If the felony is on Florida’s list of “dangerous crimes,” yes. Since July 1, 2026, Missy’s Law requires the judge to take you into custody the moment you plead guilty or no contest to a dangerous crime, or are found guilty of one, and to hold you without bond until sentencing. A withhold of adjudication, a planned appeal or an agreed probation sentence does not change that. If the charge is not on the list, the old rules still apply and the judge decides.
What Missy’s Law requires
House Bill 445, signed March 31, 2026 as Chapter 2026-19, removes the judge’s discretion in one specific moment: the gap between a plea or verdict and the sentencing hearing. For crimes defined as dangerous in section 907.041 of the Florida Statutes, the court must remand the defendant immediately and must deny bond for the wait.
The only exits are legal ones. If the plea is withdrawn, the verdict is reversed, a judgment of acquittal is entered, or the conviction is otherwise nullified, the hold ends. A good reason to stay out, such as a job, a sick parent or a child in the home, is no longer something the judge is allowed to weigh.
The law is named for Missy Mogle, a five-year-old from Tallahassee killed in 2025 while her stepfather was free on bond awaiting sentencing in a separate case. It passed the House 93 to 20 and the Senate 37 to 0. According to FOX 13, time spent in custody under the hold counts toward the eventual sentence.
What counts as a dangerous crime under Missy’s Law?
The list in section 907.041 already had 27 categories before this bill. It includes arson, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, child abuse, kidnapping, homicide, manslaughter, sexual battery, robbery, carjacking, burglary of a dwelling, stalking, acts of domestic violence, home-invasion robbery, drug trafficking, extortion and written threats to kill. An attempt or a conspiracy to commit any of them counts too.
Missy’s Law adds computer pornography and child exploitation offenses to that list.
Two entries deserve a closer look because they reach people who do not think of themselves as violent offenders. Burglary of a dwelling covers a lot of break-in and ex-partner cases. Drug trafficking in Florida is defined by weight, so a possession case that crosses a trafficking threshold lands on the dangerous-crime list even with no sale alleged.
“Acts of domestic violence” is the broadest entry. Whether a plea to misdemeanor domestic battery in county court triggers the mandatory hold is a question Miami-Dade judges and lawyers are still working through, and it is not settled enough to state a rule here.
Does a withhold of adjudication avoid the hold?
No. The statute applies whether or not adjudication is withheld. That is the change most likely to surprise someone who negotiated a plea expecting probation. Before July 1, a defendant could plead to aggravated battery with an agreed sentence of probation and a withhold, walk out of the courtroom, and come back in a few weeks for sentencing. Under Missy’s Law that person is taken into custody at the plea and held until the sentencing hearing, even though the agreed sentence involves no jail.
An appeal does not help either. The hold applies while an appeal is pending until a court actually reverses or vacates the conviction.
What this means if you are charged in Miami-Dade
In the Eleventh Circuit it was routine for a plea and the sentencing to be set weeks apart. Defendants used that time to arrange child care, finish a job, pay a fine in advance or complete a program that would help at sentencing. For any charge on the dangerous-crime list, that practice ended on July 1.
The practical response in Miami-Dade courtrooms has been to move sentencing to the same day as the plea whenever the sentence is agreed. If the plea is to probation, the defendant is remanded, sentenced in the same hearing and released on probation hours later rather than weeks later. If the sentence involves jail or prison, the clock starts that day.
The other response is in the negotiation itself. The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers warned when the bill passed that it would complicate plea bargaining, and that warning has played out. Whether a charge can be reduced to one that is not on the dangerous-crime list, for example from burglary of a dwelling to a lesser burglary or trespass, now matters as much as the sentence being offered. A plea offer that looks generous on paper can still mean immediate custody if the charge itself stays on the list.
Before you plead to anything in Miami-Dade, you should know three things: whether the charge is on the section 907.041 list, whether sentencing will happen the same day, and what happens to your bond money and your job if you are remanded. Ask those questions before the plea colloquy, not after. The judge has no power to make an exception once the plea is entered.
At a glance
- Effective July 1, 2026 (HB 445, Chapter 2026-19)
- Applies to a guilty or no contest plea, or a guilty verdict, for any crime on Florida’s dangerous-crime list in section 907.041
- Immediate custody, no bond until sentencing; a withhold of adjudication or a pending appeal does not prevent it
- Time in custody counts toward the sentence
- The list includes aggravated battery, burglary of a dwelling, drug trafficking, acts of domestic violence and, since this law, child exploitation offenses
- Next step: before pleading, confirm whether the charge is on the list and whether sentencing is set for the same day
This article is general information about Florida law and Miami-Dade procedure as of its publication date. It is not legal advice. Laws change, and the facts of a case matter.
