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Committee advances bill to expand compensation for wrongfully convicted Floridians
Summary
SB 130 would update Florida’s compensation statute for exonerees by removing the state’s unique 'clean hands' bar, extending filing time from 90 days to two years, and allowing civil remedies with offset; the committee reported the bill favorably.
Senator Bradley presented SB 130, a bill that revises Florida’s compensation statute for people wrongfully convicted. The sponsor said Florida’s 2008 statute has been too narrow, leaving many exonerees without compensation: since 1989 Florida has recorded 90 known exonerations but only five compensation awards under the statute’s current restrictions.
SB 130 would remove the statute’s so-called clean-hands bar (a restriction the sponsor said exists only in Florida), extend the filing deadline for compensation from 90 days to two years, and remove a civil bar by allowing exonerees to pursue civil remedies with an offset program. National and local innocence‑advocacy groups filed support forms; the committee reported the bill favorably by roll call.
Sponsor remarks framed the measure as correcting outdated restrictions and providing a fairer compensation process for people who were found factually innocent by the original sentencing court.
