OFFENSES BY PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

F.S. Ch. 839

in effect

F.S. 839.04 County officers not to speculate in county warrants or certificates.

Any county court judge, clerk of the circuit court, sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser or their deputies, county commissioner, school board members, superintendent of schools, or any other county officer who buys up at a discount, or in any manner, directly or indirectly, speculates in jurors’ or witnesses’ certificates or in any warrants drawn upon the county treasurer for the payment of money out of any public fund of this state or of any county, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, and shall be removed from office.

F.S. 839.05 Municipal officers not to speculate in municipal scrip.

Any mayor, marshal, treasurer, clerk, tax collector or other officer of any incorporated city or town, or any deputy of such officer, who buys up at a discount, or in any manner, directly or indirectly, speculates in any scrip or other evidence of indebtedness issued by the municipal corporation of which she or he is an officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, and shall be removed from office.

F.S. 839.06 Collectors not to deal in warrants, etc.; removal.

No tax collector of any county shall, either directly or indirectly, purchase or receive in exchange any Chief Financial Officer’s or the former Comptroller’s warrants, county orders, jurors’ certificates or school district orders for a less amount than expressed on the face of such orders or demand, and any such person so offending shall, for each offense, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.083, and be removed from office.

F.S. 839.11 Extortion by officers of the state.

Any officer of this state who willfully charges, receives, or collects any greater fees or services than the officer is entitled to charge, receive, or collect by law is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.12 Officer failing to keep record of costs.

If any clerk of a court, sheriff, or county court judge neglects or refuses to keep a record book of the costs which she or he charges, she or he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.083. Such record book shall be prima facie evidence in the courts of the amounts charged therein, in all cases in which any such officer is prosecuted for charging more costs than are allowed by law.

F.S. 839.13 Falsifying records.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if any judge, justice, mayor, alderman, clerk, sheriff, coroner, or other public officer, or employee or agent of or contractor with a public agency, or any person whatsoever, shall steal, embezzle, alter, corruptly withdraw, falsify or avoid any record, process, charter, gift, grant, conveyance, or contract, or any paper filed in any judicial proceeding in any court of this state, or shall knowingly and willfully take off, discharge or conceal any issue, forfeited recognizance, or other forfeiture, or other paper above mentioned, or shall forge, deface, or falsify any document or instrument recorded, or filed in any court, or any registry, acknowledgment, or certificate, or shall fraudulently alter, deface, or falsify any minutes, documents, books, or any proceedings whatever of or belonging to any public office within this state; or if any person shall cause or procure any of the offenses aforesaid to be committed, or be in anywise concerned therein, the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. (2)(a) Any person who knowingly falsifies, alters, destroys, defaces, overwrites, removes, or discards an official record relating to an individual in the care and custody of a state agency, which act has the potential to detrimentally affect the health, safety, or welfare of that individual, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “care and custody” includes, but is not limited to, a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415. (b) Any person who commits a violation of paragraph (a) which contributes to great bodily harm to or the death of an individual in the care and custody of a state agency commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “care and custody” includes, but is not limited to, a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415. (c) Any person who knowingly falsifies, alters, destroys, defaces, overwrites, removes, or discards records of the Department of Children and Families or its contract provider with the intent to conceal a fact material to a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits prosecution for a violation of paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) involving records described in this paragraph. (d) This section does not prohibit the disposing or archiving of records as otherwise provided by law. In addition, this section does not prohibit any person from correcting or updating records. (3) In any prosecution under this section, it shall not be necessary to prove the ownership or value of any paper or instrument involved.

F.S. 839.14 Officer withholding records from successor.

If any officer, after the expiration of the time for which she or he may have been appointed or elected, or in case of death, her or his executors and administrators, or the person in possession thereof, shall willfully and unlawfully withhold or detain from her or his successors the records, papers, documents, or other writings appertaining and belonging to her or his office, or mutilate, destroy, take away, or otherwise prevent the complete possession by her or his successors of said records, documents, papers, or other writings, she or he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.15 Judicial officer withholding records.

Any justice of the Supreme Court or judge of the circuit court who, upon resignation or on being impeached, fails to file all papers and records in her or his possession belonging to her or his court with the proper clerk shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.16 Fraud of clerk in drawing jury.

If the clerk of any court shall be guilty of any fraud, either by practicing on a jury box previous to a draft, or in drawing a juror, or in returning into the box any juror which had been lawfully drawn out and drawing or substituting another in her or his stead, or in any other way in the drawing of jurors, the clerk shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.17 Misappropriation of moneys by commissioners to make sales.

Any commissioner or general or special magistrate, having received the purchase money or the securities resulting from any of the sales authorized by law, who shall fail to deliver such moneys and securities, or either of them, to the executor or administrator, or the person entitled to receive the same, upon the order of the court, unless she or he is rendered unable to do so by some cause not attributable to her or his own default or neglect, shall be fined in a sum equal to the amount received from the purchaser, and commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

F.S. 839.18 Penalty for officer assuming to act before qualification.

Whoever being elected, or appointed, to any office assumes to perform any of the duties thereof before qualification, according to law, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.19 Failure to execute process generally.

Any sheriff or other officer authorized to execute process, who willfully or corruptly refuses or neglects to execute and return, according to law, any process delivered to him or her, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.20 Refusal to execute criminal process.

If any officer authorized to serve process, willfully and corruptly refuses to execute any lawful process to him or her directed and requiring him or her to apprehend and confine any person convicted or charged with an offense, or willfully and corruptly omits or delays to execute such process, whereby such person escapes and goes at large, the officer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.21 Refusal to receive prisoner.

Any jailer or other officer, who willfully refuses to receive into the jail or into her or his custody a prisoner lawfully directed to be committed thereto on a criminal charge or conviction, or any lawful process whatever, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.23 Officer taking insufficient bail.

An official who takes bail which the official knows is not sufficient, accepts a surety she or he knows does not have the qualifications required by law, or accepts as a surety a professional bond agent who is not registered with the clerk of the circuit court and qualified to act as surety shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. An official convicted of violating this section may be removed from office by the Governor.

F.S. 839.24 Penalty for failure to perform duty required of officer.

A sheriff, county court judge, prosecuting officer, court reporter, stenographer, interpreter, or other officer required to perform any duty under the criminal procedure law who willfully fails to perform his or her duty shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.26 Misuse of confidential information.

Any public servant who, in contemplation of official action by herself or himself or by a governmental unit with which the public servant is associated, or in reliance on information to which she or he has access in her or his official capacity and which has not been made public, commits any of the following acts: (1) Acquisition of a pecuniary interest in any property, transaction, or enterprise or gaining of any pecuniary or other benefit which may be affected by such information or official action; (2) Speculation or wagering on the basis of such information or action; or (3) Aiding another to do any of the foregoing, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

F.S. 839.27 Restitution and community service.

A person who is convicted of any offense in this chapter shall be ordered by the sentencing judge to make restitution to the victim of the offense if, after conducting a hearing, the judge finds that the victim suffered an actual financial loss caused directly or indirectly by the person’s offense or an actual financial loss related to the person’s criminal episode. A person who is convicted of any offense in this chapter shall also be ordered to perform 250 hours of community service work. Restitution and community service work shall be in addition to any fine or sentence that may be imposed and may not be in lieu thereof.

Source: FL Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/Chapter839/AllFetched: 7/8/2026