Florida Statute 944.705 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XLVII
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND CORRECTIONS

Chapter 944
STATE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

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944.705 Release orientation program.—

(1) The department shall provide participation in a standardized release orientation program to every eligible inmate.

(2) The release orientation program instruction must include, but is not limited to:

(a) Employment skills.

(b) Money management skills.

(d) Special needs.

(e) Community reentry concerns.

(f) Community reentry support.

(g) Any other appropriate instruction to ensure the inmate’s successful reentry into the community.

(3)(a) The department shall establish a toll-free hotline for the benefit of released inmates. The hotline shall provide information to released inmates seeking to obtain postrelease referrals for community-based reentry services.

(b) Before an inmate’s release, the department shall provide the inmate with a comprehensive community reentry resource directory organized by county and which must include the name, address, and a description of the services offered by each reentry service provider. The directory must also include the name, address, and telephone number of existing portals of entry and the toll-free hotline number required by paragraph (a).

(c) The department shall expand the use of a department-approved risk and needs assessment system to provide inmates and offenders with community-specific reentry service provider referrals.

(4) Any inmate who claims to be a victim of domestic violence as defined in s. 741.28 shall receive, as part of the release orientation program, referral to the nearest domestic violence center certified under chapter 39.

(5) The department shall conduct a needs assessment of every inmate to determine which, if any, basic support services the inmate needs after release.

(6) The department may contract with public or private entities, including faith-based service groups, for the provision of all or part of the services pursuant to this section.

(7)(a) The department shall notify every inmate in the inmate’s release documents:

1. Of all outstanding terms of the inmate’s sentence at the time of release to assist the inmate in determining his or her status with regard to the completion of all terms of sentence, as that term is defined in s. 98.0751. This subparagraph does not apply to inmates who are being released from the custody of the department to any type of supervision monitored by the department; and

2. In not less than 18-point type, that the inmate may be sentenced pursuant to s. 775.082(9) if the inmate commits any felony offense described in s. 775.082(9) within 3 years after the inmate’s release. This notice must be prefaced by the word “WARNING” in boldfaced type.

(b) This section does not preclude the sentencing of a person pursuant to s. 775.082(9), and evidence that the department failed to provide this notice does not prohibit a person from being sentenced pursuant to s. 775.082(9). The state is not required to demonstrate that a person received any notice from the department in order for the court to impose a sentence pursuant to s. 775.082(9).

(8) A nonprofit faith-based or professional business, or a civic or community organization, may apply for registration with the department to provide inmate reentry services. Reentry services include, but are not limited to, counseling; providing information on housing and job placement; money management assistance; and programs that address substance abuse, mental health, or co-occurring conditions.

(9) The department shall adopt policies and procedures for screening, approving, and registering an organization that applies under subsection (8). The department may deny approval and registration of an organization or a representative from an organization if it determines that the organization or representative does not meet the department’s policies and procedures.

(10) The department may contract with a public or private educational institution’s veteran advocacy clinic or veteran legal clinic to assist qualified veteran inmates in applying for veterans’ benefits upon release.

(11) The department may contract with public or private organizations to establish transitional employment programs that provide employment opportunities for released inmates.

(12) The department shall adopt rules to implement this section.

History.—ss. 8, 12, ch. 87-298; ss. 12, 13, ch. 88-122; s. 31, ch. 89-526; s. 9, ch. 91-210; s. 9, ch. 92-310; s. 26, ch. 94-134; s. 26, ch. 94-135; s. 3, ch. 97-239; s. 17, ch. 98-204; s. 164, ch. 98-403; s. 10, ch. 2001-110; s. 29, ch. 2019-162; s. 57, ch. 2019-167.

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Amendments to 944.705

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 944.705

Total Results: 5 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Grant v. State, 770 So. 2d 655 (Fla. 2000).

Cited 114 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2000 WL 1637539

...Nor is Grant's argument that the Act applies only to inmates released after its effective date persuasive. See Young v. State, 719 So.2d 1010, 1011 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (rejecting a claim that the Act did not apply to those inmates released prior to the Act's effective date because, even though section 944.705(6)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), requires the Department of Corrections to give notice of the Act, a separate provision, section 944.705(6)(b), allows a trial court to impose an enhanced sentence under the Act regardless of whether this notice has been given)....

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Young v. State, 719 So. 2d 1010 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998).

Cited 25 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1998 WL 765379

...4th DCA 1998), this statute is not susceptible to differing constructions. "Any defendant" is all-inclusive language requiring no statutory interpretation. See Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Conquest, 658 So.2d 928, 929 (Fla.1995). This statute clearly includes appellant. Although section 944.705(6)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), requires the Department of Corrections to give notice to every inmate of the provisions of section 775.082(8), section 944.705(6)(b) provides that the trial court can impose an enhanced sentence under the Act regardless of whether a defendant has received such notice....

...ociated objects of legislative effort." Burch v. State, 558 So.2d 1, 2 (Fla.1990)(quoting State v. Thompson, 120 Fla. 860, 163 So. 270, 283 (Fla.1935)). Chapter 97-239, Laws of Florida, in addition to adding section 775.082(8), also amended sections 944.705, 947.141, 948.06, 948.01 and 958.14....

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Calvin v. Jefferson Cnty. Bd. of Commissioners, 172 F. Supp. 3d 1292 (N.D. Fla. 2016).

Cited 1 times | Published | District Court, N.D. Florida | 2016 WL 1122884, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36121

...The .first source is really a compilation of sources that together shed light on whether prisoners are commonly perceived as belonging to the community. Note first that Florida law uses some variant of the-phrase “reentry' into the community” in numerous places when discussing state prisoners. See, e.g., § 944.705, Fla....

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Nelson v. State, 761 So. 2d 452 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000).

Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 2000 Fla. App. LEXIS 6669, 2000 WL 707305

to him when he was released from prison. See § 944.705(6)(a), Fla. Stat. (1997) (requiring Department

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Taylor v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2017).

Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal

...In that respect, "[t]he Act increases the penalty for a crime committed after its enactment, based upon release from a term of imprisonment resulting from a conviction which occurred prior to the Act." Grant, 770 So. 2d at 661. In addition to creating the Act, chapter 97-239 amended section 944.705 to provide that the DOC must "notify every inmate ....