The Florida cap veto: what stays the same, and what the cap never touched
On June 30, 2026, Florida's Governor vetoed HB 145, which would have raised the statutory caps on damages against the State and local governments. The caps remain $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, and they apply to Florida state-law tort claims, not to a federal civil rights claim under Section 1983.
If you are in Florida and you were hurt by a police officer or a jail, you may have seen the news in July: the bill to raise the damages caps is dead. People ask us the obvious question. Does that mean my case is capped at $200,000?
Usually not, and the reason is the most important thing to understand about a police case in Florida. There are two kinds of claim. The statutory cap applies to one of them. This post goes through the veto, what the cap covers, what it does not, and one 2025 change that went the other way. The Florida page has the full rules.
What happened to HB 145
Florida waives its sovereign immunity for tort claims only up to a limit. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.28(5)(a), damages against the State and its subdivisions are capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. Those are statutory caps, and the payer they protect is the government entity.
HB 145 would have raised the statutory caps to $350,000 per person and $500,000 per incident, for causes of action accruing on or after October 1, 2026. It was not a close vote:
- January 15, 2026: passed the House, 104 to 7.
- March 10, 2026: passed the Senate, 36 to 0.
- June 30, 2026: vetoed by the Governor.
So the caps are unchanged (source: the Florida Senate's bill page for HB 145). If your incident happens after October 1, 2026, the old numbers still apply to your state-law claim.
What the cap limits
The cap limits what you can collect from a Florida government entity on a state-law tort claim. The same statute adds three more limits.
No punitive damages and no prejudgment interest against the entity (§ 768.28(5)(a)).
The excess goes to the Legislature. If a jury awards more than the cap, the portion above it is payable only by a legislative claim bill. That is a separate request to the Legislature. Nothing about it is automatic.
The officer is usually not personally liable under state law. Under § 768.28(9)(a), an officer has no personal tort liability unless the officer "acted in bad faith or with malicious purpose or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property." Otherwise the exclusive remedy is against the entity, which is the capped one.
The Florida state-law clock
A written claim must go to the agency and, except for claims against municipalities and counties, to the Department of Financial Services within three years of accrual (two years for wrongful death). If the agency does not resolve the claim within six months, that counts as a denial. Suit must be filed within four years (Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6), (14)). The deadline tool counts these for you.
What the cap does not limit: the federal claim
Section 1983 is a federal statute. It makes liable every person who, under color of state law, deprives someone of a federal right (42 U.S.C. § 1983). Florida's sovereign immunity statute sets the terms on which Florida lets itself be sued under Florida law. It does not set the damages for a federal civil rights claim.
The Florida cap is a limit on Florida's own waiver of immunity. A Section 1983 claim does not run through that waiver, so it does not run through the cap.
That does not make the federal claim easy. It has its own hurdles, and you should hear them in the same breath:
- The officer can raise qualified immunity.
- A city or county answers under Section 1983 only where its own policy or custom caused the violation (Monell v. Dep't of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978)), and it cannot be made to pay punitive damages (City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, 453 U.S. 247 (1981)). Individual officers can.
- The State of Florida and its agencies are not "persons" under Section 1983 at all (Will v. Michigan Dep't of State Police, 491 U.S. 58 (1989)).
- Florida has no state civil rights statute that works like Section 1983. The Florida Civil Rights Act covers employment, housing and public accommodations (Fla. Stat. § 760.01).
The federal claim in Florida has a four-year limitation period (Doe v. Swearingen, No. 21-10644 (11th Cir. Oct. 21, 2022), citing Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)). A prevailing plaintiff may be awarded a reasonable attorney's fee (42 U.S.C. § 1988(b)). A Florida police case can plead both kinds of claim, and the recovery page explains how they sit side by side in each state.
One change that went the other way: wrongful incarceration
While the cap bill died in 2026, a 2025 law widened a different remedy. Florida compensates people who were wrongfully incarcerated at a statutory rate of $50,000 per year, prorated, up to a statutory cap of $2,000,000, under the State's compensation statute, along with a tuition waiver, reimbursement of fines and costs, and expungement (Fla. Stat. § 961.06).
The 2025 amendment (ch. 2025-194, effective July 1, 2025) did three things. It removed the "clean hands" bar. It lengthened the filing window from 90 days to 2 years. And it reopened claims that the old rules had barred. If you or a family member were exonerated in Florida and were told years ago that you did not qualify, that answer may have changed. The wrongful conviction page covers the statutes in each state.
As always: if a charge is still pending, a person with a pending charge should talk to their defense lawyer before describing the arrest to anyone. The criminal case and civil case page explains why that comes first.
Florida
The four-year federal clock, the pre-suit notice, the caps and officer immunity.
The Florida page →What can be recovered
Federal and state recovery rules, state by state, with public figures and sources.
Recovery →Wrongful conviction
The civil claim and the state compensation statutes, including Florida's 2025 change.
Wrongful conviction →Common questions
Do Florida's damages caps apply to a Section 1983 claim?
No. The $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident caps are part of Florida's waiver of sovereign immunity for state-law tort claims (Fla. Stat. 768.28(5)(a)). A Section 1983 claim is a federal claim against the people who violated your rights, and against a local government where its own policy or custom caused the violation. The Florida statute does not cap it.
What would HB 145 have changed?
It would have raised the caps to $350,000 per person and $500,000 per incident for causes of action accruing on or after October 1, 2026. It passed the House 104 to 7 on January 15, 2026 and the Senate 36 to 0 on March 10, 2026. The Governor vetoed it on June 30, 2026, so the caps are unchanged.
What is a claim bill?
Under the Florida statute, the part of a judgment against the State or a local government that exceeds the cap is payable only by a further act of the Legislature, known as a claim bill. It is a request to the Legislature, not an entitlement, and nothing about it is automatic.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.