Florida Statute 30.30 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title V
JUDICIAL BRANCH

Chapter 30
SHERIFFS

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30.30 Writs, process; duties and liabilities in levying.—

(1) Whenever any writ, issuing out of any court of this state, shall be delivered to a sheriff, commanding the sheriff to levy upon property specifically described therein, it shall be his or her duty to levy upon such property. If no property is specifically described in the writ, he or she shall levy upon:

(a) Any property in the possession of the defendant which is described in instructions for levy; and

(b) Upon any property assessed against the defendant on the current tax rolls of the county or registered in his or her name under any law of the United States or of the state, upon the request of the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney listing such property in an instructions for levy. The instructions for levy shall state the balance due on such writ.

(2) No sheriff shall be liable in damages to anyone whomsoever for making a wrongful levy whenever the same has been made as required under subsection (1).

(3) If the sheriff, in attempting to execute any writ describing specific property, shall find it in the possession of anyone, other than the defendant, who is claiming the ownership or the right to the possession thereof, the sheriff, in his or her discretion, may require the plaintiff suing out the writ to furnish a bond, payable to such sheriff, in a sum not exceeding the reasonable value of the described property, as fixed by such sheriff, with sureties satisfactory to him or her conditioned to hold the sheriff harmless against liability for any loss or damage that might be sustained by anyone whomsoever by reason of his or her levying upon such described property, and indemnifying him or her for any expense (including reasonable attorney’s fees) incurred by reason of any such claim.

(4) If the sheriff, in attempting to execute any writ not describing specific property, shall be requested to levy upon any property other than that described in subsection (1), he or she may require the plaintiff suing out the writ to furnish a bond upon the terms and conditions prescribed in subsection (3).

(5) Whenever a party suing out any writ shall demand that the sheriff levy upon specific property and anyone, other than the defendant, shall claim the ownership or right of possession thereof, the sheriff, at his or her option, may file a petition in the court out of which the writ issued and procure a rule to issue to the plaintiff and to the party so claiming the property or the right to possession thereof, to show cause why the levy should or should not be made; provided, that if the issue shall involve the titles or boundaries of real estate, the petition shall be filed in the circuit court. The judge of such court, after due notice to all parties in interest, shall determine whether or not such property is subject to levy under the writ. Any party aggrieved by such ruling, including the sheriff, may appeal therefrom, as from a final decree in a chancery cause, and may have a supersedeas upon such terms and conditions as the judge shall fix. In the event the property is ultimately held to be subject to the writ, the plaintiff’s writ shall have priority over any writs levied subsequent to the date upon which the plaintiff’s writ was delivered to the sheriff.

(6) No sheriff shall be liable for making any levy pursuant to the specific order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

History.—ss. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ch. 22019, 1943; s. 3, ch. 77-234; s. 27, ch. 81-259; s. 2, ch. 82-118; s. 186, ch. 95-147.

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Amendments to 30.30

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 30.30

Total Results: 9 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Flagship State Bank of Jacksonville v. Carantzas, 352 So. 2d 1259 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977).

Cited 8 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1977 Fla. App. LEXIS 17154

...Carantzas states in his brief that the property sold to him has since been sold to other persons, although this is not established in the record. If this is so, Flagship has, as indicated in Love, Sheriff v. Williams, supra, a possible action against the sheriff for not executing that writ which was first delivered to him. Section 30.30(2), Florida Statutes (1975), prohibiting the sheriff from damages for wrongful levy, would not apply to such action since here the levy was correctly made, but not the execution sale....

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Grant v. Credithrift of Am., Inc., 402 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981).

Cited 8 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal

...t apart and designate one's homestead. The question then becomes what effect a timely § 222.02 designation has on the sheriff's imminent sale. We recognize that the sheriff has a ministerial duty to levy on property described in writs of execution. Section 30.30(1), Fla....

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Orr v. Allen-Hanford, Inc., 27 So. 2d 823 (Fla. 1946).

Cited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 158 Fla. 34, 1946 Fla. LEXIS 463

Pursuant to Section 30.30 (5), Florida Statutes 1941, Chapter 22019, Acts of 1943, the Sheriff of Dade

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Brother's Distrib. Co., Inc. v. Heidtman, 354 F. Supp. 203 (S.D. Fla. 1973).

Cited 2 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15388

...Ed.2d 556 (1972). ( Fuentes held the replevin of property at the threshold of a law suit without prior hearing to be unconstitutional.) The sheriff's motions presently under consideration attack plaintiff's claim as being meretricious in light of Fla.Stat. Ann. § 30.30, which specifically grants immunity from suit to sheriffs levying attachment on property....

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Lane v. Exmoor Sch., Inc., 128 So. 2d 773 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1961).

Cited 1 times | Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1961 Fla. App. LEXIS 3051

...Review is sought of an order by the civil court of record adjudicating that a certain judgment did not constitute a lien against specified real property and quashing execution issued thereon. The order sought to be reviewed resulted from a petition filed by the sheriff of Dade County under the provisions of § 30.30, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., to determine whether or not the property sought to be subjected to execution under a judgment held by the petitioner was subject to the lien of said judgment. Section 30.30(5), supra, after providing that the sheriff may, at his option, file a petition in the court out of which the writ issued, to ascertain whether the levy should or should not be made on the property specified, contains the following: “...

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Elkins v. Imperial Crown Toy Corp., 73 So. 2d 64 (Fla. 1954).

Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 1954 Fla. LEXIS 1498

on the property, invoked the provisions of section 30.30(5) of the Florida Statutes F.S.A., and sought

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Smith v. Moore, 336 So. 2d 145 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976).

Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 1976 Fla. App. LEXIS 15211

review, all other issues being deemed abandoned. F.S. 30.30 provides in material part as follows: “(1) Whenever

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Klauber v. First Fed. Bank of Florida, 198 So. 3d 762 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016).

Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 2867, 2016 WL 746551

...Most orders require a party to take some action or face a consequence. Corporate stock can be property subject to execution. See § 56.061, Fla. Stat. (2014). A sheriff who has been properly instructed to levy upon property subject to execution has a duty to levy upon the property. § 30.30(1), Fla....

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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 1976).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

...ies; (2) Execute such other writs, processes, warrants, and other papers directed to them, as may come to their hands to be executed in their counties; * * * * * (10) Perform such other duties as may be imposed upon them by law. (Emphasis supplied.) Section 30.30 (1), F....

...S., provides that "[w]henever any writ, issuing out of any court of this state, shall be delivered to a sheriff, commanding him to levy upon property specifically described therein, it shall be his duty to levy upon such property." (Emphasis supplied.) And subsection (6) of s. 30.30 provides that "[n]o sheriff shall be liable for making any levy pursuant to the specific order of a court of competent jurisdiction." (Emphasis supplied.) The sections about which you expressed concern are ss....

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