If you drove away from a police vehicle on October 1, 2025 or after, the law that applies to your case is different from what it was the day before. HB 113 amended Florida Statute Section 316.1935. It eliminated a defense that used to exist, and it pushed the sentencing severity of these offenses higher. Both changes have direct consequences for what your scoresheet looks like and what sentence range the court is working with.
What Section 316.1935 Says
Florida Statute Section 316.1935 covers fleeing or eluding a law enforcement officer. The statute has three main charging levels depending on what happened during the stop.
Section 316.1935(1) covers willfully refusing to stop when directed by a law enforcement officer. That is a first-degree misdemeanor. Section 316.1935(2) applies when the driver flees with high speed or wanton disregard for the safety of others. That is a third-degree felony. Section 316.1935(3) applies when the fleeing results in serious bodily injury or death. That is a second-degree felony.
These three levels existed before HB 113. What changed is how they are weighted in the Criminal Punishment Code and who qualifies as a law enforcement officer for purposes of the charge.
The Insignia Requirement Is Gone
Before HB 113, Section 316.1935 included a requirement that the law enforcement vehicle display visible agency insignia. In practice, that meant if the vehicle chasing you had no visible markings, a defense argument existed that the statute did not apply. That argument is gone now.
HB 113 removed the insignia requirement. An unmarked vehicle driven by a law enforcement officer can now support a fleeing or eluding charge under Section 316.1935 if the officer was in uniform or otherwise identified themselves. If you did not realize the car behind you was a police vehicle, that goes to the facts of your case. But the law no longer gives you an automatic out just because the car had no visible markings.
This matters because many people genuinely did not connect an unmarked car to law enforcement, especially at night or on highways where multiple vehicles may be following closely. That belief is now a factual argument, not a statutory one. The difference is significant when building a defense.
The Sentencing Severity Increased
The Criminal Punishment Code assigns a severity level to every felony offense. That level determines how many points the offense adds to your scoresheet. The total points on your scoresheet determine whether the sentencing guidelines recommend state prison and, if so, how much.
HB 113 raised the severity rankings for offenses under Section 316.1935. A case that previously scored below the minimum prison threshold on the scoresheet may now cross it. That is not a minor adjustment. Crossing the minimum prison threshold changes the conversation about what resolution is possible and what the judge is working with.
If you are charged under Section 316.1935(2) or 316.1935(3), you need to know exactly what your scoresheet says under the amended severity rankings, not what it would have said before October 1, 2025.
What This Looks Like From Your Side
Most people charged with fleeing or eluding were not thinking about any of this when the stop happened. Some saw flashing lights and panicked. Some did not immediately register that the vehicle was law enforcement. Some accelerated briefly before pulling over and are now being told that counts. Those facts still matter. They go to intent, to what you knew, and to how the events actually unfolded.
What is different now is that the statutory landscape is less forgiving. The insignia argument is off the table. The sentencing severity is higher. A charge under Section 316.1935(2) carries up to five years in prison as a third-degree felony. A charge under Section 316.1935(3) carries up to fifteen years as a second-degree felony. With the increased severity rankings under HB 113, the scoresheet is more likely to recommend prison time than it was before the amendment.
Timing of the Arrest Matters
HB 113 applies to offenses committed on or after October 1, 2025. If your arrest happened before that date, the prior version of Section 316.1935 applies to your case. If it happened on or after October 1, 2025, the amended version applies, including the removal of the insignia requirement and the increased severity rankings.
That date is worth confirming in your case documents. It affects what defenses are available, what the scoresheet looks like, and what sentencing range the judge is working within. These are not abstract questions. They shape every decision from whether to accept a plea to whether to go to trial.
Charged with fleeing or eluding in Florida?
These charges carry prison exposure, especially after HB 113 raised the severity rankings. The sooner you understand what the scoresheet says, the better.