Some of the strangest laws still active in Florida are real, and some of the most repeated ones are invented. Adultery is technically a misdemeanor. Feeding an alligator repeatedly can escalate to a felony. Theater doors that open the wrong way carry up to five years in prison under an 1891 statute. But the dumb laws in Florida that get shared most often online, including the one about tying an elephant to a parking meter, don’t exist in any statute or ordinance. Here is what the code actually says.
Myths That Keep Circulating
The elephant-at-a-parking-meter story is the most persistent. It’s usually attributed to Sarasota or to Florida generally, and it isn’t real. An Orlando Police Department investigation that included a search of the Florida Statutes found no law concerning elephants and parking meters. The statute sometimes cited, Section 316.003, is a definitions section for traffic terms like “bicycle” and “bus.” No animals appear anywhere in it.
Two other regulars: Pensacola supposedly banned “rolling” in public, and Miami supposedly required skateboarders to hold licenses. Neither claim traces to an actual ordinance. Pensacola’s municipal code contains no rolling ban. Miami Beach regulates skateboarding heavily, but through location-based restrictions rather than any licensing scheme. As a rule, if a “weird law” list doesn’t cite a statute number, it’s probably recycled joke copy. The genuinely strange ones are the ones you can look up.
Adultery Is Still a Misdemeanor
Florida Statute 798.01 makes it a second-degree misdemeanor to live “in an open state of adultery.” Both people are considered guilty if either is married. That puts each of them at risk of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 798.01 – Living in Open Adultery2Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures; Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Certain Reoffenders Previously Released From Prison
The statute is more than a century old and essentially unenforced. Prosecutors don’t pursue these cases, and any serious challenge would run into modern privacy protections. But no legislature has bothered to strike it, so it remains active law.
Lewd and Lascivious Behavior
Florida Statute 798.02 criminalizes “open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior” for anyone, married or not. It carries the same second-degree misdemeanor penalty: 60 days and $500.3Justia Law. Florida Statutes 798.02 – Lewd and Lascivious Behavior Older versions of the statute explicitly criminalized unmarried cohabitation. That language has been trimmed, but the broad “lewdness” prohibition remains vague enough on paper to cover conduct most Floridians wouldn’t think twice about.
Feeding Wildlife Can Become a Felony
This one reads like a joke until you follow the penalty ladder. Florida prohibits feeding, attracting, or enticing wildlife with food or garbage when the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued a rule against it. A first violation is a noncriminal infraction with a $100 civil penalty.4Justia Law. Florida Statutes 379.412 – Penalties for Feeding Wildlife and Freshwater Fish
A second offense involving most wildlife becomes a second-degree misdemeanor, meaning up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Keep feeding bears or alligators specifically, and a third offense jumps to a first-degree misdemeanor of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. A fourth offense is a felony.4Justia Law. Florida Statutes 379.412 – Penalties for Feeding Wildlife and Freshwater Fish5The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines
The logic is practical. Feeding alligators trains them to associate humans with food, which produces dangerous animals. Refusing to accept a citation for a first offense also triggers a second-degree misdemeanor charge, so ignoring the problem always makes it worse.
Theater Doors Must Open Outward
Florida Statute 823.06 requires that all buildings used for “theatrical, operatic, or other public entertainments” build their entrance doors to open outward, so people can escape quickly in a fire. Violating this is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.6Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 823.06 – Doors of Public Buildings to Open Outward2Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures; Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Certain Reoffenders Previously Released From Prison
The rule dates to Chapter 4053 of the 1891 Florida Laws, making it one of the oldest active statutes in the state code. The concept is sensible and mirrors modern building codes across the country. What makes it strange is the severity: a felony conviction for a door that swings the wrong way. Most jurisdictions handle this through inspections and fines. Florida’s 134-year-old statute technically allows prison.
Disorderly Intoxication
Florida Statute 856.011 makes it illegal to be intoxicated in a public place and cause a disturbance, or to be intoxicated and endanger another person or property. It’s a second-degree misdemeanor, so a first conviction can bring 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.7The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 856.011 – Disorderly Intoxication
The stranger part is what happens with repeat offenders. Anyone convicted three times within 12 months can be classified as a “habitual offender” and committed to a treatment facility for up to 60 days. Officers also have discretion to skip an arrest entirely and instead send the person home or to a health facility.
Selling Minors and Obscene Materials
Florida Statute 847.0145 sometimes shows up on “dumb laws” lists as “it’s illegal to sell your children in Florida,” which sounds absurd stripped of context. In context, it makes selling or purchasing a minor for producing sexually explicit material a first-degree felony, carrying some of the harshest penalties in the criminal code.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 847.0145 – Selling or Buying of Minors; Penalties
Nearby, Florida Statute 847.011 sweeps broadly across obscene materials, covering books, photographs, wire recordings, and “any article or instrument for obscene use.” Possessing obscene material without intent to distribute is a second-degree misdemeanor. Distributing is a first-degree misdemeanor on a first conviction and a third-degree felony on any later one.9The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 847.011 – Prohibition of Certain Acts in Connection With Obscene, Lewd, Etc., Materials; Penalty
The Real Version of the Elephant Story
The elephant-at-a-parking-meter law is invented, but Florida’s actual exotic animal rules are strange enough on their own. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission classifies exotic species into three tiers. Class II animals, which include species considered a “real or potential threat to human safety,” require a permit backed by at least 1,000 hours of documented experience handling animals in the same biological family. Two reference letters are also required, one from an existing Florida permit holder or a veterinarian with firsthand knowledge of your work.10Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Class II Wildlife
Facilities housing Class II wildlife must sit on at least 2.5 acres, have a perimeter fence at least eight feet high, and maintain a 35-foot buffer zone between caged animals and the property line. Owning a dangerous exotic animal in Florida is possible. The paperwork and property requirements make the parking-meter joke look tame.
The Real Version of the Skateboard Story
Miami Beach never required skateboarders to hold a license. Its actual ordinances are peculiar in their own right. The city bans skateboarding, roller skating, and inline skating on specific stretches of Ocean Drive and Lincoln Road Mall. Grinding, rail sliding, launching, and “stalling” on public property are separately prohibited and defined with unusual precision. The rules also apply on the grounds of city hall, parking garages, fire stations, and historically designated properties.
These aren’t old holdovers. They reflect ongoing friction between recreational use and pedestrian traffic in dense tourist corridors. Violations of municipal codes in Florida can result in civil fines up to $500 under the state’s code enforcement framework.11The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 162.21 – Enforcement of County or Municipal Codes or Ordinances; Penalties
Why These Statutes Stay on the Books
Repealing a law takes the same legislative process as passing one: committee hearings, floor votes, a governor’s signature. For statutes nobody enforces, there is almost no political incentive to spend that time. A legislator who introduces a bill to repeal the adultery statute invites awkward headlines without gaining anything voters care about. So the laws sit.
Some states use sunset provisions that force the legislature to actively renew a law or let it expire. Review cycles typically run four to twelve years. Florida uses sunset review for some agencies and regulatory boards, but most criminal statutes have no expiration date. Unless a court strikes one down or a legislator picks up the cause, they stay right where they are, waiting to surface on the next list of weird laws.