Florida’s career offender registration law changes on October 1, 2026. CS/SB 1332, now chapter 2026-151, Laws of Florida, ends with a single sentence: “This act shall take effect October 1, 2026.” Under section 775.261(2)(a), a “career offender” is a person designated a habitual violent felony offender, a violent career criminal, or a three-time violent felony offender under section 775.084, or a prison releasee reoffender under section 775.082(9). The new law writes those people into section 322.141, which requires the marking “775.261, F.S.” on the front of the driver license or identification card, and requires the career offender to report to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles during the month of his or her birth to obtain the updated or renewed card.
The county piece runs through the sheriff. Section 775.261(8) requires a career offender to report in person each year, during his or her birth month, to the sheriff’s office in the county where he or she maintains a permanent, temporary, or transient residence — in Polk County, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. That is two birth-month obligations, in two different offices, and they are not interchangeable. Under section 775.261(13), a career offender who fails to register, who fails after registration to maintain, acquire, or renew a driver license or identification card, or who otherwise fails to comply with the section commits a felony of the third degree.