§ 843.167, Fla. Stat. · Chapter 843. OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE
Unlawful use of police communications; enhanced penalties.
Text — 2026 Florida Statutes
(1) A person may not:
(a) Intercept any police radio communication by use of a scanner or any other means for the purpose of using that communication to assist in committing a crime or to escape from or avoid detection, arrest, trial, conviction, or punishment in connection with the commission of such crime.
(b) Divulge the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of a police radio communication to any person he or she knows to be a suspect in the commission of a crime with the intent that the suspect may escape from or avoid detention, arrest, trial, conviction, or punishment.
(2) Any person who is charged with a crime and who, during the time such crime was committed, possessed or used a police scanner or similar device capable of receiving police radio transmissions is presumed to have violated paragraph (1)(a).
(3) The penalty for a crime that is committed by a person who violates paragraph (1)(a) shall be enhanced as follows:
(a) A misdemeanor of the second degree shall be punished as if it were a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(b) A misdemeanor of the first degree shall be punished as if it were a felony of the third degree.
(c) A felony of the third degree shall be punished as if it were a felony of the second degree.
(d) A felony of the second degree shall be punished as if it were a felony of the first degree.
(e) A felony of the first degree shall be punished as if it were a life felony.
(4) Any person who violates paragraph (1)(b) commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
s. 8, ch. 2001-127.
Source of truth
- Edition
- 2026 Florida Statutes
- Official file
- https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0800-0899/0843/0843.html
- Text hash
- sha256 d09970827009786c3b12b4eecac24b24434d9affb1183f780190540fd5ed0621
- 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.
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.