FL Sheriff: Legislation Related to Juveniles has Led to “Drastic Reductions’ in Crime

By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix

TAMPA — Legislation signed into Florida law in 2022 that changed how long juveniles can be held in pre-trial detention before adjudicatory hearings has led to a “drastic reduction” in crimes such as auto robberies, a top law enforcement official said Wednesday.

“There were kids 13, 14, 15-years-old prolifically across Florida who were out stealing cars, breaking into cars, breaking into cars taking guns, and it’s a big problem,” said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, speaking during the Florida Association of Counties legislative conference in Tampa. 

Previously, Gualtieri said, there were “no consequences” for misbehaving juveniles regarding such crimes, because the longest that a judge could hold them in custody was 21 days. “That’s it. The court lost jurisdiction. They could not hold a kid from the time the kid was arrested and trial was two years down the road,” he said. “Those kids didn’t care. … They got out and they just committed more robberies or more burglaries.”

That’s all changed following the passage of HB 7029 in 2022, he continued. That law allows courts to extend the detention period for juveniles in 21-day increments for serious offenses, although with the requirement that separate hearings be held to determine the need to continue those detentions.

“It was a sea change,” Gualtieri said, praising former Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Eric Hall for his work on the legislation. (Hall left the agency earlier this year to become president of Pasco-Hernando State College).

No push for a school safety package in 2026

Gualtieri, legislative committee chair for the Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA) and chair of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, said that this will likely be the first year since the Parkland school shooting in 2018 that there won’t be a push for a major school safety package when the Legislature begins its regular session in January.

“The schools in Florida today are much safer than they were in 2018,” he declared.

Gualtieri mentioned other proposals that the FSA will advocate for in the legislative session.

One would allow law enforcement officers to access a specific legal database to determine whether a citizen is disqualified from legally possessing or carrying a concealed firearm because of mental health or substance use problems as adjudicated by a court.

A second proposal would add the tranquilizer called Xylazine (also known as “tranq), a non-opioid sedative increasingly being found in the illegal drug supply and linked to overdose deaths, to the state’s trafficking statute.

A similar measure easily passed both chambers during the 2025 session but ultimately withdrawn from consideration. (In August, Attorney General James Uthemier reclassified Xylazine as a Schedule 1 controlled substance while providing an exemption for the drug for agricultural use.)

Another proposal would regard sex offenders. Florida law bans individuals convicted of certain sex offenses from residing within 1,000 feet of any school, child care facility, park, or playground. However, the law is silent on sex offenders visiting those locations. “We need to eliminate that,” Gualtieri said.

Property tax issue

The sheriff weighed in on the discussion about the potential constitutional amendment reducing or eliminating property taxes that could go before voters in November 2026.

Noting that the proposed resolutions in the Florida House include a carveout to protect law enforcement, Gualtieri said, “All that’s going to do is create a really bad sandwich with us in the middle. You [local governments] on one side, the state on the other. It’s not healthy, it’s not good.”

He expressed concerns about the flexibility of such a measure in law enforcement agencies’ budgets going forward.

“You’re going to have increased costs every year, and so what’s  going to happen with that? We’re all concerned about it.”