Fla. Stat. § 316.1935
criminal — excepted from ch. 318verifiedFleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer; aggravated fleeing or eluding
How Florida classifies this section
Fleeing or attempting to elude
“Fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, in violation of s. 316.1935;”
— § 318.17, Fla. Stat., verbatim
Section 318.17 removes this charge from the civil-infraction framework — the pay/school/hearing election in § 318.14 is not available for it, and it proceeds as a criminal traffic case. The statute's own text, shown below when it is in the corpus, states the offense level. A criminal traffic charge is a lane where speaking with a licensed attorney is how most people proceed.
The statute, verbatim
316.1935 Fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer; aggravated fleeing or eluding. — (1) It is unlawful for the operator of any vehicle, having knowledge that he or she has been ordered to stop such vehicle by a duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully to refuse or fail to stop the vehicle in compliance with such order or, having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully to flee in an attempt to elude the officer, and a person who violates this subsection commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. (2) Any person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle, with agency jurisdictional markings prominently displayed on the vehicle, with siren and lights activated commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. (3) Any person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle, with agency jurisdictional markings prominently displayed on the vehicle, with siren and lights activated, and during the course of the fleeing or attempted eluding: (a) Drives at high speed, or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. (b) Drives at high speed, or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, and causes serious bodily injury or death to another person, including any law enforcement officer involved in pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the person’s vehicle, commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall sentence any person convicted of committing the offense described in this paragraph to a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years imprisonment. This paragraph does not prevent a court from imposing a greater sentence of incarceration as authorized by law. (4) Any person who, in the course of unlawfully leaving or attempting to leave the scene of a crash in violation of s. 316.027 or s. 316.061, having knowledge of an order to stop by a duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully refuses or fails to stop in compliance with such an order, or having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully flees in an attempt to elude such officer and, as a result of such fleeing or eluding: (a) Causes injury to another person or causes damage to any property belonging to another person, commits aggravated fleeing or eluding, a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. (b) Causes serious bodily injury or death to another person, including any law enforcement officer involved in pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the person’s vehicle, commits aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death, a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. The felony of aggravated fleeing or eluding and the felony of aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death constitute separate offenses for which a person may be charged, in addition to the offenses under ss. 316.027 and 316.061, relating to unlawfully leaving the scene of a crash, which the person had been in the course of committing or attempting to commit when the order to stop was given. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall sentence any person convicted of committing aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death to a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years imprisonment. This subsection does not prevent a court from imposing a greater sentence of incarceration as authorized by law. (5) The court shall revoke, for a period not less than 1 year nor exceeding 5 years, the driver license of any operator of a motor vehicle convicted of a violation of subsection (1), subsection (2), subsection (3), or subsection (4). (6) Notwithstanding s. 948.01, no court may suspend, defer, or withhold adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence for any violation of this section. A person convicted and sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of incarceration under paragraph (3)(b) or paragraph (4)(b) is not eligible for statutory gain-time under s. 944.275 or any form of discretionary early release, other than pardon or executive clemency or conditional medical release under s. 947.149, prior to serving the mandatory minimum sentence. (7) Any motor vehicle involved in a violation of this section is deemed to be contraband, which may be seized by a law enforcement agency and is subject to forfeiture pursuant to ss. 932.701-932.704. Any vehicle not required to be titled under the laws of this state is presumed to be the property of the person in possession of the vehicle. History. — s. 1, ch. 71-135; s. 1, ch. 76-31; s. 4, ch. 85-309; s. 52, ch. 89-282; s. 1, ch. 94-276; s. 896, ch. 95-148; s. 1, ch. 98-274; s. 140, ch. 99-248; s. 1, ch. 2004-388; s. 1, ch. 2025-75. Note. — Former s. 316.019.
sha256 3ed7370b20275b19be5934bff0c3d4b6… · 2025 Fla. Stat., dual fetch-path pipeline · permanent corpus page →
Which text, as of when
2025 Florida Statuteslast amended 2025Decoded against the 2025 Florida Statutes as ingested — dual fetch-path verified, hash-pinned. Session laws amend sections on their own effective dates; the 2026 Laws of Florida are indexed as the corpus's overlay.
History. — s. 1, ch. 71-135; s. 1, ch. 76-31; s. 4, ch. 85-309; s. 52, ch. 89-282; s. 1, ch. 94-276; s. 896, ch. 95-148; s. 1, ch. 98-274; s. 140, ch. 99-248; s. 1, ch. 2004-388; s. 1, ch. 2025-75. Note. — Former s. 316.019.
License points — the scale, shown
Point values attach on conviction, under § 322.27(3)(d)'s graduated scale. Which row a case lands on can turn on facts the citation and the disposition determine — the rows that could reach this section are shown with their own words and conditions. The scale is shown, not applied.
“All other moving violations (including parking on a highway outside the limits of a municipality)—3 points.”
“Any moving violation covered in this paragraph, excluding unlawful speed and unlawful use of a wireless communications device, resulting in a crash—4 points.”
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Open the War Room — free accountQuestions drivers ask
Is a section 316.1935 charge criminal in Florida?
Yes — § 318.17 excepts it from the civil-infraction system: "Fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, in violation of s. 316.1935;" (§ 318.17, Fla. Stat.). It proceeds as a criminal traffic case, and the § 318.14 pay/school/hearing menu does not attach. Criminal traffic is the lane where speaking with a licensed attorney is how most people proceed; the connection through the platform is free to request.
Does the 30-day election window apply to section 316.1935?
No — the § 318.14(4)(a) window belongs to the civil-infraction framework, and § 318.17 removes this charge from it. Criminal traffic charges run on their own procedures and their own clocks; the citation and the court's notices control, and a licensed attorney is the right reader for them.
How many license points can section 316.1935 carry?
Points attach on conviction under § 322.27(3)(d)'s graduated scale. The rows that could reach this section carry 3, 4 points, with conditions the statute itself states (crash involvement, speed over the limit, school-zone factors). The scale is shown, not applied — which row fits a case depends on facts the citation and the disposition determine.
Can this page tell me what to do about my ticket?
No — and that line is the product. It shows the statute verbatim, the classification, the point rows, and the options with their stated consequences. What to do about a specific ticket is a decision for you, or for a licensed attorney; the free War Room decodes your citation, and the attorney connection is free to request with the firm billing directly.
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