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HB 559

BillStateFLHouse
Animal Welfare
About This Bill
Latest Action · May 13, 2026
Chapter No. 2026-78; Companion bill(s) passed, see CS/SB 1004 (Ch. 2026-76)
Session
2026
Introduced
Dec 1, 2025
Primary Sponsor
Criminal Justice Subcommittee· primary

Summary

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Animal Welfare; Creating the offense of causing or enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor committing, animal cruelty; requiring a court to order a minor who commits specified acts of animal cruelty to undergo a psychological evaluation and receive counseling and treatment for a specified time period; requiring the minor's parent or guardian or the state to pay the cost of such evaluation, counseling, and treatment; providing an exception; authorizing the court to hold the parent or guardian in contempt under certain circumstances; requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to post on its website specified information relating to each individual convicted of specified animal cruelty offenses; specifying time periods for which the information shall be posted; requiring the department to develop a procedure to allow a person to petition for the removal of his or her information under specified circumstances; requiring the department to remove specified information under specified circumstances; specifying the time period within which such information must be removed; authorizing the department to adopt rules; requiring clerks of court and county detention facilities to provide the Department of Law Enforcement with specified information, data, and images; creating the offense of causing or enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor committing, fighting or baiting animals; creating the offense of causing or enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor committing, sexual activities involving animals; increasing the maximum civil penalty for specified violations of ordinances relating to animal control or cruelty; increasing the level on the offense severity ranking chart for fighting or baiting animals; ranking offenses created by the act on the offense severity ranking chart, etc.

Subjects

crimescriminal procedure and correctionsdomestic relationsevidencejudicial branchpublic healthsocial welfare

Co-sponsors (10)

Chaney · primary
López, J. · primary
Bartleman · cosponsor
Basabe · cosponsor
Cross · cosponsor
Hunschofsky · cosponsor
Mooney · cosponsor
Plasencia · cosponsor
Valdés · cosponsor
Weinberger · cosponsor

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