Criminal mischief in Florida means willfully and maliciously damaging real or personal property that belongs to another person (section 806.13). It isn’t one of the offenses Florida’s domestic violence statute lists, so a property-damage case counts as domestic violence only when the facts also meet that statute’s definition, such as a listed offense or another crime that causes physical injury, between family or household members (section 741.28). That distinction matters if you or someone close to you was arrested after an argument that ended with broken property.
What Is Criminal Mischief Under Florida Law?
Section 806.13 covers willfully and maliciously injuring or damaging, by any means, real or personal property belonging to another. Graffiti and other vandalism are examples the statute names.
To convict, the State has to prove several things. It must show the conduct was willful and malicious, that the property belonged to someone else, and that the accused is the person who caused the damage. It must also prove the dollar amount of the damage and any prior conviction it relies on to raise the charge. A person convicted may also be ordered to pay for the damage.
Criminal Mischief Penalties by Damage Amount
The amount of damage sets the degree of the offense. The table shows statutory maximums, which aren’t predictions of what happens in any case (sections 806.13(1)(b), 775.082 and 775.083).
| Damage amount | Offense level | Maximum jail or prison | Maximum fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200 or less | Second-degree misdemeanor | 60 days | $500 |
| Over $200 but under $1,000 | First-degree misdemeanor | 1 year | $1,000 |
| $1,000 or more | Third-degree felony | 5 years | $5,000 |
A fine can run higher, up to double the offender’s gain or the victim’s loss, or an amount another statute specifically authorizes (section 775.083).
Several things push a charge up a level under section 806.13:
- One or more prior convictions under section 806.13(1) make an otherwise misdemeanor charge under that subsection a third-degree felony.
- Damage over $200 to a church, synagogue, mosque, other place of worship or religious article is a third-degree felony under section 806.13(2).
- Damage to a business operation or to public communication, transportation, water, gas, power or other public service is a third-degree felony when restoring it costs $1,000 or more in labor and supplies.
How damage is added up
When property owned by different people is damaged in one scheme or course of conduct, the amounts may be added together to set the degree (section 806.13). Because the dollar figure decides the level of the charge, how the State arrived at it matters. A mischief count can also be filed alongside other charges from the same incident, which is why a criminal defense review looks at the whole arrest.
When Does Property Damage Count as Domestic Violence?
Under section 741.28, domestic violence means assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another.
Criminal mischief isn’t on that list. Property damage alone, with no physical injury or death, doesn’t by itself meet the definition, and a relationship alone doesn’t turn a property allegation into domestic violence. A separate listed offense, or an offense that causes physical injury, changes the analysis. When an argument involves damaged property, an assault or battery allegation can also be part of the case, and that charge can carry the domestic violence label. That’s why domestic violence charges in Broward call for a close look at exactly what was charged.
A “family or household member” includes spouses and former spouses, people related by blood or marriage, people who live or lived together as a family, and parents of a child in common. Except for parents of a child in common, they must live or have lived together in the same single dwelling unit (section 741.28).
Consequences that follow a qualifying domestic violence crime
- Probation and classes. On a finding of guilt, a withhold of adjudication or a no contest plea to a crime that meets the definition, the court must order at least 1 year of probation and a batterers’ intervention program, subject to statutory exceptions (section 741.281).
- Jail minimums. These apply only on an adjudication of guilt where the person intentionally caused bodily harm. The minimums are 10, 15 and 20 days for a first, second and later offense, or 15, 20 and 30 days if a child under 16 who is a family or household member of the victim or perpetrator was present (section 741.283). A count based only on property damage doesn’t meet that bodily-harm condition.
What Changes for Repeat Domestic Violence Offenses?
Chapter 2026-86, effective July 1, 2026, created section 741.2801. It raises a domestic violence crime one degree when the offender has a prior domestic violence conviction. A second-degree misdemeanor becomes a first-degree misdemeanor, and a first-degree misdemeanor becomes a third-degree felony (section 741.2801).
A prior “conviction” here includes a finding of guilt by plea or trial even when adjudication was withheld, and a no contest plea. The enhancement doesn’t apply to felony battery under section 784.03(2) (section 741.2801). It also doesn’t automatically attach to a property-only mischief count. The charged conduct has to meet the domestic violence definition first.
Can Damaging Someone’s Property Lead to a Domestic Violence Injunction?
Yes, it can matter. A victim of domestic violence, or someone with reasonable cause to believe they’re in imminent danger of becoming one, can file a verified petition for an injunction in circuit court (section 741.30). In weighing it, the court may consider whether the respondent destroyed the petitioner’s personal property, such as phones or clothing, along with a pattern of abusive, threatening, intimidating or controlling behavior.
An ex parte temporary injunction lasts no more than 15 days, and the full hearing must be set no later than the day it expires (section 741.30). The clerk can’t charge a filing fee for the petition and must provide forms and help. In Broward, that’s the Clerk’s Domestic Violence Division.
How a Domestic Violence Criminal Mischief Case Moves Through Broward County
Here’s how this looks in Broward County:
- Booking. BSO’s Central Intake Bureau (booking) and Main Jail Bureau are at 555 SE 1st Ave. in Fort Lauderdale (BSO jail facilities). Attorney visiting hours at the Main Jail are 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., seven days a week (BSO attorney information).
- First appearance. Under Rule 3.130, every arrested person not already lawfully released must be taken before a judge, in person or by video, within 24 hours of arrest. Under the 17th Circuit’s AO 2026-28-Crim (Amendment 1), Broward holds these hearings in Room 4155 of the Broward County Courthouse West Tower, 201 S.E. Sixth Street, with video links to the facilities where BSO holds the person. Dockets run at 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on weekdays and at 8:30 a.m. only on weekends and court holidays. Anyone processed at the jail by 4:00 a.m. goes on the 8:30 a.m. docket, and anyone processed by 9:00 a.m. goes on the afternoon docket.
- Charging. Formal charges come from the office of Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor. Under Rule 3.134, the State must file formal charges within 30 days of arrest for a person in custody. If it hasn’t, the court on day 30 must order release on recognizance on day 33, or on day 40 if the State shows good cause. Speedy trial runs 90 days for a misdemeanor or 175 days for a felony, counted from when the person is formally charged, not from arrest (Rule 3.191).
- Courts. Misdemeanors, which cover the two lower mischief tiers, go to the County Court Criminal Division, whose judges sit at the Central Courthouse, 201 SE 6th Street, and at the satellite courthouses in Hollywood, Plantation and Deerfield Beach. Felony cases are handled in the North Building of the main courthouse, where the Clerk’s felony office is on the 1st floor, Room 1882 (Broward Clerk locations). A criminal misdemeanor charge requires a court appearance (Broward Clerk).
- Case search. The Clerk’s public case search is at browardclerk.org/Web2.
Defending a Criminal Mischief Charge
The defense starts with the statute’s elements. Was the damage willful and malicious, or an accident? Did the property really belong to “another”? Who actually caused it? How was the dollar figure reached, given that it sets the degree? Is the alleged prior real, and does it qualify? When a domestic violence label is attached, the question is whether the facts meet section 741.28 at all.
Common Questions
How do I speak up about domestic violence?
If you’re in immediate danger, call 911. The Broward Clerk’s Domestic Violence page lists 24-hour help, including Women In Distress and the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline. The Clerk’s Domestic Violence Division can also help with an injunction petition.
How long can you go to jail for assault on a female?
Florida’s simple assault statute isn’t gender-specific. Simple assault is an intentional, unlawful threat to do violence, with apparent ability and an act creating a well-founded fear that violence is imminent, and it’s a second-degree misdemeanor (section 784.011). The maximum for that degree is 60 days (section 775.082). That’s a ceiling, and battery and other charges carry different maximums.
What is the definition of family violence, and how does it differ from domestic violence?
Florida’s statute uses the term “domestic violence,” meaning listed offenses or a criminal offense causing physical injury or death, committed by one family or household member against another (section 741.28). “Family or household member” describes the relationship category. “Family violence” isn’t a separate charge name in section 741.28.
What proof do I need for emotional abuse?
Emotional abuse isn’t a separately listed crime in section 741.28. A pattern of abusive, threatening, intimidating or controlling behavior can matter to an injunction petition when it supports reasonable cause to believe the petitioner is in imminent danger. The petition must state the specific facts and circumstances supporting the relief requested (section 741.30).
Talking With Adam D. Harmelin
Adam D. Harmelin is a criminal defense lawyer with an office in downtown Fort Lauderdale. If you’d like to talk through a property-damage or domestic violence charge in Broward, you can call (954) 294-9372.
This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your case.