Felony Probation Rules in Florida: Conditions, Violations, and Early Termination

The rules of felony probation in Florida fall into two buckets: a set of standard conditions that attach automatically to every sentence under Florida Statutes section 948.03, and special conditions a judge adds based on your offense. You have to report to a probation officer, hold or seek work, stay in a defined geographic area, avoid new law violations, submit to drug and alcohol testing, pay restitution and supervision fees, and give up any right to possess firearms. Break any condition, even a minor one, and your officer can either route you through an alternative sanction or file a formal violation that puts your original prison sentence back on the table.

The Standard Conditions That Apply to Everyone

Section 948.03 sets the baseline. A judge does not have to read these aloud at sentencing for them to apply.¹ You must:

Report to your probation officer as directed. Remote reporting is now allowed if your officer and the Department of Corrections approve it, unless the judge’s order rules it out.
Hold suitable employment or make a genuine effort to find work.
Stay within the geographic area the court specifies.
Not violate any law. A formal conviction is not required; an arrest or credible evidence of illegal conduct can be enough.
Pay restitution to the victim if ordered. Restitution is mandatory unless the judge puts compelling reasons on the record for not ordering it.
Not associate with people engaged in criminal activity.
Submit to random drug and alcohol testing by your officer or treatment program staff.
Support your legal dependents to the best of your ability.
Allow home visits by your probation officer.
Pay court costs, fees, and any debt owed for medical care received in county jail.¹

Any change in your employment, residence, or contact information must be reported immediately. Even moving to a different unit in the same apartment complex requires prior approval. Officers can also impose additional restrictions like curfews if they decide closer supervision is warranted, and they can show up at your home, workplace, or elsewhere with or without notice.

Supervision Fees You Have to Pay

Every felony probationer pays a monthly supervision fee to the Department of Corrections. Under section 948.09, the court sets the dollar amount, which cannot exceed the actual daily cost of supervision multiplied by the days in the month. Felony probationers also pay an additional $2 monthly surcharge.² Most circuits land at around $50 per month or less, but the exact figure depends on your circuit and case.

Falling behind on fees is itself a probation violation. If money gets tight, raise it with your officer before you stop paying.

Special Conditions a Judge Can Add

Beyond the standard list, judges tailor conditions to the offense. The package usually targets whatever contributed to the crime, drawing on recommendations from prosecutors, defense counsel, and probation officers.

Sex Offense Probation

Sex offense probation carries the heaviest restrictions. Section 948.30 requires a mandatory curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., with a possible alternative eight-hour window if your work schedule conflicts.³ When the victim was under 18, you cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school, child care facility, park, playground, or any other place where children regularly gather. That distance runs in a straight line from your residence to the nearest boundary of the restricted location.

Electronic monitoring is mandatory for certain offenses involving victims aged 15 or younger when the offender is 18 or older, for anyone designated as a sexual predator, and for repeat offenders with prior qualifying convictions. Courts can also order it in other cases when the probation officer and Department of Corrections recommend it.

Internet access is prohibited until a qualified practitioner in your sex offender treatment program completes a risk assessment and approves a safety plan. You must also take at least one polygraph per year at your own expense. The results go to your officer and treatment provider but cannot be used in court to prove a violation.³

Domestic Violence Probation

A domestic violence conviction carries a minimum of one year of probation regardless of the severity of the charge, and the court must order you to attend and complete a batterer’s intervention program.⁴ The program runs at least 29 weeks with a minimum of 24 weekly group sessions plus intake and assessment.⁵ A judge can waive the requirement only if the record shows you do not qualify, with reasoning stated on the record. No-contact orders with the victim are common, and violating one compounds your legal problems quickly.

Substance Abuse and Other Add-Ons

If your offense involved drugs or alcohol, expect frequent testing, mandatory treatment, and possibly residential rehabilitation. Financial crimes may bring court-ordered financial management courses. The exact package is calibrated to your offense and history.

The Firearm Ban

This is the condition that trips up more felony probationers than almost any other. Under section 790.23, anyone convicted of a felony cannot own or possess any firearm, ammunition, or electric weapon. The prohibition is not tied to your probation period; it lasts until your civil rights and firearm authority are formally restored.⁶

Violating the ban is a second-degree felony on its own, punishable by up to 15 years in prison on top of whatever consequences flow from the probation violation. With a prior qualifying gang-related enhancement, the offense becomes a first-degree felony punishable by up to life.⁶ Possession includes having a gun in your car, your home, or anywhere within your control. If you live with someone who owns firearms, those weapons need to be stored somewhere you cannot access.

Travel Rules

You must stay within the geographic area the court designates, usually the judicial circuit where you were sentenced. Leaving without permission from your probation officer or the court counts as a violation, even for a family emergency.¹

In-state travel requires a formal request covering your destination, reason, and length of trip. Approval depends on your compliance history and whether all conditions are current. Out-of-state travel is a bigger process because Florida belongs to the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. To relocate to another state, your officer submits a transfer request through the compact’s tracking system, and the receiving state must investigate and accept you before you can move. No court or parole authority can authorize a relocation before the other state signs off.⁷ Leaving without completing the process, or failing to return on time, can lead to revocation.

Community Control Is Not the Same Thing

Florida has a stricter supervision level called community control that sometimes gets lumped together with probation, and the difference matters. Community control is court-ordered house arrest. The statute defines it as “intensive, supervised custody in the community, including surveillance on weekends and holidays” managed by officers with reduced caseloads.⁸ Your freedom is restricted to your home or an approved residence, and you can only leave during specific hours for approved purposes like work or school.

Standard probation allows much more freedom of movement within your jurisdiction and requires specified contacts with your officer rather than around-the-clock surveillance. Judges sometimes impose community control first, followed by a longer term of standard probation. If that is your situation, time on community control does not count toward the half-of-term threshold for early termination.

What Counts as a Violation and What Happens Next

Florida law splits violations into two categories. A technical violation is any breach of your conditions that does not involve a new crime: missing an appointment, failing a drug test, leaving the county without permission, skipping a treatment session, falling behind on restitution. A substantive violation means you have been arrested for or charged with a new felony, misdemeanor, or criminal traffic offense.⁹

The split matters because every judicial circuit must operate an alternative sanctioning program for technical violations. Before filing a formal violation with the court, your probation officer has to determine whether you are eligible for that program. If you are, the officer can offer an alternative sanction instead of taking you to court.

Alternative Sanctions

For a first or second low-risk technical violation, available sanctions include up to 5 days in county jail, up to 50 hours of community service, counseling or treatment, mandatory support group attendance, additional drug testing, loss of travel or other privileges, curfew for up to 30 days, or house arrest for up to 30 days.

A third low-risk violation in the same supervision term escalates to a moderate-risk violation with stiffer alternatives: up to 21 days in jail, curfew or house arrest for up to 90 days, electronic monitoring for up to 90 days, or residential treatment for up to 90 days. Every alternative sanction has to be submitted to the court for approval before it takes effect.⁹

Formal Violation Hearings

When alternative sanctioning does not apply or the violation is substantive, the officer files an affidavit of violation. A judge may then issue an arrest warrant or, for less serious situations involving a probationer with no qualifying prior convictions, a notice to appear.

Bond is not guaranteed and is flatly prohibited for some categories: violent felony offenders of special concern, felony probationers arrested for a qualifying offense, and designated sexual predators have to stay in custody pending the violation hearing. For everyone else the judge has discretion but may weigh whether you are more likely than not to receive a prison sentence for the violation when setting the amount.

The evidentiary standard at a violation hearing is preponderance of the evidence, meaning the state only has to show it is more likely than not that you violated. That is a far easier bar than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why violations are so often sustained even when the facts are contested.

If the Court Finds a Violation

The judge has three main options: reinstate probation under existing terms, modify probation with stricter conditions, or revoke probation entirely. Revocation can mean serving the rest of your original sentence in state prison. New-crime violations tend to produce the harshest outcomes because you face penalties for the new offense on top of the reinstated original sentence.

Filing an affidavit of violation also tolls your probation period. The clock stops the moment the affidavit is filed and does not restart until the court rules, so time waiting for a hearing does not count toward completing your term.⁹

Ending Probation Early

Section 948.04 creates a path to end probation early. For sentences imposed on or after October 1, 2019, the court is required to grant early termination or convert supervision to administrative probation if you meet all five criteria:

You have completed at least half of your probation term.
You have successfully completed all conditions.
The court has never found you in violation during your current term.
Your plea agreement did not specifically exclude early termination.
You do not qualify as a violent felony offender of special concern.

The statute uses “shall,” making this mandatory rather than discretionary. The court can still decline if it makes written findings that continued supervision is needed to protect the community or serve the interests of justice.¹⁰ Remember that community control time does not count toward the half-of-term threshold; you have to complete half of the probationary period itself.

Separately, section 948.04(3) lets the Department of Corrections recommend early termination at any time if you have performed satisfactorily, have no violations, and have paid all financial obligations. Section 948.05 keeps a general judicial authority to discharge a probationer whenever doing so is in the best interests of justice.¹¹

Early termination ends supervision but does not erase the underlying felony conviction. Clearing the record requires a separate expungement or sealing proceeding, and eligibility for either is limited.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 948.03 – Terms and Conditions of Probation
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 948.09 – Payment for Cost of Supervision
3
FindLaw. Florida Statutes 948.30 – Additional Terms and Conditions of Probation or Community Control for Certain Sex Offenses
4
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 741.281 – Court to Order Batterers Intervention Program Attendance
5
Florida Senate. Florida Senate Bill 680 – Batterers Intervention Programs
6
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 790.23 – Felons and Delinquents; Possession of Firearms, Ammunition, or Electric Weapons or Devices Unlawful
7
Florida Department of Corrections. Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision
8
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 948.001 – Definitions
9
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 948.06 – Violation of Probation or Community Control; Revocation; Modification; Continuance
10
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 948.04 – Administrative Probation; Earned Compliance
11
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 948.05 – Court to Admonish or Commend Probationer or Offender in Community Control; Graduated Incentives