Trenton's Law: Florida's New DUI Refusal Law (HB 687)

Trenton's Law: Florida DUI Refusal Now a Crime (HB 687)

Trenton's Law is the name given to CS/HB 687, Chapter 2025-121, Laws of Florida, which took effect on October 1, 2025. Its biggest change for drivers in Sarasota and Manatee County is simple to state: a first refusal to take a breath or urine test after a lawful DUI arrest is now a crime, a second-degree misdemeanor under section 316.1939, Florida Statutes, on top of the one-year license suspension that already existed. A second or later refusal remains a first-degree misdemeanor. The same bill raised the penalties for repeat DUI manslaughter, BUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and vessel homicide. This page explains what changed, what the State has to prove, and where the defenses are.

What Trenton's Law changed

Before October 1, 2025, a first refusal cost you your license for a year, and the refusal could be used against you at trial, but it was not itself a crime. Only a second refusal was charged as a misdemeanor. Trenton's Law rewrote section 316.1939 so that every refusal is a criminal offense:

• First refusal: second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail, up to 6 months of probation and a fine of up to $500 under sections 775.082 and 775.083, plus the one-year administrative suspension under section 322.2615.
• Second or subsequent refusal: first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, plus an 18-month suspension. A refusal counts as a "second" if your license was previously suspended for a refusal, or if you were previously fined for refusing a boating test under section 327.35215.
• The warning changed too. Section 316.1932 now requires the officer to tell you that refusing is a misdemeanor, and which degree, before the refusal can be charged.
• Repeat homicide cases: DUI manslaughter, BUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and vessel homicide are now first-degree felonies, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, when the driver has a prior conviction for any of those four offenses. The bill also placed the new offenses at Level 8 and Level 9 of the Criminal Punishment Code ranking chart. See DUI manslaughter and serious bodily injury.

The law is named for Trenton Stewart, who was killed in a 2022 Tampa crash involving a driver with prior DUI convictions. It passed both chambers unanimously and was signed on June 5, 2025.

What the State has to prove for a refusal charge

A refusal case is not automatic. Under section 316.1939(1), the prosecutor must prove each of these elements:

• The officer had probable cause to believe you were driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while impaired by alcohol, a chemical substance or a controlled substance.
• You were lawfully arrested for DUI under section 316.193.
• You were told that refusing would suspend your license for one year, or 18 months for a second refusal.
• You were told that refusing is a crime, and which degree of misdemeanor applies to you.
• After those warnings, an officer asked you to submit and you refused.

Each element is a place the case can fail. If the stop was unlawful, there was no probable cause for the arrest, or the implied consent warning was read from an outdated card that never mentioned the new criminal penalty, the refusal charge has a problem, and often the DUI does too. What counts as a "refusal" is also contested more than people expect: silence, asking for a lawyer, a medical condition that prevents a full breath sample, or an Intoxilyzer that would not accept a sample can all look like a refusal on paper and turn out to be something else on video. See challenging a breath test in Florida and field sobriety tests for how the underlying DUI evidence is reviewed.

Does the new crime apply to blood tests?

No. Section 316.1939 covers breath and urine tests requested under section 316.1932. Blood is handled by different rules: a blood draw can be compelled under section 316.1933 when a crash caused death or serious bodily injury, and otherwise generally requires your consent or a warrant. Refusing a blood request has its own consequences, but it is not the Trenton's Law misdemeanor. The details are on the DUI blood test defense page.

The license suspension still runs on its own

A refusal triggers two separate proceedings. The criminal refusal charge and the DUI charge go to county court. The suspension of your license is an administrative case with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and section 316.1939(2) and (3) say the outcome of one does not control the other. You have 10 days from the arrest to request a formal review hearing or to deal with the suspension another way. Whether a hardship license is available, and when, depends on whether this is a first suspension.

How a refusal charge fits with the DUI charge

Most people charged under Trenton's Law are charged with two offenses from the same stop: DUI under section 316.193 and refusal under section 316.1939. The refusal is admissible in the DUI trial as evidence of consciousness of guilt, which is the main reason prosecutors like it. Two things cut the other way. First, without a breath number the State has to prove impairment with the officer's observations and the video, which is a harder case than a 0.12. Second, both charges rest on the same stop and arrest, so a successful motion to suppress usually takes down both.

For a first offense in Sarasota, Manatee or DeSoto County, the State Attorney's DETER program accepts a first refusal at Level 4, its most demanding tier, and the program terms cover the misdemeanor DUI, the refusal, or both. The terms and the trade-offs are explained on the DETER program page and on can a first DUI be reduced in Sarasota.

Should you refuse the breath test now?

Nothing on this page is advice to refuse or to blow; that decision is made on the roadside, under pressure, without a lawyer. What changed is the math. Before October 2025, a refusal cost a license and gave the State an argument. Now it also adds a separate criminal charge. A breath test at or above 0.08 gives the State its strongest evidence, and a result of 0.15 or higher adds enhanced penalties and an ignition interlock. If you already refused, the question is no longer which choice was better; it is whether the State can prove each element of what it charged.

Questions people ask

Is Trenton's Law retroactive?

No. It applies to refusals on or after October 1, 2025. A refusal before that date is handled under the old law: a one-year suspension for a first refusal, and a criminal charge only for a second or later refusal.

I refused and this is my first DUI. Am I going to jail?

A second-degree misdemeanor carries up to 60 days, but for a first offense with no aggravating facts, jail is not the typical outcome in Sarasota or Manatee County, and the refusal charge is often resolved together with the DUI. The real risks of a first case are the license, the permanent record and the DUI-specific penalties, which is why the defense review matters more than the maximum sentence.

Can the refusal charge be dropped if the DUI is dismissed?

They are separate charges, but they share the same foundation. If the stop or the arrest was unlawful, both charges fail. If the DUI is reduced through negotiation, the refusal is usually part of the same agreement.

The officer never told me refusing was a crime. Does that matter?

Yes. The warning that refusal is a misdemeanor is now an element of the offense under section 316.1939(1)(d). The body camera and the implied consent form should show exactly what was read to you.

Does Trenton's Law apply to boating under the influence?

Refusing a breath or urine test after a BUI arrest is still a civil infraction with a $500 fine under section 327.35215, not the new misdemeanor. A prior BUI refusal fine does count, though, in making a later DUI refusal a first-degree misdemeanor. See boating under the influence in Florida.

I refused in Bradenton. Is the process different from Sarasota?

The law is the same statewide. The case is filed in Manatee County Court and the administrative suspension runs through the same FLHSMV process. See Bradenton DUI lawyer for the local details.

Call or text (941) 920-5514, nights and weekends too, or request a free consultation by phone or video with former prosecutor Daniel D. Nawara. For the refusal rules in general, including what happens to your license, see refusing a breath test in Florida.