If you are residing or traveling through another state and you have contact with law enforcement, which leads to an arrest warrant showing up, you may be sent back or extradited to Florida. This often occurs as a result of a traffic stop and your driver’s license is checked. So, what started as a potential speeding ticket in, let’s say, Indiana, has now turned into your being arrested for a grand theft arrest warrant in Orange County, Florida, and being held in a DeKalb County, Indiana jail. The next step is extradition back to Florida.
Extradition is the transfer of a person from one state to another state (called the demanding state) for crimes committed in the demanding state. That person is called a fugitive. Depending on whether Florida is the demanding state or extraditing state, Florida State Attorneys will follow Florida State Statute 941.05 or 941.06, describing extradition protocol. Each state must also follow the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, which says the state must extradite the fugitive to the demanding state, but the implementation of the extradition guidelines is at each state’s discretion. In the example, the fugitive would be extradited to Orange County Police custody from DeKalb County Police custody for the grand theft warrant. By law, the fugitive must be extradited within 30 days of the arrest (except in extenuating circumstances).
In the extraditing state (our example would be Indiana), the fugitive arrested has three options.
- Extradition Consent
- This means the fugitive arrested accepts and consents to the extradition from Indiana to Florida. If this option is chosen, the extraditing state (Indiana) would transport the fugitive from DeKalb County, Indiana to the demanding state (Florida).
- Extradition Bond Request
- This means the fugitive arrested does not contest the extradition but wishes to travel to Florida on their own and turn themselves into Orange County law enforcement within the 30-day time frame. However, to ensure the fugitive does turn themselves in within 30 days, the extraditing state (Indiana) will require a monetary bond to be held onto by the courts as collateral. Once the case is over in Florida, the person may return to the extraditing state (Indiana) and the monetary bond will be returned. This option is most likely if the travel is a great distance between the extraditing state and the demanding state. In the Indiana example, the extradition bond would be most likely to be accepted because it is over 1,000 miles between the two counties. If the extraditing state was somewhere closer, such as Alabama or Georgia, it is much less likely because travel time is much shorter.
- Hearing Request
- If the fugitive challenges the validity of the extradition, they may request an extradition hearing. At this hearing, all documents must be displayed to confirm the arrest is valid and the fugitive arrested is the correct individual. Documents include:
- The demanding state’s arrest warrant
- The demanding state’s authentic document stating the criminal offense
- If the fugitive challenges the validity of the extradition, they may request an extradition hearing. At this hearing, all documents must be displayed to confirm the arrest is valid and the fugitive arrested is the correct individual. Documents include:
- Sufficient documentation for proof the person is the correct fugitive.
If you are in an extradition situation, either to or from another state, the Law Office of Adams & Luka can provide experienced attorneys who will inform you of the next legal steps and which option would be best in your case.