(1) If punishment by imprisonment for a misdemeanor or a felony, except for a capital felony, is prescribed, the court may, at the time of sentencing, impose a split sentence whereby the defendant is to be placed on probation or, with respect to any such felony, into community control upon completion of any specified period of such sentence which may include a term of years or less. In such case, the court shall stay and withhold the imposition of the remainder of sentence imposed upon the defendant and direct that the defendant be placed upon probation or into community control after serving such period as may be imposed by the court. Except as provided in s. 944.4731(2)(b) and subsection (6), the period of probation or community control shall commence immediately upon the release of the defendant from incarceration, whether by parole or gain-time allowances.

(2) The court may also impose a split sentence whereby the defendant is sentenced to a term of probation which may be followed by a period of incarceration or, with respect to a felony, into community control, as follows:

(a) If the offender meets the terms and conditions of probation or community control, any term of incarceration may be modified by court order to eliminate the term of incarceration.

(b) If the offender does not meet the terms and conditions of probation or community control, the court may revoke, modify, or continue the probation or community control as provided in s. 948.06. If the probation or community control is revoked, the court may impose any sentence that it could have imposed at the time the offender was placed on probation or community control. The court may not provide credit for time served for any portion of a probation or community control term toward a subsequent term of probation or community control. However, the court may not impose a subsequent term of probation or community control which, when combined with any amount of time served on preceding terms of probation or community control for offenses pending before the court for sentencing, would exceed the maximum penalty allowable as provided in s. 775.082. Such term of incarceration shall be served under applicable law or county ordinance governing service of sentences in state or county jurisdiction. This paragraph does not prohibit any other sanction provided by law.

(3) The court may also impose split probation whereby, upon satisfactory completion of half the term of probation, the Department of Corrections may place the offender on administrative probation for the remainder of the term of supervision.

(4) Effective for offenses committed on or after September 1, 2005, the court must impose a split sentence pursuant to subsection (1) for any person who is convicted of a life felony for lewd and lascivious molestation pursuant to s. 800.04(5)(b) if the court imposes a term of years in accordance with s. 775.082(3)(a)4.a.(II) rather than life imprisonment. The probation or community control portion of the split sentence imposed by the court for a defendant must extend for the duration of the defendant’s natural life and include a condition that he or she be electronically monitored.

(5)(a) Effective for offenses committed on or after October 1, 2014, if the court imposes a term of years in accordance with s. 775.082 which is less than the maximum sentence for the offense, the court must impose a split sentence pursuant to subsection (1) for any person who is convicted of a violation of:

1. Section 782.04(1)(a)2.c.;

2. Section 787.01(3)(a)2. or 3.;

3. Section 787.02(3)(a)2. or 3.;

4. Section 794.011, excluding s. 794.011(10);

5. Section 800.04;

6. Section 825.1025; or

7. Section 847.0135(5).

(b) The probation or community control portion of the split sentence imposed by the court must extend for at least 2 years. However, if the term of years imposed by the court extends to within 2 years of the maximum sentence for the offense, the probation or community control portion of the split sentence must extend for the remainder of the maximum sentence.

(6) If a defendant who has been sentenced to a split sentence pursuant to subsection (1) is transferred to the custody of the Department of Children and Families pursuant to part V of chapter 394, the period of probation or community control is tolled until such person is no longer in the custody of the Department of Children and Families. This subsection applies to all sentences of probation or community control which begin on or after October 1, 2014, regardless of the date of the underlying offense.

History.—s. 1, ch. 67-204; s. 12, ch. 74-112; s. 13, ch. 83-131; s. 14, ch. 85-288; s. 14, ch. 91-225; s. 1, ch. 91-280; s. 21, ch. 97-78; s. 121, ch. 99-3; ss. 4, 8, 9, ch. 2004-373; s. 14, ch. 2005-28; s. 115, ch. 2006-1; s. 6, ch. 2007-2; s. 2, ch. 2008-182; s. 14, ch. 2014-4; s. 22, ch. 2016-127; s. 3, ch. 2017-115; s. 135, ch. 2019-167.

Note.—Former s. 948.01(6), (11), (12).