---
type: "Bill"
title: "Capital Sexual Battery"
description: "Capital Sexual Battery; Provides for death sentences for certain child sexual offenders; provides for separate death penalty proceedings in such cases; provides for findings & recommended sentences by jury; provides for imposition of sentence of life imprisonment or death; provides requirements for court order in support of death sentence; provides for automatic review of sentences of death; specifies aggravating factors & mitigating circumstances; provides for victim impact evidence; authorizes state to appeal from sentence on specified grounds."
jurisdiction: "us/states/fl"
legislature: "Florida Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1297"
citation: "Florida HB 1297 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["crimes", "criminal procedure and corrections"]
status: "enacted"
chapter_law: "2023-25"
primary_sponsors: ["Baker"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 43
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2023-03-01"
last_action: "2023-05-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c45cd884-a495-4bdf-9bf5-2e2beffc4554"
source_url: "https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1297/ByCategory"
source_hash: "4c4f58c77094177402e5cc6fd77f8ad8adbc0c97024e1bd722e8a94c9b42202d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-fl"]
---

# Florida HB 1297 (2023) — Capital Sexual Battery

Capital Sexual Battery; Provides for death sentences for certain child sexual offenders; provides for separate death penalty proceedings in such cases; provides for findings & recommended sentences by jury; provides for imposition of sentence of life imprisonment or death; provides requirements for court order in support of death sentence; provides for automatic review of sentences of death; specifies aggravating factors & mitigating circumstances; provides for victim impact evidence; authorizes state to appeal from sentence on specified grounds.

**Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2023-25.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **H 1297 Filed** (filed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1297/BillText/Filed/PDF)
2. **H 1297 c1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1297/BillText/c1/PDF)
3. **H 1297 c2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1297/BillText/c2/PDF)
4. **H 1297 er** (enrolled) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1297/BillText/er/PDF)

## Votes

- Favorable With Committee Substitute (Criminal Justice Subcommittee) — **14–3** (pass) · lower
- Passage, Third Reading — **95–14** (pass) · lower
- Favorable With Committee Substitute (Judiciary Committee) — **16–7** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **34–5** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Baker — primary (person)
- Criminal Justice Subcommittee — primary (organization)
- Judiciary Committee — primary (organization)
- Bankson — cosponsor (person)
- Black — cosponsor (person)
- Botana — cosponsor (person)
- Fernandez-Barquin — cosponsor (person)
- Gregory — cosponsor (person)
- Holcomb — cosponsor (person)
- Jacques — cosponsor (person)
- Leek — cosponsor (person)
- Plakon — cosponsor (person)
- Roth — cosponsor (person)
- Salzman — cosponsor (person)
- Snyder — cosponsor (person)
- Temple — cosponsor (person)
- Tuck — cosponsor (person)
- Yarkosky — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-03-01** Filed `filing`
- **2023-03-06** Referred to Criminal Justice Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-06** Referred to Justice Appropriations Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-06** Referred to Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-06** Now in Criminal Justice Subcommittee
- **2023-03-07** 1st Reading (Original Filed Version) `filing, reading-1`
- **2023-03-17** Added to Criminal Justice Subcommittee agenda
- **2023-03-21** Favorable with CS by Criminal Justice Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-21** Reported out of Criminal Justice Subcommittee
- **2023-03-22** Laid on Table under Rule 7.18(a) `deferral`
- **2023-03-22** CS Filed `filing`
- **2023-03-22** 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 1) `reading-1`
- **2023-03-23** Original reference removed: Justice Appropriations Subcommittee
- **2023-03-23** Referred to Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-23** Now in Judiciary Committee
- **2023-03-29** Added to Judiciary Committee agenda
- **2023-03-31** Favorable with CS by Judiciary Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-31** Reported out of Judiciary Committee
- **2023-03-31** Laid on Table under Rule 7.18(a) `deferral`
- **2023-03-31** CS Filed `filing`
- **2023-04-03** Bill referred to House Calendar
- **2023-04-03** 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 2) `reading-1`
- **2023-04-03** Added to Second Reading Calendar
- **2023-04-10** Bill added to Special Order Calendar (4/13/2023)
- **2023-04-13** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2023-04-13** Amendment 262267 Failed
- **2023-04-13** Added to Third Reading Calendar
- **2023-04-13** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-04-13** CS passed; YEAS 95, NAYS 14 `passage`
- **2023-04-13** In Messages
- **2023-04-14** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-17** Received `enrolled`
- **2023-04-18** Withdrawn from Rules `withdrawal`
- **2023-04-18** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading
- **2023-04-18** Substituted for CS/CS/SB 1342
- **2023-04-18** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2023-04-18** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2023-04-18** CS passed; YEAS 34 NAYS 5 `passage`
- **2023-04-19** In Messages
- **2023-04-19** Ordered enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-05-01** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-01** Approved by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-02** Chapter No. 2023-25

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c45cd884-a495-4bdf-9bf5-2e2beffc4554`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).