§ 776.032, Fla. Stat. · Chapter 776. JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE
Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use or threatened use of force.
Text — 2026 Florida Statutes
(1) A person who uses or threatens to use force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in such conduct and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use or threatened use of such force by the person, personal representative, or heirs of the person against whom the force was used or threatened, unless the person against whom force was used or threatened is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(14), who was acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using or threatening to use force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer. As used in this subsection, the term “criminal prosecution” includes arresting, detaining in custody, and charging or prosecuting the defendant.
(2) A law enforcement agency may use standard procedures for investigating the use or threatened use of force as described in subsection (1), but the agency may not arrest the person for using or threatening to use force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used or threatened was unlawful.
(3) The court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, compensation for loss of income, and all expenses incurred by the defendant in defense of any civil action brought by a plaintiff if the court finds that the defendant is immune from prosecution as provided in subsection (1).
(4) In a criminal prosecution, once a prima facie claim of self-defense immunity from criminal prosecution has been raised by the defendant at a pretrial immunity hearing, the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence is on the party seeking to overcome the immunity from criminal prosecution provided in subsection (1).
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
s. 4, ch. 2005-27; s. 6, ch. 2014-195; s. 1, ch. 2017-72.
Source of truth
- Edition
- 2026 Florida Statutes
- Official file
- https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0776/0776.html
- Text hash
- sha256 3563ad71479c1ebcae5f56fbaf0c679628a5c93cd34638b7861146701fe9cf8d
- Composed by
- compose_v2.py 2026-10-04: the Legislature's structured HTML read in document order; verify_v2.py's independent reading agrees character for character
- composed from the Legislature's structured HTML (one source of text; no PDF extraction); a second, independent reading of the same bytes agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
The Florida Statutes
- § 776.012, Fla. Stat.Use or threatened use of force in defense of person.Printed as s. 776.012
- § 776.013, Fla. Stat.Home protection; use or threatened use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.Printed as s. 776.013
- § 776.031, Fla. Stat.Use or threatened use of force in defense of property.Printed as s. 776.031
- § 943.10, Fla. Stat.Definitions; ss. 943.085-943.255.Printed as s. 943.10(14)
Cited by 2 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites § 776.032, Fla. Stat.. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure
Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.