Bill Summary

by Chaney, López Co Sponsors: Bartleman, Basabe, Cross, Hunschofsky, Mooney Jr., Plasencia, Valdés, Weinberger CS Sponsors: Criminal Justice Subcommittee

Animal Welfare: Creates offense of causing or enticing minor to commit, or in presence of minor committing, animal cruelty; requires court order minor who commits specified acts of animal cruelty to undergo psychological evaluation & receive counseling & treatment; requires parent, guardian, or state to pay for evaluation, counseling, & treatment; authorizes court to hold parent or guardian in contempt; requires FDLE to post on website information relating to individuals convicted of specified animal cruelty offenses; specifies time periods for posting information; requires department develop procedure for person to petition for removal of his or her information; requires department remove specified information; specifies time period within which information must be removed; authorizes department to adopt rules; requires clerks of court & county detention facilities to provide FDLE with specified information, data, & images; creates offense of causing or enticing minor to commit, or in presence of minor committing, fighting or baiting animals; creates offense of causing or enticing minor to commit, or in presence of minor committing, sexual activities involving animals; increases maximum civil penalty for specified violations of animal control or cruelty ordinances; increases level on offense severity ranking chart for fighting or baiting animals; ranks offenses on offense severity ranking chart. Effective Date: October 1, 2026

   H Criminal Justice Subcommittee
   H Judiciary Committee