A bill in the Florida Legislature that would have made it easier for prosecutors to charge stalkers with a felony was delayed until the next legislative session.
House Bill 1101 would have made stalking a third-degree felony if the offender has a prior record of stalking, or if the act involves entering a victim’s property without consent, tampering with surveillance devices, engaging in sexually explicit conduct or mailing sexually explicit materials. Current law treats most stalking behaviors, including those that are sexually motivated, as a misdemeanor until a credible threat or assault occurs.
As a detective in the St. Petersburg Police Department’s personal violence unit, Dagni Closser says she regularly sees cases charged as misdemeanors that should be felonies. That’s because it can be difficult to prove when stalking qualifies as a credible threat.
Late last year, Closser met with Jon Vazquez, president of the Sun Coast Police Benevolent Association and a K9 handler at the St. Petersburg Police Department, to see if they could propose a change to the existing law.
The pair pushed legislators to sponsor HB 1101, which was supposed to be heard by the criminal justice subcommittee in February.
It never was.
Closser and Vazquez said Tallahassee lawyers who review legislation had questions that they didn’t raise until after the deadline.
Now, the bill won’t be read until the next legislative session in March 2027.
The house bill is sponsored by Rep. Kimberly Berfield, R-Clearwater. A companion version in the Senate, SB 1454, is sponsored by Sen. Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach.
“The safety of Floridians is one of the most important responsibilities of the office I hold,” Berfield said in a statement. “That’s why making this potential law as ironclad as possible has been a top priority — so that those who commit these crimes are held fully accountable under the law.”
DiCegile’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Though Closser and Vazquez say the bill is not a silver bullet, it aims to deter offenders from repeated harassment by mandating harsher punishment.
The felony charge would carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
“It was all about asking how we can get to that felony status quicker,” Closser said. “How many times can you be told to stop stalking women until something clicks in your head?”
In many cases, stalking precedes sexual assault or murder, Vazquez said.
“It’s just like somebody who tests the lowest level of security at a place — you know they’re gearing up to do the real thing,” he said. “This would add more teeth to the statute to make sure that we stop suspects at the very beginning of their bad behavior and don’t let it spiral.”
Closser keeps in touch with several stalking victims she’s helped over the years. One of those women spent two years trying to convince prosecutors that her stalker should be punished.
She kept a detailed account of threatening voicemails, rambling emails and friend requests from fake social media accounts.
After she blocked the man on a different platform, he told her that he was going to drive to her house. He parked outside her home for a few hours after midnight.
The next month, he sent her an email.
“I had a lot of emotions pent up, so yeah, I snapped,” he wrote. “What did you think was going to happen?”
Two years after the stalking began, prosecutors charged him with a misdemeanor. He pleaded no contest, received six months’ probation and was ordered not to contact the woman.
The woman, whom the Tampa Bay Times is not naming, was hopeful the bill would pass this year.
“I think we need as much as is reasonable to be put into the felony category. Misdemeanors are often dismissed and not taken as seriously as a felony,” the woman told the Times. “Clearly, it’s a systemic issue. Clearly this person is not able to let go.”
For now, she has to rely on a civil injunction that extends the no-contact order until September 2027.
“The thing that scares me the most is that if he’s sitting there waiting for it to expire, he can just start all over again.”
