTIM ASSISTANCE

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F.S. 960.29

960.29 Legislative findings and intent.—The Legislature finds that former approaches to the problem of compensating crime victims through restitution have proven inadequate or have been inconsistently applied in many cases. The Legislature also finds that there is an urgent need to alleviate the increasing financial burdens on the state and its local subdivisions caused by the expenses of incarcerating convicted offenders.

(1) To remedy these problems, consistent with the preservation of all citizens’ constitutional rights, the Legislature intends:

(a) To provide a legal mechanism, in the form of a civil restitution lien, that will enable crime victims, the state, and other aggrieved parties to recover damages and losses arising out of criminal acts, imposed against the real and personal property owned by the convicted offender who committed an offense that caused the damages and losses.

(b) To prevent convicted offenders from increasing their assets after conviction, while their crime victims and the state and local subdivisions remain uncompensated for their damages and losses. To further this legislative purpose, the civil restitution lien shall attach not only to the offender’s current assets but also, should these assets fail to satisfy the lien, to any future assets or “windfall” proceeds which may accrue to the defendant, up to the full amount of the lien.

(c) To ensure that the amount of each civil restitution lien equals the amount of the actual damages awarded in the civil action arising from the crime.

(d) To impose a long-term civil liability for the costs of incarceration, by means of the civil restitution lien, against a convicted offender, regardless of the offender’s financial status at the time of conviction.

(2) The Legislature also finds that crime victims, the state, and its local subdivisions are entitled to rough remedial justice and they may demand compensation for damage and losses.

(3) The Legislature declares that:

(a) The intent of the statute is rationally related to the goal of fully compensating crime victims, the state, and its local subdivisions for damages and losses incurred as a result of criminal conduct.

(b) This civil restitution lien act rests upon the principle of remediation and not punishment, which is meted out by criminal sanctions afforded by law.

(4) The Legislature recognizes that, in many individual cases, the liquidated damage amount awarded by the court in a civil action arising from the crime does not fully compensate crime victims for their actual damages and losses. It is the legislative intent that the civil restitution liens authorized in this act assist crime victims to collect the amounts awarded and authorized as actual and liquidated damages and losses a crime victim incurs as a result of a convicted offender’s conduct, and the state and its local subdivisions incur as a result of implementation of a convicted offender’s sentence.

History.—s. 2, ch. 94-342; s. 29, ch. 95-184.

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Amendments to 960.29

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 960.29

Total Results: 19

Reyes v. State

655 So. 2d 111, 1995 WL 65502

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 15, 1995 | Docket: 457341

Cited 105 times | Published

civil restitution and incarceration costs. See § 960.29-.297, Fla. Stat. (Supp. 1994). We empathize with

Ilkanic v. City of Fort Lauderdale

705 So. 2d 1371, 23 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 25, 1998 Fla. LEXIS 37, 1998 WL 10590

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Jan 15, 1998 | Docket: 1753686

Cited 23 times | Published

expenses of incarcerating convicted offenders." § 960.29, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1994). We conclude that imposing

Goad v. Florida Dept. of Corrections

845 So. 2d 880, 28 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 176, 2003 Fla. LEXIS 258, 2003 WL 545857

Supreme Court of Florida | Filed: Feb 27, 2003 | Docket: 1432398

Cited 17 times | Published

Legislature specifically set out its intent in section 960.29: The Legislature finds that former approaches

Childers v. State

936 So. 2d 585, 2006 WL 2620262

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 2, 2006 | Docket: 109021

Cited 11 times | Published

and losses arising out of criminal acts ...." § 960.29(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2002). Most significantly,

STATE, DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS v. Goad

754 So. 2d 95, 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 2692, 2000 WL 266334

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 13, 2000 | Docket: 431020

Cited 9 times | Published

expressed its intent to afford only civil remedies. Section 960.29, Florida Statutes contains a finding that "there

Wilson v. State

957 So. 2d 683, 2007 WL 1295736

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: May 4, 2007 | Docket: 1270856

Cited 5 times | Published

705 So.2d 1371, 1372-73 (Fla.1998); see also § 960.29(3) & (4) (noting the Act rests on the principle

Rosero v. State

668 So. 2d 1114, 1996 WL 93923

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 6, 1996 | Docket: 1686896

Cited 5 times | Published

legislative intent of the statute, as expressed in section 960.29(1)(c), was to create an accelerated method

Bunch v. State

745 So. 2d 400, 1999 WL 960792

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 22, 1999 | Docket: 1689254

Cited 4 times | Published

approved, 689 So.2d 1061 (Fla.1997). See also *402 § 960.29(2)(b), Fla. Stat. (1997)("civil restitution lien

Doctor v. State

679 So. 2d 76, 1996 WL 512056

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 11, 1996 | Docket: 1666034

Cited 3 times | Published

judgment for restitution, presumably under section 960.29 et seq. (Supp.1994), would be ordered. Our

Smith v. Florida Department of Corrections

27 So. 3d 124, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 546, 2010 WL 255984

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 25, 2010 | Docket: 1664367

Cited 2 times | Published

judgment as a matter of law on that issue. In section 960.29, the legislature made the finding that “there

Rolling v. State Ex Rel. Butterworth

741 So. 2d 627, 1999 WL 761166

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Sep 28, 1999 | Docket: 1511121

Cited 2 times | Published

his property to London to avoid the lien. See § 960.29, .295, Fla. Stat. Under the above analysis, the

Allister A. Freeman v. State of Florida

165 So. 3d 695, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 6311, 2015 WL 1934400

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Apr 29, 2015 | Docket: 2679374

Cited 1 times | Published

of criminal conduct.’ ” Id. (quoting § 960.29(3)(a), Fla. Stat. (2013)) (alterations in original)

Palomares v. State of Florida

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jul 16, 2025 | Docket: 70807599

Published

caused the damages and losses," § 960.29(1)(a); see also § 960.29(4) ("It is the legislative intent

Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections v. Angel Luis Montero W

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Dec 11, 2024 | Docket: 69455585

Published

restitution lien, against a convicted offender.” § 960.29(1)(d), Fla. Stat. (2024). Section 960.292(1),

ASLEYS ACOSTA v. STATE OF FLORIDA

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 19, 2024 | Docket: 67324133

Published

27 So. 3d 124, 126 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (quoting § 960.29(1)(d), Fla. Stat. (2005)). Under the resulting

Harris v. State

157 So. 3d 345, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 477, 2015 WL 196301

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 16, 2015 | Docket: 60246057

Published

Corrections, 27 So.3d 124, 126 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010); § 960.29(l)(a), Fla. Stat.; 960.292(2), Fla. Stat. .

Childers v. State

931 So. 2d 86, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 17207, 2006 WL 237081

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Feb 2, 2006 | Docket: 64845369

Published

and losses arising out of criminal acts .... ” § 960.29(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2002). Most significantly,

City of Fort Lauderdale v. Ilkanic

683 So. 2d 563, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 11107, 1996 WL 603790

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Oct 23, 1996 | Docket: 64769334

Published

expenses of incarcerating convicted offenders. § 960.29, Fla. Stat. (1995). The Legislature states that

Birks v. State

667 So. 2d 452, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 539, 1996 WL 31885

District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Jan 30, 1996 | Docket: 64761999

Published

00 civil restitution lien order pursuant to section 960.29, Florida Statutes (Supp.1994), et seq. The