Florida SB 600: Hurricane Protections for Homeowners’ Associations

Bill Text

600 
Bail Bonds 
2026-02-26T05:50:56Z 
Decreasing the duration of in-person classroom-instruction basic certification courses required to be considered for approval and certification as an approved limited surety agent and professional bail bond agent prelicensing school; requiring, rather than authorizing, that any monetary or cash component of any form of pretrial release be met by specified means; requiring the clerk of the court, upon the court’s entry of an order to revoke pretrial release and order pretrial detention in certain circumstances, to discharge any bond previously posted as a condition of pretrial release without further order of the court; requiring that a signed certification containing certain information accompany or be included on a specified notice, etc. 
Engrossed 1 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
e1 

 CS for CS for CS for SB 600 First Engrossed 

 2026600e1 

 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to bail bonds; amending s. 648.25, 
 3 F.S.; defining the term “virtual office”; amending s. 
 4 648.386, F.S.; defining the term “in-person classroom 
 5 instruction”; decreasing the duration of in-person 
 6 classroom-instruction basic certification courses 
 7 required to be considered for approval and 
 8 certification as an approved limited surety agent and 
 9 professional bail bond agent prelicensing school; 
 10 amending s. 648.44, F.S.; authorizing bail bond agents 
 11 and agencies to accept certain fees or charges; 
 12 prohibiting virtual bail bond offices; amending s. 
 13 903.011, F.S.; requiring, rather than authorizing, 
 14 that any monetary or cash component of any form of 
 15 pretrial release be met by specified means; amending 
 16 s. 903.046, F.S.; revising the criteria that a court 
 17 must consider in making specified determinations; 
 18 prohibiting a surety bond that has been revoked from 
 19 being reinstated without written authorization; 
 20 amending s. 903.0471, F.S.; requiring the clerk of the 
 21 court, upon the court’s entry of an order to revoke 
 22 pretrial release and order pretrial detention in 
 23 certain circumstances, to discharge any bond 
 24 previously posted as a condition of pretrial release 
 25 without further order of the court; amending s. 
 26 903.05, F.S.; deleting the requirement that a surety 
 27 own certain real estate as a qualification for the 
 28 release of a person on bail; repealing s. 903.08, 
 29 F.S., relating to sufficiency of sureties; amending s. 
 30 903.09, F.S.; requiring sureties, other than bail bond 
 31 agents, to justify their suretyship by attaching to 
 32 the bond United States currency, a United States 
 33 postal money order, or a cashier’s check in the amount 
 34 of the bond; providing that such currency, money 
 35 order, or cashier’s check may not be used to secure 
 36 more than one bond; deleting a requirement that a 
 37 surety execute an affidavit providing certain 
 38 information; amending s. 903.101, F.S.; revising the 
 39 requirements that sureties must meet to have equal 
 40 access to jails for making bonds; amending s. 903.16, 
 41 F.S.; authorizing a defendant who has been admitted to 
 42 bail, or another person on the defendant’s behalf, to 
 43 deposit with the official authorized to take bail 
 44 money an amount equal to the bail amount set in the 
 45 court order; requiring, rather than authorizing, the 
 46 sheriff or other officials to remit to the clerk money 
 47 or bonds received which are to be held by the clerk 
 48 pending court action; repealing s. 903.17, F.S., 
 49 relating to substitution of cash bail for other bail; 
 50 amending s. 903.21, F.S.; specifying that a surety is 
 51 exonerated of liability on a bond if a specified 
 52 determination is made before forfeiture of the bond; 
 53 revising the definition of the term “costs and 
 54 expenses”; amending s. 903.26, F.S.; requiring that a 
 55 signed certification containing certain information 
 56 accompany or be included on a specified notice; 
 57 deleting a requirement that municipal officials having 
 58 custody of forfeited money deposit such money in a 
 59 designated municipal fund within 60 days after the 
 60 forfeiture notice has been mailed or electronically 
 61 transmitted; deleting certain requirements that must 
 62 be met when bonds are forfeited; revising the 
 63 circumstances under which the court is required to 
 64 discharge a forfeiture within a specified timeframe; 
 65 requiring the sheriff to enter the information of a 
 66 defendant in the National Crime Information Center 
 67 database for each felony warrant that a court issues 
 68 for failure to appear; specifying circumstances under 
 69 which the clerk must discharge a forfeiture and issue 
 70 a certain notice to the surety without further order 
 71 of the court; amending s. 903.27, F.S.; requiring the 
 72 clerk of the circuit court to enter a certain judgment 
 73 if the forfeiture is not paid or discharg