Say a tourist gets into a fight at a beach bar and is charged with battery. Sometimes the officer gives a notice to appear, a summons-style paper that says when to come to court, and no jail time is spent. Other times the person is arrested. Then a Florida rule applies: a Gulf judge must hold a first appearance within 24 hours of arrest to explain the charge, check the arrest, and set release terms. Florida’s Supreme Court issued the statewide bond schedule now in effect for 2026 (administrative order AOSC25-69). It tells the jail the minimum bond for each charge if a person posts it before first appearance. Some charges, though, require waiting for the judge. To get out, many families pay a licensed bail bond agent a premium, which Florida sets at 10% of the bond or a $100 minimum.

Florida limits misdemeanor punishment by degree. The first degree allows a sentence of no more than 12 months and a fine capped at $1,000. For the second degree, the caps fall to 60 days and $500. The voters of the six counties elect the 14th Circuit’s State Attorney, who keeps an office in Port St. Joe and prosecutes all state offenses. A judge decides whether you are poor enough for an appointed lawyer, called being indigent. If you are, the 14th Circuit’s elected Public Defender is assigned. If the public defender in Gulf has a conflict, the court turns to the region's conflict counsel, a separate office the state pays for. Under Florida’s section 938.29, the court can require payment for appointed lawyers and record a lien when it’s not paid.

Diversion is common for first offenses; completing classes, restitution or service can lead to dismissal. A misdemeanor trial is due within 90 days of formal charges under the speedy trial rule unless waived. Six jurors hear these trials.

Under 18: Teens go to juvenile court in Circuit Court, not County Court. Florida’s civil citation law, section 985.12, lets officers send many first-time young offenders to a program of service hours or counseling instead of arresting them. Locking up a teen triggers a detention hearing, which has to happen inside 24 hours. Youths from Gulf who are held in secure detention ride to Panama City and the Bay Regional Juvenile Detention Center, operated by the state’s juvenile justice agency.

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A felony is serious enough to bring prison time beyond one year. Following first appearance, the prosecutor files a charging document known as an information, or for murder, a grand jury may return an indictment. The defendant pleads at an arraignment. Then come discovery, motions and plea talks.

Sentences grow with the felony’s degree. Third degree: a maximum of 5 years. Second degree: a maximum of 15. First degree: a maximum of 30. Life and capital felonies are the heaviest. Breaking into a vacation rental counts as burglary of a dwelling, a second-degree felony even when nobody is staying there; breaking into a shed or a parked truck is usually third degree. To set a minimum sentence, the judge tallies points on the Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet for the offense and past record. Gulf inmates headed to state prison will serve no less than 85% of the term.

Unless waived, the speedy trial rule gives the state 175 days after formal charges to try a felony. Gulf felony juries seat six people; a capital trial seats 12. Most Gulf felony cases end in a plea.

Under 18: In most Gulf cases, a minor charged with a felony is kept in the juvenile system, where treatment and accountability come first. Section 985.557 still lets prosecutors direct file the case in adult court: at 16 or 17, almost any felony qualifies, while a 14- or 15-year-old must be accused of a listed serious felony. Since a 2019 reform removed mandatory transfers, each direct file is a prosecutor’s decision.

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Violent felonies use the felony process, but bonds are higher and sentences longer. Prosecutors can ask a judge to keep someone jailed until trial. The gun statute nicknamed 10-20-Life (section 775.087) kicks in when a firearm shows up in robbery, aggravated assault and other listed crimes. Possessing the gun means a 10-year minimum (3 years for aggravated assault), firing it means 20, and causing injury or death with it means 25 years to life.

Prosecutors charge first-degree murder as a capital felony, which ends either in a death sentence or in life with no parole. Under a 2023 change, 8 juror votes are enough for a death recommendation in Florida; unanimity is no longer needed. Condemned men from every Florida county, Gulf included, are sent to Union Correctional Institution (Raiford), and condemned women to Lowell Correctional Institution.

Florida’s Marsy’s Law (section 16(b) of the Declaration of Rights in Article I) protects victims. They may receive notice of hearings, be present, be heard at plea and sentencing, and be protected from the defendant. Victim advocates at the 14th Circuit State Attorney’s office are there to help.

Under 18: Section 985.56 has no minimum age: if the crime could carry death or life imprisonment, grand jurors may indict the child, and adult court takes over. Children can’t receive the death penalty. A juvenile facing life must first have a special hearing where the judge considers age and circumstances.

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The Sheriff's Office holds warrants Fourteenth Circuit judges issue here, and it answers at (850) 227-1115. Gulf dockets, including a capias, are posted to the Online Court Records Search. Your attorney can escort the person to the Cecil G. Costin Sr. Boulevard detention facility to surrender at a set time. The clerk, in Room 149 of the same complex, handles new dates, and Wewahitchka cases go through that office too, so one call settles which judge has it. FDLE's statewide wanted persons lookup shows warrants released by agencies elsewhere.

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