The following is Not Legal Advice.
Do Not Rely on This Information. It may not be current or accurate. For legal advice, consult an attorney.
Statutes checked against the official text current through the 2026 session; decisions through September 2026. Rule text reflects the Florida Supreme Court’s amendments effective July 1, 2025. Bond and pretrial detention law in Florida has changed substantially and repeatedly since 2023 — confirm the current rule and statute before relying on anything here.
Whether a person charged with a crime in Florida can be released before trial is governed by a single sentence-and-a-half of the state constitution, and by two separate bodies of law that grew up around its two halves. They are routinely confused with each other, and importing the standard from one into the other is reversible error.
Article I, section 14
Pretrial release and detention. — Unless charged with a capital offense or an offense punishable by life imprisonment and the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption is great, every person charged with a crime or violation of municipal or county ordinance shall be entitled to pretrial release on reasonable conditions. If no conditions of release can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm to persons, assure the presence of the accused at trial, or assure the integrity of the judicial process, the accused may be detained.
| First sentence | Second sentence | |
|---|---|---|
| The hearing | Arthur hearing | Pretrial detention hearing |
| Applies to | Capital or life-punishable offenses only | Any offense eligible under § 907.041 |
| State must show | Proof of guilt evident or presumption great — described as higher than beyond a reasonable doubt | Substantial probability of commission, plus that no conditions will protect the community, assure presence, or assure the integrity of the process |
| If the State succeeds | Bail is no longer a right, but the court keeps discretion to grant it | In the mandatory category, the court must detain |
| Who starts it | The defendant, by motion | The State — or, in the mandatory category, the court on its own motion |
The constitutional text above is the 1982 version. State v. Arthur was decided in 1980 under the earlier wording, which is why the case predates the detention clause it is so often discussed alongside.
The detail, by topic
Arthur Hearings — Bond in Capital and Life Felony Cases
When the charge is a capital offense or punishable by life, release on bail stops being a right — but not a possibility. The State bears the burden of showing the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption great, a standard Florida courts describe as higher than proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The hearing has two phases, and the second one — the defendant’s showing on amenability to release — is a right, not a courtesy. A trial court that cut it short was reversed on habeas in August 2026.
Pretrial Detention — § 907.041
The other route to no bond, resting on the second sentence of article I, section 14. It turns on a defined list of 27 “dangerous crimes,” and since the recent amendments a detention motion is mandatory — by the State or by the court on its own motion — whenever the charge is a dangerous crime that is a capital, life, or first-degree felony and probable cause is found. The threshold is “substantial probability,” considerably lower than the Arthur standard.
Bond Amount, Conditions, and Nebbia Holds
Only a judge may set or alter bail, and cash and surety must carry the same number. Covers the statewide uniform bond schedule in force since January 2024, the seven categories of defendant who cannot be released before first appearance at all, the statutory bail criteria, the fixed price of a failure to appear, and Nebbia source-of-funds holds — a federal case Florida courts borrowed the name from, where the burden sits on whoever is putting up the money. The districts disagree over whether a hold is lawful at all, and once legitimacy is shown the hold must come off.
Mandatory Release When Charges Are Not Filed — Rule 3.134
The State cannot arrest someone and leave the case open indefinitely. For a defendant in custody: charges within 30 days, automatic recognizance release on day 33, day 40 on good cause, and no one stays in custody past 40 days uncharged. New since July 2025, for a defendant out of custody: a 60-day deadline and, on motion with notice, an order releasing the defendant from all bail requirements and all conditions of release.
Speedy Trial — the 2025 Overhaul — Rule 3.191
The Florida Supreme Court rewrote the rule effective July 1, 2025. The clock now runs from formal charging rather than arrest; the recapture period went from 10 days to 30 and is mandatory in all situations; and a discharge is now without prejudice unless the constitutional speedy trial right was violated. Justice Labarga dissented.
Issues to preserve
Bond and detention orders are reviewed by petition for writ of habeas corpus in the district court of appeal, not by ordinary appeal — which is how every case discussed on these pages reached review. Preservation and the choice of vehicle decide whether a meritorious claim is heard at all.