{"data":{"id":"us-fl/fla.-stat.-836.12","jurisdiction":"us-fl","citation":"Fla. Stat. § 836.12","heading":"Threats or harassment.","body":"(1) As used in this section, the term:\n(a) “Administrative assistant” means a court employee assigned to the office of a specific general or special magistrate or a child support enforcement hearing officer.\n(b) “Family member” means:\n1. An individual related to another individual by blood or marriage; or\n2. An individual who stands in loco parentis to another individual.\n(c) “Judicial assistant” means a court employee assigned to the office of a specific judge or justice responsible for providing administrative, secretarial, and clerical support to the assigned judge or justice.\n(d) “Law enforcement officer” means:\n1. A law enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10; or\n2. A federal law enforcement officer as defined in s. 901.1505.\n(2)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), any person who knowingly and willfully threatens a law enforcement officer, a state attorney, an assistant state attorney, a firefighter, a judge, a justice, a general magistrate, a special magistrate, a child support enforcement hearing officer, an administrative assistant, a judicial assistant, a clerk of the court, clerk personnel, or an elected official, or a family member of any such person, with death or serious bodily harm commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.\n(b) A person who commits a second or subsequent violation of paragraph (a) commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.\n(3) Any person who knowingly and willfully harasses a law enforcement officer, a state attorney, an assistant state attorney, a firefighter, a judge, a justice, a general magistrate, a special magistrate, a child support enforcement hearing officer, an administrative assistant, a judicial assistant, a clerk of the court, clerk personnel, or an elected official, with the intent to intimidate or coerce such a person to perform or refrain from performing a lawful duty, commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.\nHistory.—s. 3, ch. 2016-156; s. 1, ch. 2023-194; s. 1, ch. 2025-126.","path":["CHAPTER 836 DEFAMATION; LIBEL; THREATENING LETTERS AND SIMILAR OFFENSES"],"source_url":"https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute\u0026URL=0800-0899/0836/0836.html","current_through":"2026 Florida Statutes","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:15:11Z","sha256":"fc7061efa628352051383970ed113ba0b8ee82234836ffea28c46d3b482cace5","source_id":"us-fl","stale":false,"prev":"us-fl/fla.-stat.-836.115","next":"us-fl/fla.-stat.-836.13"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}