Unlawful Detention Reform — Bill Package
Four self-contained Florida bill drafts, free for any legislator, staffer, or organizer to copy, adapt, and introduce. Read each one on the page or download it as a PDF or Word file.
Why four bills instead of one
Splitting the reform into four independent bills means each piece gets its own committee vote and fiscal note — a controversial section (like the immunity carve-out in Bill 3) doesn't hold up the parts that are easy to support (like Bill 1's charging deadline). If one bill dies in committee, the others can still move. Each is fully self-contained, with its own findings, definitions, and effective date, so none of them depends on another one passing.
Charging Deadline and Mandatory Release Act
Creates s. 901.245, Florida Statutes
The core piece, and the one most likely to pass on its own — it just codifies a deadline and a release requirement.
Requires a judge to sign off on probable cause within 48 hours of a warrantless arrest, gives the state 7 days (extendable once, to 14, for good cause) to file formal charges, and requires automatic release if that deadline is missed.
Expedited Habeas Corpus for Unlawful Detention Act
Creates s. 79.055, Florida Statutes
The judicial remedy — gives someone a fast court hearing regardless of whether Bill 1 has passed.
Lets anyone held without charge petition for a writ of habeas corpus at any time, guarantees a hearing within 24 hours and a decision within 48, and puts the burden on the government to prove the detention is lawful.
Unlawful Detention Civil Remedy Act
Creates s. 768.295, Florida Statutes
The accountability-through-damages piece — expect this to be the hardest one to move, mainly because of the immunity carve-out.
Lets a person who was illegally detained sue the agency and the responsible official for $500/day plus actual (and, if willful, punitive) damages, and strips the sovereign- and qualified-immunity defenses that normally shield the government from this kind of claim.
Unlawful Detention Accountability Act
Creates s. 901.246, Florida Statutes
Oversight and deterrence: criminal exposure for officials, whistleblower protection for staff, and a transparency requirement.
Makes it a crime — misdemeanor, escalating to felony on a repeat or prolonged violation — for an official to knowingly hold someone past the legal deadline, protects employees who report violations from retaliation, and requires quarterly public reporting to the legislature.
Adapting these for your own state or municipality
These were drafted against Florida Statutes and the Florida Constitution, but the underlying pattern — a charging deadline, a fast judicial review, a financial remedy, and criminal/whistleblower accountability — works anywhere. Each bill page below has specific swap-in notes, but in general:
- Replace every state-code citation (e.g. “s. 901.245, Florida Statutes”) with the equivalent section number in your own state's code.
- Replace citations to the Florida Constitution with your own state constitution's due-process and liberty clauses.
- Most of this is a state-law subject — criminal procedure, civil causes of action, and felony penalties are set by state legislatures almost everywhere, not by city or county governments. If you're organizing locally, the fastest path is usually bringing one of these to your state representative or senator, or passing a local resolution urging the state to act.
- Update effective dates, dollar figures, and deadlines to whatever your sponsor is comfortable defending — the numbers here are policy choices, not legal requirements.
Prefer one bill instead of four?
Due Process and Anti-Unlawful Detention Act
Combines Bills 1–4 into one bill creating s. 901.245, Florida Statutes
Same substance as the four bills above, in one document — for a sponsor who would rather introduce one bill than four.
All four reforms above — charging deadline, expedited habeas corpus, civil remedy, and criminal/whistleblower accountability — rolled into a single bill. Same deadlines and dollar figures, just one vote instead of four.