Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
SB 1228
By
Senator DiCeglie
18-00934-26 20261228__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to victims of violence; providing a
3 short title; amending s. 776.012, F.S.; defining
4 terms; creating a rebuttable presumption that persons
5 who use force in accordance with specified provisions
6 against a known abuser act with a reasonable fear of
7 imminent peril of death or great bodily harm;
8 specifying when the rebuttable presumption applies;
9 requiring a court to instruct a jury regarding the
10 existence of the rebuttable presumption and the shift
11 in the burden of proof if the rebuttable presumption
12 applies; authorizing the court to determine whether
13 the defendant has met the rebuttable presumption;
14 specifying the admissibility of specified evidence at
15 trial; creating s. 943.1721, F.S.; requiring the
16 Department of Law Enforcement, in consultation with
17 specified persons, to develop, implement, and mandate
18 an evidence-based, trauma-informed training program
19 for specified persons; providing training program
20 requirements; requiring the department to adopt rules
21 and submit annual reports beginning on a specified
22 date; creating s. 947.271, F.S.; requiring the Florida
23 Commission on Offender Review to establish the
24 Survivor Self-Defense Case Review Panel; requiring the
25 panel to perform specified tasks; requiring the
26 commission to adopt rules and submit annual reports
27 beginning on a specified date; providing an effective
28 date.
29
30 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
31
32 Section 1.
This act may be cited as the “Survivor Safety
33
Act.”
34 Section 2. Section 776.012, Florida Statutes, is amended to
35 read:
36 776.012 Use or threatened use of force in defense of
37 person.—
38 (1)
As used in this section, the term:
39
(
a
)
“Child”
has the same meaning as in
s. 39.01.
40
(b)
“Documented history” means
the existence of one or more
41
of
any of
the following records regarding
a person
and
a
known
42
abuser:
43
1.
A valid and unexpired injunction
issued
for protection
44
against
domestic violence
under s. 741.30
or
repeat violence,
45
sexual violence, or dating violence
under s.
784.046.
46
2.
A prior sworn criminal complaint, police report, arrest
47
affidavit, or conviction record evidencing an act of domestic
48
violence
as defined in s. 741.28
or dating violence
as defined
49
in
s. 784.046.
50
3.
Medical records or forensic examination reports
51
documenting injuries consistent with domestic
violence, repeat
52
violence, sexual violence,
or dating violence attributed to the
53
known abuser.
54
4.
Certified records from a domestic violence center or
55
similar agency documenting the
person
’s status as a victim of
56
abuse by the known abuser.
57
(
c
)
“Known abuser” means the recorded perpetrator of
58
domestic
violence, repeat violence, sexual violence,
or dating
59
violence against the
person
or the
person
’s child, provided that
60
this same individual is the person against whom force
was used
61
in the incident giving rise to the claim of self-defense.
62
(2)
A person is justified in using or threatening to use
63 force, except deadly force, against another when and to the
64 extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is
65 necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the
66 other’s imminent use of unlawful force. A person who uses or
67 threatens to use force in accordance with this subsection does
68 not have a duty to retreat before using or threatening to use
69 such force.
70
(3)
(2)
A person is justified in using or threatening to use
71 deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or
72 threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent
73 death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or
74 to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A
75 person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance
76 with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the
77 right to stand his or her ground if the person using or
78 threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal
79 activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.
80
(4)
There is a rebuttable presumption that a person who
81
uses force in accordance with subsection (2) or subsection (3)
82
against a known abuser acts with a reasonable fear of imminent
83
peril of death or great bodily harm if the person establishes by
84
a preponderance of the evidence that he or she has a documented
85
history of domestic violence
,
repeat violence, sexual violence,
86
or dating violence perpetrated by the known abuser against
87
himself or herself
or
his or her
child.
88
(a)
The rebuttable presumption applies if:
89
1.
A
person
presents credible evidence of a documented
90
history;
91
2.
The
person
used force in response to an objectively
92
reasonable apprehension of imminent peril of death or great
93
bodily harm, sexual assault, or kidnapping based on the totality
94
of the circumstances, taking into account the history of
95
violence
. The presumption acknowledges that prior violence
96
informs the reasonableness of the
person
’s perception of
97
imminent harm;
98
3.
The
person
did not provoke or initiate the confrontation
99
that led to the use of force, and was not engaged in any
100
unlawful activity at the time; and
101
4.
The use of force occurred in a place where the
person
102
had a legal right to be.
103
(b)
If the rebuttable presumption applies, the court shall
104
instruct the jury regarding the existence of this presumption
105
and the shift in the burden of proof, and the prosecution bears
106
the burden of rebutting the presumption beyond a reasonable
107
doubt that
a
defendant acted with a reasonable fear of imminent
108
peril of death or great bodily harm.
109
(c)
The court may determine in a pretrial evidentiary
110
hearing whether the defendant has met the threshold showing of a
111
documented history sufficient to meet the presumption for trial
112
purposes.
113
(d)
Evidence of the documented history of
domestic
114
violence, repeat violence, sexual violence,
or dating violence
,
115
including the specific acts underlying that history, are
116
admissible at trial to support the defendant’s claim of self
117
defense and the applicability of the rebuttable presumption.
118
Such evidence is admissible regardless of whether the defendant
119
knew of its existence at the precise moment force was used, to
120
establish the context of the relationship and reasonableness of
121
fear.
122 Section 3. Section 943.1721, Florida Statutes, is created
123 to read:
124
943.1721 Trauma-informed training for legal personnel in
125
domestic violence cases.—
126
(1)
The department, in consultation with the Office of the
127
State Courts Administrator and recognized experts in domestic
128
violence
and
dating violence trauma, shall develop, implement,
129
and mandate an
evidence-based
,
trauma-informed training program
.
130
This training must be required for:
131
(a)
L
aw enforcement officer
s
, including patrol officer
s
,
132
detective
s
, and supervisor
s
, involved in responding to or
133
investigating domestic or dating violence incidents.
134
(b)
S
tate attorney
s
and assistant state attorneys
135
prosecuting criminal cases.
136
(c)
Judges presiding over criminal cases, including
137
pretrial hearings, trials, and sentencing, involving allegations
138
of domestic violence or dating violence or related self-defense
139
claims.
140
(2)
The training program
must
provide practical instruction
141
on recognizing common trauma responses in survivors
, including,
142
but not limited to,
freezing, dissociation, memory
143
fragmentation, and fear
-
based compliance
;
understanding dynamics
144
of coercive control and entrapment
;
and applying trauma-informed
145
techniques or interviews
and
evidence collection and assessing
146
the context of self-defense claims to avoid misinterpreting
147
survival behaviors.
148
(3)
The
d
epartment shall adopt rules
to
establish a trauma
149
informed training program for
the persons
specified in
150
paragraphs
(1)
(a)-(c)
,
which rules must
includ
e
standards for
151
curriculum, frequency, and certification.
T
he persons specified
152
in paragraphs (1)(a)-(c)
must
complete training according to
153
such rules.
154
(4)
The
d
epartment shall submit
a
report
by December 1,
155
2027, and annually thereafter
,
to the Attorney General,
the
156
President of the Senate, and
the
Speaker of the House
of
157
Representatives
regarding compliance and program effectiveness.
158
(5)
Federal and state grants may supplement
any legislative
159
appropriation
to ensure continued
funding
and
operation
of the
160
training program
.
161 Section 4. Section 947.271, Florida Statutes, is created to
162 read:
163
947.271 Survivor Self-Defense Case Review Panel.—
164
(1)
ESTABLISHMENT.
—
The
c
ommission shall establish a
165
Survivor Self-Defense Case Review Panel to evaluate convictions
166
where evidence of domestic violence, dating violence, or
167
coercive control may have materially impacted the adjudication
168
of self-defense claims.
169
(2)
PANEL FUNCTIONS.—The panel shall
do all of the
170
following
:
171
(a)
Review petitions from incarcerated individuals
172
convicted of offenses involving the use of force against an
173
intimate partner or
family or
household member
as defined in s.
174
741.28
where:
175
1.
The petitioner presents documented evidence of prior
176
abuse
as a
victim; and
177
2.
Self-defense was asserted at trial or would be relevant
178
under s. 776.012.
179
(b)
Recommend appropriate remedies to the
c
ommission,
180
including sentence reduction, conditional release, or support
181
for postconviction relief motions.
182
(c)
Facilitate pro bono legal counsel for petitioners
183
through partnerships with nonprofit legal service providers.
184
(3)
IMPLEMENTATION.—The
c
ommission shall adopt rules
185
governing
all of the following
:
186
(a)
Application procedures and eligibility criteria
.
187
(b)
Panel composition and operating standards
.
188
(c)
Prioritization of cases based on length of
189
incarceration, age, health, or other humanitarian factors
.
190
(d)
Coordination with state attorneys, victim advocates,
191
and the Justice Administrative Commission.
192
(4)
REPORTING.—The
c
ommission shall submit a report by
193
December 1, 2027, and annually thereafter
,
to the Governor,
the
194
Attorney General,
the
President of the Senate, and
the
Speaker
195
of the House
of Representatives. The
report
must
include
all of
196
the following
:
197
(a)
The number of p
etitions received and reviewed;
198
(b)
Any r
ecommended remedies; and
199
(c)
Any b
arriers to justice identified through panel work.
200 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.