CS/CS/HB 1159 (2026): Sexual Offenses

Record US-FL-08 · Laws of Florida ch. 2026-20 (CS/CS/HB 1159, 2026)

Issued by: Florida Legislature (2026 Regular Session; sponsors Judiciary Committee, Criminal Justice Subcommittee and Rep. Jacques); approved by the Governor
Jurisdiction: Florida (US)
Level · region: Sub-national · North America
Country: United States
Published / adopted: 2026-03-31
In force: 2026-07-01
Language: English
Official identifier: Laws of Florida ch. 2026-20 (CS/CS/HB 1159, 2026)

Summary

Replaces 'child pornography' with 'child sexual abuse material' in Florida statutes, raises penalties and sets mandatory minimum sentences for child sexual abuse material and child sexual performance offences, and creates a life felony for using a child under 12 in a sexual performance. For computer-generated imagery, it raises the offence of creating generated child sexual abuse material, an image made or modified by computer-generated means to portray a fictitious person whom a reasonable person would regard as a real minor engaged in sexual conduct, from a third- to a second-degree felony, and makes transmitting such material within, into or out of Florida a second-degree felony.

Safety topics

child safetydeepfakes & synthetic media

Scope

Borderline scope Existing scope_note kept.

Status notes

Passed the House 105-0 on 3 Mar 2026 and the Senate 37-0 on 9 Mar 2026, where it was substituted for CS/SB 1750; approved by the Governor on 31 Mar 2026 and effective 1 Jul 2026. Section 9 amends s. 827.072, F.S., the generated child pornography offence created in 2024 by CS/CS/SB 1680 (ch. 2024-118). The companion terminology bill CS/HB 245 (ch. 2026-18) also passed. Other provisions raise penalties for possessing a child-like sex doll and for sexual activities involving animals, and bar people convicted of the latter from owning or working with animals for at least five years.

Sources

Open the official source https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/1159

Secondary source: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/1159/Analyses/h1159z1.CRM.PDF

Local copy

Archived. Last attempt 2026-10-17 23:08:04 UTC

Official source (third-party copy, not published) archive/_runs/2026-10-14-discover-codes-us-fl/C007/2026-10-14/official.html

Retrieved 2026-10-14 15:56:53 UTC

SHA-256 d45f3465bdb3c5ab1b003672fabe28b7cc4b4eeca1f3b8e153a4d1c5c2a6df9b

Linked document (PDF) (third-party copy, not published) archive/_runs/2026-10-14-discover-codes-us-fl/C007/2026-10-14/document-1.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-14 15:57:12 UTC

SHA-256 e074b23f2f2a360aad874a79525dd633d1f6dbcaaab597a0d3d96a021166d810

Linked document (PDF) (third-party copy, not published) archive/_runs/2026-10-14-discover-codes-us-fl/C007/2026-10-14/document-2.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-14 15:57:32 UTC

SHA-256 4f857444906c579e2ec918476b3974b7e486f6136582528080607c2e29c9a12a

Secondary source (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-FL-08/2026-10-14/secondary.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-14 16:38:51 UTC

SHA-256 e074b23f2f2a360aad874a79525dd633d1f6dbcaaab597a0d3d96a021166d810

Verification

The instrument's own official text, or an official register, was stored and confirms the title, date and status. checked 2026-10-18 · official-url-fetched

Recheck of 18 Oct 2026: re-read the Florida Senate bill page for HB 1159 (2026), the House Judiciary Committee analysis of CS/HB 1159 and the House final bill analysis of CS/CS/HB 1159 (1 Apr 2026), all stored from flsenate.gov on 14 Oct 2026 and found unchanged by the archiver on 17 Oct 2026. The bill page confirms the title, sponsors, history, the 105-0 House and 37-0 Senate votes, approval by the Governor on 31 Mar 2026, Chapter No. 2026-20 and the 7/1/2026 effective date; the final analysis confirms approval, chapter and effective date and describes the enacted provisions, including section 9 on generated child sexual abuse material, on which the summary rests. The staff analyses state that they are not an official statement of legislative intent, and the enrolled bill text was not stored. That s. 827.072 was created in 2024 by CS/CS/SB 1680 (ch. 2024-118) rests on the Senate Judiciary analysis and bill page stored for US-FL-03. That the act is in force rests on its 1 Jul 2026 effective date and the absence of any later change in the stored files.

Second check: Independent check by Claude Code (claude-sonnet-5-5), 2026-10-18: 9 field(s) supported, fixes applied to scope_note.

History

2026-10-18scope_note: Not an AI-specific law: an omnibus sexual offences act. Included because it rais → Existing scope_note kept. — pipeline run 2026-10-18-recheck-north-america-2 (recheck), candidate US-FL-082026-10-18-recheck-north-america-2 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
2026-10-14Added to the register — found in pipeline run 2026-10-14-discover-codes-us-fl, candidate C007 (US-FL/legislature)2026-10-14-discover-codes-us-fl · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

California SB 1276 (AI-generated child sexual abuse material) California (US) · Adopted, not yet in force

Florida SB 1798 (2022): altered sexual depictions offence Florida (US) · In force

Florida HB 757 (2025): sexual images and deepfake generation Florida (US) · In force

Brooke's Law (Florida HB 1161, 2025) Florida (US) · In force

Citation

Florida Legislature (2026 Regular Session; sponsors Judiciary Committee, Criminal Justice Subcommittee and Rep. Jacques); approved by the Governor. CS/CS/HB 1159 (2026): Sexual Offenses [Laws of Florida ch. 2026-20 (CS/CS/HB 1159, 2026)]. 2026-03-31. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/1159. Status: In force; verified 2026-10-18 (level A). Local copy archive/_runs/2026-10-14-discover-codes-us-fl/C007/2026-10-14/official.html retrieved 2026-10-14 15:56:53 UTC, SHA-256 d45f3465bdb3c5ab1b003672fabe28b7cc4b4eeca1f3b8e153a4d1c5c2a6df9b. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record US-FL-08.

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