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HB 1117 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to offenses evidencing prejudice; 2
amending s. 775.085, F.S.; expanding grounds for the 3
reclassification of offenses to include acts based on 4
the gender or gender identity of any person; 5
specifying that the reclassification must occur if the 6
offense was based in whole or in part on specified 7
characteristics of any person; providing and revising 8
definitions; providing that it is an essential element 9
of a certain offense that the defendant perceived, 10
knew, or had reasonable grounds to know or perceive 11
that a person was included in a certain class of 12
person; amending s. 775.0863, F.S.; replacing the term 13
"mental or physical disability" with the term 14
"disability"; revising the definition of such term; 15
specifying that the reclassification of a certain 16
offense must occur if the offense was based in whole 17
or in part on a disability of any person; providing 18
penalties; amending s. 817.034; replacing the term 19
"mental or physical disability" with the term 20
"disability"; reclassifying certain offenses committed 21
against a person with a disability; amending s. 22
877.19, F.S.; expanding the data the Governor is 23
required to collect and disseminate to include 24
specified incidents; providing an effective date. 25
HB 1117 2026
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hb1117-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27
28
Section 1. Section 775.085, Florida Statutes, is amended 29
to read: 30
775.085 Evidencing prejudice while committing offense; 31
reclassification.— 32
(1)(a) The penalty for any felony or misdemeanor shall be 33
reclassified as provided in this subsection if the commission of 34
such felony or misdemeanor evidences prejudice based in whole or 35
in part on the gender, race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, 36
religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status, 37
or advanced age, or gender identity of any person the victim: 38
1. A misdemeanor of the second degree is reclassified to a 39
misdemeanor of the first degree. 40
2. A misdemeanor of the first degree is reclassified to a 41
felony of the third degree. 42
3. A felony of the third degree is reclassified to a 43
felony of the second degree. 44
4. A felony of the second degree is reclassified to a 45
felony of the first degree. 46
5. A felony of the first degree is reclassified to a life 47
felony. 48
(b) As used in paragraph (a), the term: 49
1. "Advanced age" means that the person victim is older 50
HB 1117 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
than 65 years of age. 51
2. "Gender identity" means a person's gender-related 52
identity, appearance, or behavior, regardless of whether such 53
gender-related identity, appearance, or behavior is different 54
from that traditionally associated with the person's physiology 55
or assigned sex at birth. 56
3.2. "Homeless status" means that the person victim: 57
a. Lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime 58
residence; or 59
b. Has a primary nighttime residence that is: 60
(I) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter 61
designed to provide temporary living accommodations; or 62
(II) A public or private place not designed for, or 63
ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human 64
beings. 65
(2) A person or organization that establishes by clear and 66
convincing evidence that it has been coerced, intimidated, or 67
threatened in violation of this section has a civil cause of 68
action for treble damages, an injunction, or any other 69
appropriate relief in law or in equity. Upon prevailing in such 70
civil action, the plaintiff may recover reasonable attorney fees 71
and costs. 72
(3) It is an essential element of this section that the 73
record reflect that the defendant perceived, knew, or had 74
reasonable grounds to know or perceive that the person victim 75
HB 1117 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
was included in a within the class delineated in this section. 76
Section 2. Section 775.0863, Florida Statutes, is amended 77
to read: 78
775.0863 Evidencing prejudice while committing offense 79
against person with mental or physical disability; 80
reclassification.— 81
(1)(a) The penalty for any felony or misdemeanor shall be 82
reclassified as provided in this subsection if the commission of 83
such felony or misdemeanor evidences prejudice based in whole or 84
in part on a mental or physical disability of any person the 85
victim: 86
1. A misdemeanor of the second degree is reclassified to a 87
misdemeanor of the first degree. 88
2. A misdemeanor of the first degree is reclassified to a 89
felony of the third degree. 90
3. A felony of the third degree is reclassified to a 91
felony of the second degree. 92
4. A felony of the second degree is reclassified to a 93
felony of the first degree. 94
5. A felony of the first degree is reclassified to a life 95
felony. 96
(b) As used in paragraph (a), the term "mental or physical 97
disability" means a physical or mental impairment that 98
substantially limits one or more of a person's major life 99
activities a condition of mental or physical incapacitation due 100
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to a developmental disability, organic brain damage, or mental 101
illness, and one or more mental or physical limitations that 102
restrict a person's ability to perform the normal activities of 103
daily living. 104
(2) A person or organization that establishes by clear and 105
convincing evidence that it has been coerced, intimidated, or 106
threatened in violation of this section has a civil cause of 107
action for treble damages, an injunction, or any other 108
appropriate relief in law or in equity. Upon prevailing in such 109
civil action, the plaintiff may recover reasonable attorney fees 110
and costs. 111
(3) It is an essential element of this section that the 112
record reflect that the defendant perceived, knew, or had 113
reasonable grounds to know or perceive that the person victim 114
was included in within the class delineated in this section. 115
Section 3. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section 116
817.034, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraphs (a) and 117
(b) that subsection are republished, to read: 118
817.034 Florida Communications Fraud Act.— 119
(4) OFFENSES.— 120
(a) Any person who engages in a scheme to defraud and 121
obtains property thereby commits organized fraud, punishable as 122
follows: 123
1. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate 124
value of $50,000 or more, the person commits a felony of the 125
HB 1117 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, 126
or s. 775.084. 127
2. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate 128
value of $20,000 or more, but less than $50,000, the person 129
commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in 130
s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 131
3. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate 132
value of less than $20,000, the person commits a felony of the 133
third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, 134
or s. 775.084. 135
(b) Any person who engages in a scheme to defraud and, in 136
furtherance of that scheme, communicates with any person with 137
intent to obtain property from that person commits, for each 138
such act of communication, communications fraud, punishable as 139
follows: 140
1. If the value of property obtained or endeavored to be 141
obtained by the communication is valued at $300 or more, the 142
person commits a third degree felony, punishable as set forth in 143
s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 144
2. If the value of the property obtained or endeavored to 145
be obtained by the communication is valued at less than $300, 146
the person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable 147
as set forth in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 148
(c) The penalty for committing an offense specified in 149
paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) against a person age 65 years or 150
HB 1117 2026
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older, against a minor, or against a person with a mental or 151
physical disability, as defined in s. 775.0863(1)(b), shall be 152
reclassified as follows: 153
1. A misdemeanor of the first degree is reclassified to a 154
felony of the third degree. 155
2. A felony of the third degree is reclassified to a 156
felony of the second degree. 157
3. A felony of the second degree is reclassified to a 158
felony of the first degree. 159
4. A felony of the first degree is reclassified to a life 160
felony. 161
Section 4. Subsection (2) of section 877.19, Florida 162
Statutes, is amended to read: 163
877.19 Hate Crimes Reporting Act.— 164
(2) ACQUISITION AND PUBLICATION OF DATA.—The Governor, 165
through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, shall collect 166
and disseminate data on incidents of criminal acts that evidence 167
prejudice based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, color, 168
ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or 169
national origin. All law enforcement agencies shall report 170
monthly to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement concerning 171
such offenses in such form and in such manner as prescribed by 172
rules adopted by the department. Such information shall be 173
compiled by the department and disseminated upon request to any 174
local law enforcement agency, unit of local government, or state 175
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agency. 176
Section 5. This act shall take effect October 1, 2026. 177