Category: Court Process · Statute: F.S. 27.18 · Source: Florida Legislature
Understanding State Attorney Filing Guidelines in Florida
In Florida, the decision to formally prosecute an individual does not rest with the arresting police officer, but with the State Attorney of the respective judicial circuit. Under Section 27.18 of the Florida Statutes, State Attorneys are authorized to appoint assistants to perform all official duties, which includes the critical task of reviewing arrests and drafting formal charging documents, known as "informations." To manage caseloads and ensure consistency, each of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits establishes its own State Attorney Filing Guidelines. These internal, administrative policies dictate whether prosecutors will pursue, reduce, or completely decline to file charges based on specific criteria, such as the monetary value involved in property crimes, the weight of controlled substances, or the defendant's prior criminal history.
These filing guidelines create significant procedural variations across county lines. For example, a minor possession or retail theft offense that triggers a mandatory prosecution policy in one circuit might be routed directly to a pre-trial diversion program or receive a "no-action" (no-file) decision in another. Because these guidelines are internal policy documents rather than statutory mandates, they grant prosecutors immense discretion. Defense attorneys routinely analyze these localized guidelines to negotiate with filing prosecutors during the critical window between the arrest and the formal filing of charges, aiming to secure a dismissal or a reduction to a lesser offense before the case ever reaches an arraignment hearing.
How Filing Guidelines Impact Bail and Pretrial Release
State Attorney Filing Guidelines directly influence pretrial detention and bail amounts by shaping the formal charges a defendant faces. If a circuit's guidelines mandate downgrading a felony arrest to a misdemeanor during the initial review, the defendant’s bond requirement is typically reduced under the local bond schedule. Conversely, if guidelines dictate mandatory filing for certain violent or high-value offenses, prosecutors are bound to seek higher bail or request pretrial detention, directly impacting how quickly and affordably a defendant can secure release through a bail bond agent.