CS/HB 7019 Summary

• State attorneys must refer persons convicted of sexually violent offenses to the Department of Children and Families for civil commitment proceedings if they receive an arrest alert and are subsequently sentenced to jail for any criminal offense.

• Multidisciplinary teams must assess and evaluate referrals, prioritizing cases based on release dates, with clinical evaluations required and written assessments provided to state attorneys at least 1 month before release (24 hours for county/municipal jail cases).

• State attorneys may file civil commitment petitions within 120 hours after a person's sentencing if they were not confined due to time served credit, and judges may order such persons into custody for commitment proceedings upon finding probable cause.

• Persons released without proper referral or transferred from commitment consideration may be taken into custody within 120 hours by state attorneys filing petitions alleging mistake, oversight, or intentional failure to follow required procedures.

• Department of Children and Families must notify Department of Corrections, Department of Law Enforcement, and county sheriffs of sexually violent predator releases, and must enroll released offenders in an arrest notification program with immediate notification to state attorneys upon arrest.

• Effective date: July 1, 2014.