An arrest in Tampa starts several separate tracks: custody and first appearance, a prosecutor’s charging decision, court notices, and deadlines that may run outside the courthouse. This page explains those tracks with Florida statutes, court rules, and Hillsborough County sources. It is general information only; it does not judge facts, predict an outcome, or offer individualized legal advice.
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Six boxes, about thirty seconds. You pick when to be called back, and that is when the phone rings.
Or call (813) 588-6602An arrest produces paperwork from different agencies. This resource explains what each document usually means without deciding what should happen in an individual proceeding.
First appearance, bond, filing, arraignment, and an administrative driving deadline are separate events. Keeping their documents apart prevents a missed step from being mistaken for a final answer.
First appearances are assigned to a duty judge by audiovisual device from the Courthouse Annex, while felony filing paperwork moves from the jail through the Clerk and State Attorney.
The degree printed on a charge can affect court level, limitation period, booking-bond treatment, and whether ordinary language such as “battery” or “possession” is too broad.
This page explains publicly available law and procedure. It does not assess facts, rank any legal professional, or tell the person involved what result to expect.
Nothing is filed and nothing is owed until you decide what to do next.
Put the arrest affidavit, booking sheet, notice to appear, bond papers, and every Clerk notice in date order. Copy the statute number, degree, and count exactly as printed.
For a DUI arrest, the criminal proceeding and the administrative license suspension are different tracks. The notice date can control a very short review-request period.
General information cannot answer whether a charge, search, condition, or record is eligible for a particular form of relief. The person involved may choose a Florida lawyer directly.
Illustrative photographs only. No specific Tampa case, client or property is shown.
Four facts change the procedural question before anyone reaches a conclusion: the statute, the degree, the current stage, and any written condition.
Florida distinguishes felony from misdemeanor by the authorized place and length of incarceration, and individual statutes can raise or lower the charge level based on allegations or prior convictions.
Arrest, first appearance, filing, arraignment, and trial preparation are different stages. Each produces different public paperwork and different questions for independently retained counsel.
No-contact, stay-away, and supervision terms are orders, not suggestions. A later message from another person does not itself erase a condition imposed by a judge.
A DUI arrest can trigger a driver-license suspension process under a motor-vehicle statute. It has an independent ten-day review-request deadline that deserves immediate attention.
These four starting points lead to different records and deadlines. Each linked page explains the public rules behind the written charge.
Florida Rule 3.130 generally requires an arrested person who has not been lawfully released to go before a judicial officer within 24 hours. Hillsborough duty judges conduct first appearances by audiovisual device from Courtroom 17 in the Courthouse Annex. The booking bond schedule is not the judge’s decision; it applies only to the booking officer and excludes many arrests. Read the felony-defense page for the sequence and documents.
A misdemeanor can feel distant after release, but the court calendar proceeds independently. Keep the address used at booking current, preserve every notice, and read the charge degree rather than relying on a verbal summary. First-degree and second-degree misdemeanors have different statutory limitation periods, while individual court dates create nearer obligations. The misdemeanor-defense page separates arrest, filing, arraignment, and records questions.
Drug paperwork often lists the substance, amount, statute subsection, and the place where officers say it was recovered. Those details matter: ordinary controlled-substance possession, cannabis possession, possession with intent, and trafficking are not interchangeable labels in Florida law. Preserve the arrest affidavit, property receipt, and later laboratory paperwork. The drug-charge page explains the statutory categories and why a search timeline should be documented early.
Do not treat a no-contact or stay-away term as informal. A release condition remains in force unless a court changes it, even if another person initiates a message or asks for contact. Florida’s bond order for Hillsborough recognizes individualized release decisions, and the local pre-first-appearance schedule excludes many violence-related allegations. The assault-charge page distinguishes ordinary battery, felony battery, and the immediate paperwork to preserve.
This material is not legal advice and does not assess the underlying facts. It is a guide to public procedure and official sources for a person seeking independent legal advice.
Checked against primary sources on 2026-08-21. Every claim below links to where it came from.
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130 requires that every arrested person not already released in a lawful manner be taken before a judicial officer within 24 hours of arrest, in person or by electronic audiovisual device at the court's discretion. At that hearing the judge must state the charge, provide a copy of the complaint, and advise the person of the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. Rule 3.133 sets a separate 48-hour limit for a nonadversary probable cause determination when the defendant is in custody.
Why it matters: In Hillsborough County that hearing is normally run by video link from the county jail, and release conditions are addressed at it. Rule 3.130(c)(2) also requires the judge to allow a defendant who is hiring counsel reasonable time to send for that lawyer and, on request, to have an officer carry a message to a named lawyer inside the county at no cost. That makes the first day after an arrest the point at which counsel matters most.
Source: flcourts.gov
Administrative Order S-2025-063 of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit adopts the statewide uniform bond schedule for Hillsborough County without change, effective January 1 through December 31, 2026. The order states the schedule applies only to the booking officer and does not bind a judge. It also excludes a long list of arrests: capital, life, first- and second-degree felonies, homicide, felony battery, domestic battery by strangulation, and domestic violence under Florida Statutes 741.28. The list continues with stalking, robbery, burglary, carjacking, kidnapping, trafficking in a controlled substance, and violation of a protective injunction. It reaches anyone on pretrial release, probation or community control at the time of a felony arrest, and anyone arrested three or more times in the preceding six months.
Why it matters: It decides whether anyone can be bonded out at the jail counter or has to wait for a judge. For every excluded charge there is no pre-first-appearance release, and the judge then makes an individualized determination under Florida Statutes 903.011(6) and 903.046 and Rule 3.131. Prior supervision status and recent arrest history change the answer even when the charge itself is minor.
Source: fljud13.org
The Hillsborough County Clerk of Court states that after a felony arrest the county jail sends the initial paperwork to the Clerk's felony department. That department prepares the official court file, including the original arrest document and any release forms, and forwards it to the Office of the State Attorney. The State Attorney then determines whether to file formal charges. Once charges are filed with the Clerk, the defendant is notified by mail of an arraignment date, sent to the address provided at the time of arrest, and the bail bond agent is also notified if the defendant bonded out. The felony department cannot change a court date once notice has gone out.
Why it matters: An arrest is not a filed charge, and the gap between them is where people assume a case has gone away. The notice that resumes it goes to whatever address was recorded at booking, so anyone who moved, or who gave a temporary address, can miss a court date they never saw. Missing it does not pause the case.
Source: hillsclerk.com
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130 says that an arrested person who has not already been released in a lawful manner must be taken before a judicial officer within 24 hours of arrest. At that hearing the judge gives the charge, provides a complaint copy, and advises the person about silence and counsel. Rule 3.133 addresses a separate nonadversary probable-cause determination for a person held in custody, generally within 48 hours. In Hillsborough, the duty-judge administrative order assigns first appearances and bond motions by audiovisual device from Courtroom 17 in the Courthouse Annex; weekday proceedings commence at 9:00 a.m., with weekend and holiday proceedings following juvenile detention and shelter hearings.
Hillsborough’s 2026 administrative order adopts the statewide bond schedule without change, but the schedule applies to the booking officer rather than to a judge. It excludes numerous arrest categories, including capital, life, first-degree, and second-degree felonies; robbery, burglary, carjacking, kidnapping, trafficking, felony battery, domestic battery by strangulation, stalking, injunction violations, and several supervision-status situations. A person excluded from the schedule may not be released before first appearance under that order. When a judge addresses release, the order calls for an individualized inquiry under Florida statutes and Rule 3.131 rather than a mechanical schedule amount.
No. The arrest paperwork and an information filed by a prosecutor are separate steps. The Hillsborough Clerk explains that felony arrest paperwork goes from the jail to the Clerk’s felony department, which prepares the official court file and forwards it to the State Attorney for a filing decision. When formal charges are filed, the Clerk sends an arraignment notice to the address supplied at arrest and also notifies a bond agent when applicable. Florida Statute 775.15 generally sets four years for a first-degree felony, three years for another felony, two years for a first-degree misdemeanor, and one year for a second-degree misdemeanor, subject to statutory exceptions.
Use this page to understand the public process and to keep paperwork organized. A particular charge, release condition, or deadline calls for legal advice from a Florida lawyer chosen independently by the person involved. The listed phone number does not change that: this website does not review facts, identify a lawyer, or route an inquiry.
Call (813) 588-6602No obligation · Written for Tampa · Hillsborough County