SESSION WATCH
Died SENATE · SESSION 2026

No. SB 614

Parole for Long-term Prisoners
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SPONSOR
Smith
FILED BY
Carlos Guillermo Smith — District 17, Democrat [search donations]
EFFECTIVE
7/1/2026
DIED IN
Criminal Justice

Filed under Criminal Justice.

PROVIDED SUMMARY

Parole for Long-term Prisoners; Providing that certain offenders serving long-term prison sentences are parole eligible under certain circumstances; providing conditions of parole for such persons; providing for disposition of savings produced by such a program of parole, etc.

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Plain English Summary

AI-GENERATED
Makes long-term prisoners eligible for parole after meeting strict conditions.

Prisoners serving over 10 years for non-death offenses, or 20 years for death offenses, become eligible for parole. This applies to all current and future inmates, overriding mandatory minimums and life sentences.

To qualify, inmates must be at least 50, have a clean disciplinary record for seven years, hold a high school diploma, and complete faith, victim impact, and anger management programs.

Released inmates face strict conditions, including a one-year transition home, a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, monthly reporting, and mandatory work or volunteer hours.

Savings from the program must fund law enforcement, prison programs, and commission staffing, subject to legislative appropriation.

KEY PROVISIONS
§ 1 Mandatory pre-release requirements majors. 947.161(2)

AIRequires offenders to meet ten specific conditions, including being at least 50 years old, having a high school diploma or GED, completing faith-based and victim impact programs, and having a written release plan, before the commission may consider parole.

“The offender may apply to the commission for parole consideration under this section only if he or she satisfies all of the following requirements” bill text, line 78 →
§ 2 Strict post-release conditions majors. 947.161(3)

AIImposes 11 mandatory conditions on released offenders, including a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, monthly reporting, a minimum of 20 hours of weekly work, and a ban on leaving the county of residence without permission.

“An offender released under this section must do all of the following: (a) Submit to community control conditions for a period of 1 year if the offense the offender committed did” bill text, line 100 →
§ 3 Mandatory allocation of savings moderates. 947.161(4)

AIRequires that 50% of the department's savings from this program fund law enforcement recidivism programs, 25% fund prison and community-based programs, and 25% fund dedicated commission personnel, subject to legislative appropriation.

“Subject to legislative appropriation, of the savings realized by the department as a result of this section: (a) Fifty percent must be designated to fund law enforcement programs” bill text, line 124 →
TIMELINE
3/13/2026
Died in Criminal Justice
1/13/2026
Introduced
12/9/2025
Referred to Criminal Justice; Appropriations Committee on Criminal...
11/20/2025
Filed
STATUTES IT CHANGES
s. 947.161
+590 / −0