Title: Restoration of Civil Rights

Summary: Designates act as "Restoration of Civil Rights Act"; provides for automatic restoration of former felon's civil rights, other than right to own, possess, or use firearms, following completion of sentence of incarceration & community supervision; provides conditions for & exemptions from automatic restoration; provides for education concerning civil rights of people who have felony convictions; provides retroactive applicability.

Full Text:
An act relating to restoration of civil rights; providing a short title; providing findings and purpose; creating s. 944.294, F.S.; providing for automatic restoration of a former felon's civil rights, other than the right to own, possess, or use firearms, after completion of his or her sentence of incarceration and community supervision; providing conditions for and exemptions from automatic restoration; providing for education concerning the civil rights of people who have felony convictions; amending ss. 944.292 and 944.705, F.S.; conforming provisions; providing retroactive applicability; providing a contingent effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Short title.-This act may be cited as the "Restoration of Civil Rights Act." Section 2. Findings and purpose.-(1) FINDINGS.-The Legislature finds that: (a) The exercise of civil rights is a fundamental aspect of citizenship. Restoring civil rights allows former felons to participate in public service, serve on juries, and pursue chosen occupations. HB 2018 (b) Restoring civil rights helps felons who have completed their sentences to reintegrate into society. Their opportunities to fully participate in society reinforces their ties to their communities and may help to prevent recidivism. (c) Under current law, all persons convicted of felonies permanently lose many civil rights unless they recei ve discretionary executive clemency. (d) The restoration of civil rights through the clemency process is cumbersome, costly, and produces long delays. The clemency process imposes administrative burdens on the state and economic burdens on state taxpayer sand should be reserved for extraordinary cases. Streamlining the restoration process for the majority of former felons will advance administrative efficiency, fiscal responsibility, fairness, and democracy. (2) PURPOSE.-The purpose of this act is to st rengthen democratic institutions by enabling persons who have completed their felony sentences to become productive members of society and to streamline procedures for restoring civil rights. Section 3. Section 944.294, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 944.294 Restoration of civil rights.-(1) A person who has been convicted of a felony, other than a felony specified in subsection (3), shall have his or her civil rights that are lost as a consequence of a conviction of that felony restored upon completion of his or her sentence. HB 2018 However, this subsection does not apply to restoration of the right to own, possess, or use firearms. (2) For purposes of this section, completion of sentence occurs when a person is released from incarceration upon expiration of his or her sentence and has fulfilled all other terms and conditions of the sentence or subsequent supervision or, if the person has not been incarcerated for the felony offense, has fulfilled all terms and conditions of supervision imposed on him or her. (3)(a) A person is ineligible for restoration of civil rights under this section if he or she was convicted of a crime defined by any of the following: 1. Section 782.04, relating to murder. 2. Section 782.07(3), relating to aggravated ma nslaughter of a child. 3. Section 794.011, relating to sexual battery. 4. Section 826.04, relating to incest. 5. Section 827.071, relating to sexual performance by a child. 6. Section 847.0145, relating to selling or buying of minors, otherwise transferring or obtaining custody or control of minors, or offering to do the same. (b) A person is ineligible for restoration of civil rights under this section if he or she was convicted of treason or if his or her impeachment has res ulted in conviction, as referred HB 2018 to in s. 8, Art. IV of the State Constitution. (4) This section does not impair the ability of a person convicted of a felony to apply for executive clemency under s. 8, Art. IV of the State Constitution. (5) A court sh all, before accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a felony without trial or, if a trial is held, before imposing sentence for a felony, notify the defendant as follows: (a) If the felony is specified in subsection (3), that conviction will res ult in permanent loss of civil rights unless he or she receives executive clemency under s. 8, Art. IV of the State Constitution. (b) If the felony is not specified in subsection (3), that conviction will result in loss of civil rights until the defendan tcompletes his or her sentence and that civil rights will be restored thereafter, except for the right to own, possess, or use firearms. (6) The Secretary of State shall develop and implement a program to educate members of the public, attorneys, judges,election officials, and corrections officials, including parole and probation officers, about the requirements of this section, ensuring that: (a) Judges are informed of their obligation to notify criminal defendants of the potential loss and restorati on of their civil rights as required by subsection (5). HB 2018 (b) Accurate and complete information about the civil rights of people who have been charged with or convicted of crimes, whether disenfranchising or not, is made available through a single publicat ion to government officials and the public. Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 944.292, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 944.292 Suspension of civil rights.-(1) Upon conviction of a felony as defined in s. 10, Art. Xof the State Constituti on, the civil rights of the person convicted shall be suspended in Florida until such rights are restored by a full pardon, conditional pardon, or restoration of civil rights granted pursuant to s. 8, Art. IV of the State Constitution or by restoration of civil rights pursuant to s. 944.294. Section 5. Paragraph (g) of subsection (2) of section 944.705, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph (h), and a new paragraph (g) is added to that subsection to read: 944.705 Release orientation program.-(2) The release orientation program instruction must include, but is not limited to: (g) Restoration of civil rights. Section 6. This act applies retroactively to all persons who are eligible for restoration of civil rights under the terms of the act, regardless of whether such persons were convicted or HB 2018 discharged from sentence before the effective date of this act. Section 7. This act shall take effect on the effective date of HJR or another amendment to the State Constitution which authorizes, or removes impediments to, enactment of this act by the Legislature.