Florida Lawmaker Files Bill Restricting Compensation to Relatives of Wrongfully Incarcerated People

Tallahassee, Fl- Hillsborough County Representative Traci Koster (R) has introduced a bill that would limit participation in compensation benefits for relatives of wrongfully incarcerated people. 

HB 37 would prevent relatives of a deceased wrongfully incarcerated person from filing a petition for compensation on their behalf.

Florida statutes mandate a minimum compensation amount of $50,000 per year of wrongful incarceration. Total compensation cannot exceed $2 million, however.   

Representative Koster’s bill thus excludes relatives of deceased wrongfully incarcerated people from petitioning for the $50,000 a year compensatory benefits. However, Koster’s bill would also expand the timeframe allotted for wrongfully incarcerated people’s filing of compensation petitions from 90 days to 2 years. 

Wrongfully convicted individuals can currently be determined illegible for compensation for several reasons.

If they committed a violent, or more than one nonviolent, felony before or during wrongful incarceration, or the person was also serving a concurrent sentence for another felony for which the person was not wrongfully convicted, filing for compensation is prohibited.

Koster concurrently filed a separate bill regarding DUI arrestees. 

HB 39 would require a person arrested for DUI who refused to submit to a lawful test of his or her breath to be subject to mandatory placement of an ignition interlock device (IID). 

IIDs are small, handheld breathalyzers for car ignitions installed to prevent users from being able to start their vehicle after drinking alcohol.

If passed, the two acts would go into force on July 1 and October 1, 2024, respectively.