Florida Department of Law Enforcement v. Garcia
FDLE appealed the denial of its motion to vacate an order directing it to remove Garcia from the sexual offender registry. The Fourth DCA held that registry-removal proceedings under section 943.0435 are civil regulatory proceedings (expressly disagreeing with the Second DCA's Korson), that FDLE could challenge and appeal the order as an adversely affected nonparty agency under section 943.0436(3), and that the version of the statute in effect when the petition was filed governs because the statute is procedural and no vested right had accrued.
Key facts
- FDLE appealed the trial court's order directing it to remove Garcia from the sexual offender registry after the trial court granted Garcia's petition for removal.
- Garcia was convicted of sexual battery and had not been released from sanction for 25 years when he filed his petition for registry removal.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
The opinion creates an express inter-district conflict with the Second DCA's Korson on whether registry-removal proceedings are civil or criminal for appellate jurisdiction purposes, making it a strong candidate for… — full analysis with a trial
Read the full opinion, holdings & search — free for 30 days
The full opinion PDF, the rules the court applied, our significance analysis, the background facts, and full-text search across every tracked Florida decision — in your hands.
- Search every tracked Florida decision in seconds
- Save, tag & file the cases that matter into your own library
- Read the full plain-English analysis and holdings
Not ready to sign up? Get the free Friday digest — the week's key Florida decisions by email, no login required.
Florida Court Tracker provides summaries of publicly available court opinions for informational and research purposes only. This is not legal advice and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Always verify holdings against the official opinion.