The Florida Senate passed a bill 37-0 on Tuesday that would set tougher sentencing point multipliers for animal abusers and require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to post the names of convicted animal cruelty offenders on its website. The bill is now greenlit for Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign into law.
Sen. Tom Leek (R-St. Augustine) sponsored the bill (SB 494). Known as "Dexter's Law," the bill honors a four-year-old pit bull mix who was decapitated just hours after his adoption.
Sen. Leek provided background to his proposal on the Senate floor.
"Under current law, aggravated animal cruelty is a third-degree felony and scores 28 sentencing points on the criminal punishment code scoresheet," Leek said. "As you're aware, state attorneys use criminal punishment code scoresheets to assign points for each offense committed by a criminal defendant, and at sentencing, the court uses the scoresheet to determine a defendant's minimum criminal sentence."
"A total of 28 points gives the judge the discretion to sentence a person convicted of the offense to jail time or probation. This bill creates a 1.25 sentencing multiplier which must be applied to a defendant's subtotal sentencing points to determine his or her total sentencing points," Leek continued. "This number is then used to determine the lowest permissible sentence to which the defendant can be sentenced."
Leek has also championed other bills this session to protect animals. Like that proposal, SB 494 would set harsher penalties for individuals who are convicted of animal cruelty.
"Under the bill, an aggravated animal cruelty offense would score 35 points. Depending on the individual's prior record, this multiplier will help increase an offender's total sentencing score to an amount that requires a judge to sentence him or her to prison," Leek said.
The bill does not apply to agricultural animals used in farming.
"In addition, the bill directs the FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) to make available on its website access to information of those who have committed crimes of animal abuse," Leek added.
Rep. Linda Chaney (R-St. Petersburg) filed a similar House version of the bill (HB 255). The Senate bill was substituted for the already approved House bill, which passed without objection.
If signed, the bill would go into effect on July 1.
