For many families in Pensacola, Milton, and across Escambia and Santa Rosa County, a civil citation or a diversion offer is the most welcome news they get after their child gets in trouble. It can mean answering for a mistake without a case in juvenile court. But these programs come with real requirements and real deadlines, and it helps to understand them before you agree. Here is what Florida law says.
The short version: a civil citation (now officially a prearrest delinquency citation) or a diversion program lets many Florida kids answer for a minor offense outside of a juvenile court case. Expect real work, such as community service and classes. If the program is not completed, the original charge can come back. Talk to us before you agree to anything.
What is a civil citation in Florida?
It is an alternative to arrest for certain misdemeanors. Florida law requires every judicial circuit to have a prearrest program for juvenile misdemeanors, created by the State Attorney, the Public Defender, the clerks of court, and participating law enforcement agencies, and operated by the State Attorney. The law now calls these “prearrest delinquency citation programs.” Many people still say “civil citation,” and civil citation programs that existed before July 1, 2024, were approved by the State Attorney, and meet the statute’s program requirements carry over under the new name.
Each circuit decides which misdemeanors qualify and who is eligible. One rule is statewide: offenses involving the use or possession of a firearm do not qualify. When an officer issues the citation, the officer must send a copy of the notice to the child’s parent or guardian and to the victim.
How is that different from diversion after an arrest?
A civil citation happens instead of an arrest. Diversion can also be offered after an arrest. Florida law allows law enforcement agencies, working with the State Attorney, to run postarrest diversion programs, and it allows the State Attorney to refer a child to a diversionary, pretrial intervention, arbitration, or mediation program instead of filing a petition in juvenile court, as long as the child or the child’s parents or legal guardian voluntarily accept it.
One local example is Teen Court. In the First Judicial Circuit, Teen Court is a diversion program for first-time juvenile offenders with misdemeanors and certain traffic violations. A child must be referred by the Juvenile State Attorney’s Office, the Civil Citation Program, or the Civil Traffic Division, and a jury of trained teen volunteers sets the sanctions within set guidelines. The circuit lists Teen Court contacts at the Theodore Bruno Juvenile Justice Center in Pensacola and at the Santa Rosa County Courthouse in Milton.
What will my child have to do?
Every program sets its own terms, but Florida law says each circuit’s prearrest program must spell out its requirements, which include things like:
- Community service hours.
- Restitution, if someone suffered a loss.
- Classes set by the program or the Department of Juvenile Justice.
- Intervention services based on a needs assessment, such as family counseling, drug testing, or substance abuse and mental health treatment.
- A program fee, if the program charges one.
Postarrest diversion can add one more: a child may be required to surrender a driver license, or not apply for one, for up to 90 days.
What happens if my child does not finish the program?
This is the catch, so take it seriously. If a child does not successfully complete a prearrest citation program, the officer decides whether there is good cause to arrest the child for the original misdemeanor and send the case to the State Attorney, or whether to let the child keep going in the program. In a postarrest diversion program, if the child does not comply, the State Attorney may notify the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in writing to suspend the child’s driver license for up to 90 days.
Missed community service, a skipped class, or an unpaid restitution amount can undo a good outcome. Put every deadline on the family calendar the day you get them.
Will this stay on my child’s record?
Not necessarily, but clearing it is not automatic. Under section 943.0582, Florida Statutes, a minor who successfully completes a qualifying diversion program can apply to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to expunge the nonjudicial arrest record. To qualify, the application must:
- Be signed by a parent or guardian, or by the young person if they have reached the age of majority when they apply.
- Include a written statement from the State Attorney certifying that the program was completed.
- Involve a misdemeanor, or a felony that is not a forcible felony and does not involve a firearm or weapon.
- Come from someone who has never been charged with, or found to have committed, another criminal offense.
Even after diversion expunction, the record can still be seen by criminal justice agencies for limited purposes, such as deciding whether someone is eligible for diversion again.
Should we just say yes?
Often diversion is a very good outcome, but it is a decision, not a formality. Before you agree, it helps to know exactly what the program requires and by when, what happens if something goes wrong, whether the evidence would support a case at all, and how a school discipline process may run alongside it. Those are the questions we work through with parents in the first conversation. Our guide to what to do first when your child is arrested in Florida covers the hours before any offer is made, and you can read more about how Mason Barnes handles these cases in both counties on our juvenile defense page.
If your child was offered a civil citation or diversion in Escambia or Santa Rosa County, call us before you sign up or before the first deadline passes. The consultation is free, and the phone is answered around the clock. Call (850) 444-7444. We’ll take it from here.
This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your case, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different.