What does the Officer Jason Raynor Act do?
SB 156, the Officer Jason Raynor Act, took effect immediately upon Governor DeSantis signing it on June 16, 2026, rather than waiting for the usual July 1 or October 1 effective date most new Florida laws carry. It increases penalties for violent offenses against law enforcement officers and, separately, defines for the first time what “acting in good faith” means when a person is charged with resisting arrest.
What is the penalty for killing a law enforcement officer under this law?
A conviction for first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer carries a mandatory life sentence, with the death penalty still available as an option beyond that mandatory minimum. The same mandatory life sentence already applied to second and third-degree murder, attempted murder, and felony murder of a covered officer before this law. SB 156’s real change is adding manslaughter to that same list, covered in detail below.
How does SB 156 define “acting in good faith” for resisting arrest?
For the first time, Florida Statute § 776.051 now defines the term directly: acting in good faith means making sincere and reasonable efforts to comply with legal requirements, even if the arrest, detention, or other act is later determined to be unlawful. Before this law, “good faith” was not statutorily defined at all, and courts worked out its meaning case by case.
Does this mean I can never resist an unlawful arrest?
Not quite, but the room to do so narrowed. Under the new definition, an officer who makes a sincere, reasonable effort to follow proper procedure is considered to be acting in good faith even if the arrest later turns out to be unlawful. That means a person cannot justify resisting based solely on the arrest later being found unlawful if the officer was making a genuine effort to comply with legal requirements at the time. A separate provision, Fla. Stat. § 776.012, continues to allow force in response to an officer’s excessive force specifically, which is a different question from whether the underlying arrest was lawful.
Does this apply to conduct that happened before June 16, 2026?
Generally, no. Under well-established constitutional principle, a criminal law that increases punishment or narrows an available defense cannot be applied retroactively to conduct that occurred before the law took effect. That means SB 156’s enhanced penalties and its new definition of acting in good faith apply to conduct occurring on or after June 16, 2026, not to arrests or incidents from before that date, even if a case arising from that earlier conduct is still pending.
What other officers are covered under this law?
SB 156 revises the definition of “law enforcement officer” under Fla. Stat. § 784.07, the assault and battery statute, to reach beyond patrol officers. Correctional officers and correctional probation officers are directly named in the enhanced murder and manslaughter penalties under Fla. Stat. § 782.065.
What changed for manslaughter charges involving an officer?
Before this law, Fla. Stat. § 782.065 required a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without eligibility for release for murder, attempted murder, and felony murder of a covered officer, but manslaughter was not on that list. SB 156 adds manslaughter to it, so a defendant convicted of manslaughter of a covered officer is now subject to the same mandatory life sentence, once a jury makes the required finding beyond a reasonable doubt. This directly closes the gap exposed by the 2021 death of Daytona Beach Officer Jason Raynor, whose killer was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder and received a 30-year sentence rather than a mandatory life sentence under the law as it existed at the time.
What are the underlying charges someone might face?
Resisting an officer without violence is a first-degree misdemeanor under Fla. Stat. § 843.02, punishable by up to one year in jail. Resisting with violence is a third-degree felony under § 843.01, punishable by up to five years in prison. Battery on a law enforcement officer is reclassified under § 784.07 from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony, also carrying up to five years. Aggravated battery on an officer is reclassified further to a first-degree felony, carrying a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 30 years in prison. These are the underlying charges the enhanced penalties in SB 156 build on top of, not new charges the law creates.
If you are facing charges under this law
Given how recently this law took effect, how it applies in an actual case is still being worked out in real time by prosecutors and defense attorneys across the state. Anyone facing a charge involving a law enforcement officer, including resisting arrest, battery on an officer, or a more serious charge, should get an attorney involved immediately rather than waiting to see how the case develops. See our Violent Crimes Defense page for how these cases are handled in Miami-Dade.
The first consultation is free and confidential, with no obligation to retain.