HB 535 Summary: Aged Prison Inmates

• Requires the Department of Corrections to consider the health care needs of inmates over 50 years old and adopt specialized health care standards for that population.

• Creates a supervised conditional elderly release program for inmates 65 years or older who have served at least 50 percent of their sentence, have no more than two prior felony convictions, and have not received disciplinary reports within the previous 6 months.

• Establishes eligibility criteria excluding inmates convicted of violent first-degree felonies, capital offenses, sexual offenses, or offenses involving children, and requires inmates to participate in community service (10 hours per year served), submit to electronic monitoring for at least 1 year, and pay restitution to victims.

• Allows defendants age 65 or older who receive favorable determinations from the Florida Commission on Offender Review to serve less than 85 percent of their sentence, with a maximum reduction of 50 percent.

• Expands conditional medical release eligibility to include "elderly and infirm inmates" age 65 or older with medical conditions who do not pose a danger to themselves or others; effective July 1, 2017.