DIFFICULT
DESTINATIONS SERIES
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, NEW IN 2026:
“public” swimming pool (the definition includes
some pools that aren’t actually public), 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,” NEW IN 2026:
“public” swimming pool (the definition includes
some pools that aren’t actually public), 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 80,000
Florida registrants less than 35,000 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. Since I moved my primary
residence to Iowa, I am now included in that number.
And it just so happens that May 2026 became the third year
in a row that I have 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.
This year my side trip to Florida was just that – I happened
to be traveling through AL & GA, so if I had not told my ex-wife and lifelong
BFF that I would be happy to swing by and help her out with a couple of little
projects, she would have been disappointed with that and I never want
that. Everything went swimmingly and I
was in and out of FL in plenty of time.
Therefore I’m going to re-post here my 2025 story, which is
much more illustrative of the problems you might face in making your quick trip
to Florida.
Using my state’s registry software
“Comments” field to overcome a thorny registry concern
Although my May 2025 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-calendar-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 me ant that when I went to
report my travel the lady behind the bulletproof glass would only be able to enter
the start date for my Florida visit, NOT the end date.
Graduation
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 had 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).
Dirt
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 – Yes they’ve gone national but they started out
as just a really good Southern regional BBQ chain, and I still think of them
that way.
Bruce Hossfield, Atwo Zee Registered Traveler
