Florida update #4 – Yes you can visit Florida, but
just make it quick!
From the 50 state
visitor guide :
Fla. Stat. 2019; Fla. Stat. §§775.21, 775.215; Fla. Stat. §§943.043 through 943.0435; Fla.
Stat. §§944.606 through 944.607; Fla.
Stat. §947.1405, §985.481
AWA Compliant
Registration Triggers and Deadlines:
“Residence”
means either (1) a place where one spends 3 or more consecutive days, (2) a
place where one spends 3 or more aggregate days in a calendar year, or (3) a
county in which one is present for 3 or more aggregate days in a calendar year. In all cases, 3rd day triggers registry
obligation.
Registrants must
appear to register with law enforcement w/in 48 hours of establishing a residence, and must appear to provide
any updates within 48 hours.
Transient
registrants update every 30
days.
NOTE:
"Day" will now be defined in Florida's SOR law to mean "any part
of a day" except that your day of arrival doesn't count. Updated 3/2024.
Registrants must
also appear to register with the driver’s license office of the FL DMV within 48 hours of registration to obtain a
driver’s license or ID card labeled either “SEXUAL PREDATOR” or “943.0435,
F.S.”
Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:
Residence
restriction: May not reside within 1,000 ft. of school,
child care facility, park, or playground under certain circumstances. §775.215. NOTE:
Individual cities and counties often have additional more burdensome
requirements upwards of 3000 feet.
Presence
restriction: Registrants
with conviction involving a minor cannot be within 300 feet “of place where
children are congregating,” and face restrictions on ability to be present in
schools and parks. NOTE: Individual cities and counties often have additional
more burdensome requirements. Fla. Stat. §856.022
Visiting Registrants once placed on state’s registry ARE NOT REMOVED.
Duration & updates:
Lifetime. Petition: 25 years. “Predators” and certain others update quarterly. All others update every 6 months.
Florida’s restrictions on registrants are particularly onerous and should be carefully consulted before visiting the state.
Every major national or state registrant advocacy group – including NARSOL, ACSOL, Florida Action Committee (FAC) – strongly recommends that you avoid visiting Florida if at all possible. To this I add my own voice. Florida’s registry is lifetime for all offenses, no matter how minor. Florida has no tiered registry – only “sex offenders” and “sexual predators.” Furthermore, Florida is one of about 15 states where there is no procedure for removal from the registry upon returning to your home state.
Because of that, of the about 75,000 Florida registrants less than 30,000 actually live in Florida (not counting incarcerated registrants)! All the rest – which is to say the majority of Florida registrants – DO NOT actually live in Florida. Because I recently moved my primary residence to Iowa, I am now included in that number.
And it just so happens that in May 2025 I found
myself in a position similar to what I have heard many times: I was an out of
state registrant who needed to go to Florida to attend to family business but
did not want to be there long enough to trigger any registry obligation in
Florida – in my case because I had enough to do in a short time and no time to
go down and screw around with registry office.
Using my state’s registry software “Comments” field to overcome a thorny registry concern
Although my most recent road trip was mainly to the US Northeast, it began with a quick trip to Tallahassee, FL to attend my granddaughter’s high school graduation. In that way this leg of the trip was much like the stories I hear from people who need to go to Florida for family reasons. Also, there was other business for me to take care of while I was in Tallahassee and that was much like others whose family obligations pile on when you go to your mom’s funeral and there’s nobody else to take care of those things.
So for this trip I was bound, just like other out of state visitors, to Florida’s three-days-aggregate-per-year-but-your-day-of-arrival-doesn’t-count visitor rule.
However, I also faced a problem in reporting this travel at my local Iowa sheriff’s office. Iowa’s registry reporting software is so crappy, and whoever developed this software was so inept and ignorant of either the state’s or it’s registrants’ likely reporting needs that they included no box for providing an end date for travel. That meant that when I went to report my travel the lady behind the bulletproof glass could only enter the start date for my Florida visit, NOT the end date.
Iowa registry offices have a work-around for this where they enter the end date somewhere when you get back, and that has always served well enough in the past, but on this trip I was concerned that Iowa might report my travel to Florida with no end date, and then try to report an end date after I got back two weeks later. I was concerned that Florida might misinterpret Iowa’s report as a permanent move to Florida, and whether I did or didn’t go try to fix that while I was in Florida they might consider it a registry violation.
I didn’t want to risk that, but I also wanted my travel intentions to be clear on my registry sheet in case any little question came up while I was traveling (or afterward). So I briefly explained my concern to the lady behind the bulletproof glass who I deal with frequently, and asked her if, instead of listing Tallahassee in the destination field where it would be reported to the state of Florida, would she please describe my trip to Florida in the Comments field (some states might call this the Notes field) including the start and end dates, where it would NOT be reported to Florida?
She went along with that, and I gave her my brother’s address in Rhode Island as the official destination for my road trip (which in fact it was). By doing this I properly reported everything without ever letting Florida know I was coming. Even if any question had come up while I was in Florida, all the answers were there on my Iowa sheet in my glove compartment.
Just get everything done in three days (including partial days)
Florida is among the stingiest states when it comes to its visitors’ grace period. You get just three days aggregate per calendar year, partial days count and the third aggregate day triggers your obligation to register. However, in an uncommon act of generosity, last year they decided your day of arrival doesn’t count. That means you could zoom in and out in a single calendar day with no penalty, or it means that if you are staying you get three actual days (including partial days). After that you’d better be gone.
My granddaughter’s graduation was on a Tuesday evening, and I decided to drive into Tallahassee as early on Monday (Day 1) as possible (mid-afternoon). That way I could check on the status of my latest project there – I have purchased a duplex that I intend to convert into an Assisted Living Facility that meets every registry and zoning requirement and will allow PFR’s as clients (including me of course).
Then I’d have all of Tuesday (Day 2) free to pick my brother up at the airport and run errands for my family etc. and be the proudest grandpa ever that evening. After dropping my brother off at the airport Wednesday morning (Day 3) I’d continue on my road trip, surely leaving Florida by mid-morning.
Unfortunately, a few days before arriving I learned that a very important property regrading project which the sellers were required to pay for but only if it gets done by July 31, 2025 … that project was completely stalled and I was going to have to somehow rescue it while I was in town. So this aspect of my visit became like what I have heard from other PFR’s who find that once they get roped into whatever family obligation brings them to Florida other obligations and duties begin to pile on.
Sure enough, when I arrived on that afternoon of Day 1 the situation seemed hopeless. In addition to any family obligations I had, I would have to fire the grading crew, find and hire a new grading crew, and ensure that the work was actually underway and wouldn’t stall again as soon as I left town … all before the end of Day 3.
My purpose here is not to bore you with the details but to illustrate what I have heard many times, that isn’t there some way to work around the three day limit so you can take care of all of your obligations there? Answer – No. And remember – because it’s 3 days aggregate per calendar year, no you cannot leave the state and return to restart the clock.
Very fortunately, by the afternoon of Day 2 I was able to find a new grading crew and told them the deal wasn’t final until I saw a big pile of dirt in my yard no later than the morning of Day 3. Then I took off for the graduation, cheered and yelled my head off and had a great time (see me beaming with pride).
After congratulating my granddaughter one more time the next morning and saying goodbye for now to my family, I dropped my brother off at the airport the morning of Day 3 and scurried over to my house … only to discover the dirt was delayed! Aaaaaaaaaaahhh!! It finally arrived at about 2:00 pm, and as I write this I am happy to report the dirt is nicely smoothed out across my property, but things could have gone south very easily and this whole episode just shows how carefully you have to choreograph your quick visit to Florida.
Regional restaurant chain you should know about:
Sonny’s BBQ
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