Jesse Scheckner
A monumental bill repealing a unique restriction in Florida that today blocks some exonerees from receiving proper compensation for being wrongly imprisoned has finally passed after years of prior attempts.
The measure’s sponsor, Tampa Republican Rep. Traci Koster, called the legislation her “baby.” And seeing it clear both chambers of the Legislature, she said, “has given my legislative career purpose.”
House members voted 116-0 for SB 130, which makes three changes to Florida law. Most notably, it eliminates Florida’s “clean hands” rule, which bars exonerees with more than one nonviolent felony from being eligible for recompense without legislative action.
The bill also lengthens the window for exonerees to file for compensation to two years, up from today’s time frame of just 90 days, and gives them a choice between suing or going through the state compensation process. Today, exonerees must waive their rights to sue in order to be eligible for a state claims bill.
The vote Tuesday, which came about a month after Senators uniformly OK’d the measure, capped what some may have considered a Sisyphean effort on Koster’s part. She noted that the bill’s language this year was identical to that of the measure she originally filed in 2021.
“It’s the same bill, and that’s because it’s a great bill. It was always a great bill. Unfortunately, sometimes the stars don’t align. But this year they have,” she said.
“We have … one of the strongest criminal justice systems in the world, and we should be really proud of (it, but that) doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Even the best sometimes don’t get it right, and this bill … all it does is open the door slightly for those folks who have been wrongfully incarcerated to seek the compensation that they’re entitled to.”
Koster thanked former Sen. Arthenia Joyner for “starting the movement” in 2008 by passing Florida’s Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act to pay exonerees for their lost time.
Since then, Koster said, Florida has exonerated 19 people who lost a combined 306 years of their freedom. Six spent more than a decade waiting to be made whole.
Since 1989, 91 people in Florida prisons have had their convictions overturned, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Of them, just five received a settlement from the state.
Koster, who substituted SB 130 for her identical version of the bill (HB 59) said state staff estimated passing the legislation will cost Florida $15 million if all exonerees eligible for compensation receive it.
Deltona Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby and Democratic Reps. Kimberly Daniels of Jacksonville and Dianne Hart of Tampa commended Koster for her work on the legislation. Fleming Island Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley carried the bill in the upper chamber.
“Nothing can replace the life loss, the birthdays missed, the things that have happened while they were wrongfully incarcerated,” Daniels said. “I can tell you the joy that I’ve had in this Legislature is experiencing someone feeling like they have not been forgotten, so this bill is another step, and I am so delighted and honored to vote up on it.”
Barnaby, a past cosponsor of the bill, said, “We need more Traci Kosters in this world.”
