Does Florida have a parental-rights termination law that lets the state qualify for the federal Rape Survivor Child Custody Act funding boost to its sexual violence prevention grants?

Plain-English summary

This is not a typical AG opinion. It is a certification letter from the Florida AG's office to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women, written so that Florida could collect supplemental federal grant funding under the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act (RSCCA, the federal law that gives a funding boost to states that have a qualifying statute terminating the parental rights of a rapist as to children conceived through rape).

To qualify, Florida had to (1) have such a statute and (2) certify that the qualifying statute had not been amended away. The AG confirmed both:

• The qualifying statute is § 39.806(1)(m), Florida Statutes, enacted in 2013 (Ch. 2013-132, Laws of Fla.).
• Its provisions had not been changed since enactment.

The statute permits termination of parental rights upon clear and convincing evidence that the child was conceived as a result of sexual battery as defined in § 794.011, with a presumption that termination is in the child's best interest, and applies retroactively "to all unlawful acts of sexual battery occurring before, on, or after [July 1, 2013]."

The federal grants at stake are the Sexual Assault Service Program (SASP) and the Services-Training-Officers-Prosecutors (STOP) program, both administered in Florida by the Department of Health.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2017. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What does the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act (RSCCA) do?
A: It gives DOJ authority to supplement SASP and STOP grant funds awarded to states that have a qualifying statute allowing termination of a rapist's parental rights to a child conceived through rape.

Q: What does § 39.806(1)(m) actually require?
A: A court can terminate parental rights upon clear and convincing evidence that the child was conceived as a result of sexual battery as defined in § 794.011 (or a similar law of another jurisdiction). The statute creates a presumption that termination is in the child's best interest if the child was conceived through unlawful sexual battery.

Q: Does the rapist have to be criminally convicted first?
A: The statute uses the "clear and convincing evidence" standard within the dependency proceeding, not a criminal-conviction requirement. A petition for termination "may be filed at any time," with the law applying retroactively to acts before, on, or after July 1, 2013.

Q: Why did the AG send a certification letter rather than a formal AG opinion?
A: RSCCA-supplement eligibility requires periodic recertification. DOJ asks the state AG to verify the statute remains in force and unchanged. Those certifications are signed letters from the Opinions Division, not numbered AG opinions.

Q: How is this different from the rape-survivor-child-custody-act letters from later years?
A: This is the 2017 certification. Florida has issued recertifications in subsequent years (e.g., 2018-02-23 and 2019-01-29 letters in this corpus). Each tracks the same statute and confirms no change.

Background and statutory framework

Florida's § 39.806 lists the grounds for termination of parental rights in a dependency proceeding. Subsection (1)(m) is one of the grounds. It dovetails with § 794.011, the sexual battery statute, by adopting that statute's definition of the underlying offense. The combination produces a free-standing termination ground that does not require separate criminal proceedings.

The federal RSCCA framework rewards state laws like (1)(m) with supplemental SASP and STOP grant dollars. SASP funds direct services for sexual assault survivors. STOP funds law enforcement, prosecution, and victim service capacity at the state level. The supplemental funding flows through the state grantee (here, the Florida Department of Health), which administers the federal funds in subgrants to local programs.

The certification letter is the AG's formal contribution to that flow: a one-page-equivalent assurance that the state's statutory underpinning is still in place. The signing official here is a Senior Assistant Attorney General representing the Florida Department of Legal Affairs, who certifies on the state's behalf.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- § 39.806, Fla. Stat. (Grounds for termination of parental rights)
- § 794.011, Fla. Stat. (Sexual battery)
- Ch. 2013-132, Laws of Fla. (enactment session law)

Federal authority:
- Rape Survivor Child Custody Act (RSCCA)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/federal-grant-sexual-violence-prevention
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/8042

Original opinion text

February 28, 2017

Ms. Nadine M. Neufville
Acting Director
Office on Violence Against Women
U.S. Department of Justice
145 N Street, NE Suite 10W.121
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Acting Director Neufville:

This office writes in support of the Florida Department of Health's receipt of a federal grant from the Department of Justice providing supplemental funding for sexual violence prevention programs.

The Florida Department of Health's Sexual Violence Prevention Program administers federal funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to states and territories for several programs, including the Sexual Assault Service Program (SASP) and the Services-Training-Officers-Prosecutors (STOP) program. As previously advised, the Rape Survivor Child Act (RSCCA) authorizes the Office on Violence Against Women to supplement SASP and STOP program funding in states which have qualifying laws regarding termination of parental rights of rapists for children conceived through rape. As a provision for the receipt of such funds, this office has been asked to certify that this state's qualifying statute has not been amended.

Section 39.806(1)(m), Florida Statutes, enacted in 2013, is Florida's qualifying statute regarding the termination of a rapist's parental rights when a child is conceived through rape.[1] As a Senior Assistant Attorney General representing the Florida Department of Legal Affairs, I certify that since the enactment of section 39.806(1)(m), Florida Statutes, its provisions have not been changed and remain in full force and effect. The statute continues to provide:

• Parental rights may be terminated upon a finding by the court that clear and convincing evidence exists that the child was conceived as a result of a sexual battery as defined in section 794.011, Florida Statutes, or pursuant to a similar law of another state, territory, possession, or Native American tribe where the offense occurred.

• A presumption that it is in the best interest of the child to terminate parental rights if the child is conceived as a result of an unlawful sexual battery.

• The standard of proof by "clear and convincing evidence."

• A petition for termination of parental rights under the paragraph may be filed at any time and the provisions of the statute apply retroactively to "all unlawful acts of sexual battery occurring before, on, or after [July 1, 2013]."[2]

Sincerely,

Lagran Saunders
Division Director
Opinions Division
Florida Department of Legal Affairs

ALS/tsh

cc: Ms. Celeste Philip, MD, MPH

[1] See Op. Letter to Ms. Bea Hanson, Deputy Director, May 4, 2016.

[2] See s. 3, Ch. 2013-132, Laws of Fla.