Florida Florida Statutes
§ 39.8055 — Requirement to file a petition to terminate parental rights; exceptions
FS § 39.8055Ch. 39
Statute text
View on source(1)The department shall file a petition to terminate parental rights within 60 days after any of the following if:(a) The child is not returned to the physical custody of the parents 12 months after the child was sheltered or adjudicated dependent, whichever occurs first;
(b)A petition for termination of parental rights has not otherwise been filed, and the child has been in out-of-home care under the responsibility of the state for 12 of the most recent 22 months, calculated on a cumulative basis, but not including any trial home visits or time during which the child was a runaway;
(c)A parent has been convicted of the murder, manslaughter, aiding or abetting the murder, or conspiracy or solicitation to murder the other parent or another child of the parent, or a felony battery that resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent; or
(d)A court determines that reasonable efforts to reunify the child and parent are not required.
(2)Notwithstanding subsection (1), the department may choose not to file or join in a petition to terminate the parental rights of a parent if:(a) The child is being cared for by a relative under s. 39.6231; or
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Legislative history
s. 9, ch. 87-289; s. 16, ch. 90-306; s. 4, ch. 90-309; s. 7, ch. 92-158; s. 35, ch. 94-164; s. 1, ch. 97-226; s. 12, ch. 97-276; s. 88, ch. 98-403; s. 2, ch. 98-417; s. 45, ch. 99-193; s. 35, ch. 2000-139; s. 3, ch. 2001-3; s. 12, ch. 2004-371; s. 25, ch. 2006-86; s. 16, ch. 2008-245; s. 2, ch. 2009-21; s. 15, ch. 2012-178; s. 1, ch. 2013-132; s. 19, ch. 2014-224; s. 16, ch. 2016-24; s. 16, ch. 2017-37; s. 8, ch. 2017-107; s. 23, ch. 2017-151; s. 11, ch. 2019-128; s. 14, ch. 2021-169; s. 6, ch. 2024-71; s. 20, ch. 2025-156.