If you were arrested in Florida and released on bond, the State has 60 days from the arrest to file formal charges. If it has not, the court must order your release on recognizance on day 63, unless the State shows good cause for up to 30 more days. After that, your lawyer can ask the court to lift every remaining bond condition. The case does not end there. The State can still file until the statute of limitations runs, and for the most serious crimes there is no limit at all. Since July 1, 2025, your speedy trial clock under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.191 does not start until charges are filed, so a person on bond can wait weeks, months, or longer with no clock running. DUI and other criminal traffic arrests follow a separate traffic court rule, covered below.
How Long the State Has to File Charges
Rule 3.134 sets the State’s deadlines for filing formal charges after an arrest, and they depend on whether the person is in jail:
- In jail. The State must file within 30 days of arrest. If it has not, the court on day 30 must order the person released on recognizance on day 33 unless charges are filed by then, or on day 40 if the State shows good cause. No one can be held past 40 days without formal charges.
- Out on bond or other pretrial release. The State must file within 60 days of arrest. If it has not, the court on day 60 must order release on recognizance on day 63 unless charges are filed by then. If the State shows good cause, the court can instead keep the existing release in place for up to 30 more days. After that, on a defense motion with notice to the State, the court must release the person from all bail requirements and pretrial conditions.
Neither deadline dismisses the case. Missing it gets the person out of jail or, on motion, off bond conditions, and the State can file the charges later.
What This Means If You Are Out on Bond
- Keep every bond condition until a judge lifts it. Day 63 changes the bond. Lifting the remaining conditions, including any no-contact order, takes a motion and a court order, so have your lawyer raise it rather than waiting for the court to act.
- Do not treat silence as a dismissal. No filing by day 60 says nothing about whether the State will file later.
- Keep your address current with the court and your bondsman. If charges are filed, you must appear at arraignment, and missing it can lead to a warrant, so make sure the court can reach you.
- Find out where the case stands. The Miami-Dade Clerk’s online criminal records show filed cases, and a lawyer can confirm with the State Attorney’s Office whether a filing decision has been made.
- Use the time before a filing decision. Before the State files, a defense lawyer can bring the prosecutor facts, records, and defenses that bear on what gets charged, or whether anything does.
- Save your evidence now. Keep texts, receipts, photos, and location history, write down the names and phone numbers of witnesses, and have a lawyer ask for surveillance video before it is recorded over. A long wait can cost the defense witnesses and records.
For what happens between arrest and a filing decision in Miami-Dade, see our post on the difference between being arrested and being charged.
How Long the State Can Wait
After the Rule 3.134 deadline passes, no rule of procedure stops the State from filing. The outer limit is the statute of limitations in Fla. Stat. § 775.15: generally 4 years for a first-degree felony, 3 years for other felonies, 2 years for a first-degree misdemeanor, and 1 year for a second-degree misdemeanor, with many exceptions. A prosecution for a capital felony, a life felony, or a felony that resulted in a death “may be commenced at any time.” The statute also removes the limit for human trafficking, for sexual battery when the victim was under 18, for first- or second-degree felony sexual battery reported within 72 hours, for lewd or lascivious battery or molestation of a child under 16 unless the offender was under 18 and no more than 4 years older than the victim, and for using a child in a sexual performance or promoting one when the offender was an adult. For those charges, the State can wait indefinitely.
During that wait, the speedy trial clock under Rule 3.191 has not started, because no formal charge exists. If the delay damages your defense through lost witnesses, deleted video, or faded memories, your lawyer can raise it under the Constitution, but it is a hard claim to win. While the arrest and its bond conditions remain in place, the Sixth Amendment and Article I, Section 16 of the Florida Constitution protect the right to a speedy trial, and a court weighs the length of the delay, the reasons for it, whether the defendant asserted the right, and the prejudice to the defendant, under Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972). The U.S. Supreme Court has held that once charges are formally dropped and the person is under no restraint, that time does not count toward a Sixth Amendment claim, United States v. MacDonald, 456 U.S. 1 (1982); United States v. Loud Hawk, 474 U.S. 302 (1986). A court can apply the same reasoning to a person released from every condition with no charge filed. Delay in filing is then judged under due process, which requires proof of actual, substantial prejudice to the defense, weighed against the reasons for the delay, United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307 (1971); United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783 (1977).
The Change Coming for DUI and Criminal Traffic Cases
On October 22, 2026, the Florida Supreme Court amended Florida Rule of Traffic Court 6.160, effective January 1, 2027. The amended rule provides that a defendant is “formally charged” for purposes of Rule 3.191 “when the defendant is issued a traffic citation, notice to appear, summons, information, or indictment, whichever occurs first.” For a misdemeanor DUI or another criminal traffic charge, the speedy trial clock will start when the citation is issued, which can be well before any information is filed. Until then, Rule 6.160 still says a defendant is “taken into custody” for Rule 3.191 purposes when arrested, language that no longer appears in Rule 3.191, so the start date in criminal traffic cases before January 1, 2027 is less settled. Whether the amended rule reaches felony DUI in circuit court is not settled either.
What Changed in 2025
The Florida Supreme Court amended Rules 3.191 and 3.134 in In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191, 411 So. 3d 385 (Fla. 2025), decided March 13, 2025 and effective July 1, 2025. The vote was 6-1, with Justice Labarga dissenting. The amendments:
- Moved the start of the clock. The 175-day felony and 90-day misdemeanor periods now “commence when the person is formally charged with a crime,” meaning by information, by indictment, or for a misdemeanor by whatever document constitutes a formal charge. The old rule ran the clock from arrest, or from service of a notice to appear. The periods are the same whether the person is in jail or out on bond.
- Added the filing deadline for people out on bond. Rule 3.134(b), the 60-day deadline described above, is new.
- Lengthened the recapture window. When the speedy trial period expires and the defense files a notice of expiration, the court holds a hearing within 5 days and must order trial within 30 days, unless it finds one of the reasons for delay the rule lists. The old window was 10 days. Recapture is now mandatory in every case before any remedy.
- Made discharge without prejudice. A defendant not tried within the recapture period through no fault of the defendant is discharged on the defense’s motion, but the discharge is without prejudice unless the court finds the constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. The State can refile within the statute of limitations.
- Deleted the nolle prosequi limit. The old rule barred the State from avoiding the speedy trial deadline by dropping a charge and then prosecuting that conduct under a refiled or new charge. That language is gone.
In dissent, Justice Labarga wrote that the amendments “further relax the speedy trial rule,” potentially placing the start of the speedy trial period “even further down the road.”
See our Miami-Dade criminal case timeline for every stage after arrest, and our bail and bond guide for pretrial release.
Sources: In re Amendments to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.191, 411 So. 3d 385 (Fla. 2025); In re Amendments to Fla. Rules of Traffic Court 6.100, 6.160, and 6.325, No. SC2025-1377 (Fla. Oct. 22, 2026); Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.134 and 3.191; Fla. Stat. § 775.15.
Quick Answers
When does the speedy trial clock start in Florida?
In criminal cases other than traffic cases, when the person is formally charged by information, indictment, or for a misdemeanor the document that constitutes a formal charge. Since July 1, 2025, arrest alone does not start it. Effective January 1, 2027, in criminal traffic cases the clock starts at the citation, notice to appear, summons, information, or indictment, whichever comes first.
How long does the State have to bring a case to trial?
175 days for a felony and 90 days for a misdemeanor, counted from the formal charge. If that period expires, the defense files a notice of expiration, and the court must hold a hearing within 5 days and set trial within 30 days unless it finds one of the reasons for delay the rule lists, so a case can run more than a month past the 175 or 90 days.
How long does the State have to file charges after an arrest?
Under Rule 3.134, 30 days if the person is in jail, with release on day 33 or, on good cause, day 40. If the person is out on bond, 60 days, with release on recognizance on day 63 or up to 30 more days of the existing release on good cause, and then release from all bail requirements and conditions on motion.
What happens if the State misses the filing deadline?
A person in jail is released on recognizance. A person on bond is released on recognizance and, on motion, from all bond conditions. The case is not dismissed, and the State can still file charges later.
Can the State wait indefinitely to file charges?
After the Rule 3.134 deadline, the limit is the statute of limitations in Fla. Stat. § 775.15. For a capital felony, a life felony, a felony that resulted in a death, human trafficking, and some sexual battery and child sex abuse offenses, there is no statute of limitations, so the State can wait indefinitely.
If my case is discharged under the speedy trial rule, is it over?
Not necessarily. Since July 1, 2025, a discharge is without prejudice unless the court finds the constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated, so the State can refile within the statute of limitations.
Does the speedy trial rule work differently if I am in jail?
The trial periods are the same whether you are in jail or out on bond. Custody changes the State’s deadline to file charges under Rule 3.134: 30 days in jail and 60 days on pretrial release.
What should I do if I was arrested and no charges have been filed?
Keep every bond condition until a judge lifts it, keep your address current, save your evidence, and do not discuss the case. Have a lawyer track the Rule 3.134 deadline, move for release from conditions when it passes, and contact the State Attorney’s Office before a filing decision is made.
The first consultation is free and confidential, with no obligation to retain.