Delinquency proceedings in Florida run under chapter 985, which has its own detention rules, its own hearing clocks, and its own routes by which a child can instead be prosecuted as an adult.
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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) 588-6602Florida Statute 985.24 states that all determinations and court orders regarding the use of detention care must be based primarily on findings that the child presents a substantial risk of not appearing at a subsequent hearing, presents a substantial risk of inflicting bodily harm on others as evidenced by recent behavior including the illegal possession or use of a firearm, presents a history of committing a property offense before adjudication, disposition, or placement, or has committed contempt of court in the ways the statute lists.
Statute 985.25 describes detention intake: the department receives custody, reviews the law enforcement report or probable cause affidavit, and makes the initial placement decision under that instrument. The same statute requires secure detention until the detention hearing where the child meets the prolific juvenile offender criteria in Florida Statute 985.255(1)(f) or is charged with an offense involving possession or use of a firearm.
Florida Statute 985.26(1) provides that a child may not be placed into or held in detention care longer than 24 hours unless the court orders it, and the order must include specific instructions directing release in accordance with Florida Statute 985.255.
Subsection (2) adds limits on supervised release detention care. A court may order it until an adjudicatory hearing is completed, but where a child has served 60 days on supervised release detention care, the court must hold a hearing within 15 days after the 60th day to determine the need for continuing it, and continuation requires good cause shown.
Florida Statute 985.35 provides that the adjudicatory hearing be held as soon as practicable after the petition is filed, in accordance with the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, with reasonable delay granted for investigation, discovery, or procuring counsel or witnesses, and with the time limits of 985.26 applying to a detained child. Where the child is a prolific juvenile offender, the hearing must be held within 45 days after the child is taken into custody unless the child requests a delay. Subsection (2) states that these hearings are conducted without a jury, applying the rules of evidence used in criminal proceedings.
Florida Statute 985.557 permits discretionary direct filing of an information. For a child who was 14 or 15 at the time of the alleged offense, the state attorney may file an information where, in the state attorney's judgment and discretion, the public interest requires that adult sanctions be considered or imposed, and where the offense falls within an enumerated list including arson, sexual battery, robbery, kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, aggravated assault, aggravated stalking, murder, manslaughter, and specified armed burglary offenses under Florida Statute 810.02. Once an information is filed, adult penalty statutes apply.
Florida Statute 985.11 requires that a child charged with or found to have committed an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult be fingerprinted, with the prints submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement, and it lists further offenses requiring fingerprinting unless a prearrest delinquency citation was issued.
Florida Statute 943.0582 provides for diversion program expunction, directing the Department of Law Enforcement to adopt rules for expunging a nonjudicial arrest record of a minor who has successfully completed a qualifying diversion program under the listed sections of chapter 985 or a program to which a state attorney referred the minor.
This page presents general information about Florida chapter 985 procedure. It is not legal advice and reaches no conclusion about any child. A parent or guardian of a child accused of a delinquent act should consult a licensed Florida attorney promptly, particularly where direct filing is possible.
Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings in Florida in Tampa. Call (813) 588-6602 and a Tampa lawyer reviews the claim and the deadline that applies. Nothing is signed on that call.
Call (813) 588-6602Florida 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
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