The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to report favorably on Senate Bill 1054, a measure that increases penalties for tampering with court-ordered electronic monitoring devices and establishes immediate detention consequences for pretrial release violations.

Sponsor Senator Garcia told the committee that SB 1054 strengthens accountability by reclassifying tampering offenses based on the severity of the underlying charge: offenses can range from a third-degree felony for monitoring tied to misdemeanor charges up to a life felony for monitoring tied to capital or life felony cases. The bill also states that a person who tampers with a monitoring device while on pretrial release would have that release immediately revoked and would no longer be eligible for pretrial release on the current charges.

One public witness, Marcia Bridal, testified in opposition and urged the committee to consider unintended consequences, citing technical failures and environmental factors that can cause devices to lose signal or malfunction (power/battery outages in storms, signal obstruction inside certain buildings or near heavy metal equipment). Bridal argued these failures could lead to added punishment for people who are not intentionally evading supervision.

Senator Pizzo questioned whether the bill would create evidentiary or proof challenges in pretrial cases and noted an office review that showed 222 convictions on the statute but only a small number had meaningful sentencing. Garcia acknowledged the concerns and said she would take testimony into account while emphasizing the bill's purpose to close gaps in supervision for about 145,000 offenders monitored by probation staff statewide.

After limited debate, Senator Garcia closed and the committee clerk recorded a unanimous roll call in favor. The bill was reported favorably without amendments.