Felony Criminal Mischief in Florida: Thresholds and Penalties

Criminal mischief becomes a felony in Florida once property damage reaches $1,000, when the person has a prior criminal mischief conviction, or when the target is protected property like a place of worship, a memorial, or public utility equipment. Felony criminal mischief in Florida is charged under Florida Statute 806.13 as a third-degree felony in most cases, and as a second-degree felony in two narrow situations. The line between misdemeanor and felony matters: it separates a county jail exposure from a state prison sentence, and it attaches a felony record that follows you for life.

When Damage Crosses Into Felony Territory

The default felony trigger is dollar amount. Damage of $1,000 or more is a third-degree felony. Anything under that is a misdemeanor: up to $200 is a second-degree misdemeanor, and $200 to just under $1,000 is a first-degree misdemeanor.¹

The dollar figure is the total cost of restoring the property to its prior condition, including labor, materials, and supplies. When a single episode damages property belonging to more than one owner, the prosecution can add those amounts together to reach the felony threshold.

Routes to a Third-Degree Felony

Damage of $1,000 or More

Hitting the $1,000 mark on any single victim’s property, or across multiple victims in one episode, is enough on its own.¹

A Prior Criminal Mischief Conviction

Anyone with one or more previous criminal mischief convictions faces automatic felony reclassification, even when the current damage would otherwise be a misdemeanor. Both misdemeanor tiers get bumped up, so a second incident with under $200 in damage can produce a third-degree felony.¹

Protected Property at Just $200

For certain targets, the felony threshold drops from $1,000 to $200. Damage over $200 is a third-degree felony when the property is:

A place of worship, including religious articles inside it
A memorial or historic property, covering officially designated historic buildings and sites as well as memorials honoring military or public service, including statues, plaques, markers, and tombstones²
Public telephone equipment, including associated cables, wires, and fixtures
A sexually violent predator detention or commitment facility, or property inside it¹

Disruption of Public Services

Damage that interrupts or impairs public communications, transportation, or the supply of water, gas, or electrical power is a third-degree felony when the cost to restore service reaches $1,000 or more in labor and supplies. The measure here is restoration cost, not the value of the physical property damaged, so modest physical damage can trigger a felony if the recovery is expensive.¹

When It Becomes a Second-Degree Felony

Two situations push the charge up a level.

The first was added by HB 621 in 2024, Florida’s anti-squatter law. A person who unlawfully occupies or trespasses in a residential dwelling or commercial property and intentionally causes $1,000 or more in damage commits a second-degree felony. The same damage that would ordinarily be a third-degree felony becomes second-degree because of the illegal occupation.¹

The second is charged under a separate statute, Florida Statute 806.135, which targets people who destroy, demolish, or pull down a memorial or historic property outright. Section 806.13 handles damaging a memorial (third-degree felony over $200); Section 806.135 handles destroying one. Destroying a memorial is a second-degree felony, and the court must order full restitution for the cost of repair or replacement.²

What the Prosecution Has to Prove

Whatever the tier, the state must prove two elements beyond a reasonable doubt: that the defendant damaged or destroyed real or personal property belonging to another, and that the act was willful and malicious.¹

“Willfully” means intentional rather than accidental. “Maliciously” means wrongfully and without legal justification. The state doesn’t have to show a personal grudge; it has to show the person knew the act could cause damage and did it anyway. That intent requirement is what separates the criminal charge from a civil dispute over broken property.

Penalties

Third-Degree Felony

Up to five years in Florida state prison,³ plus a fine of up to $5,000.⁴ First-time offenders with damage near the felony threshold often receive probation in place of prison, but the felony conviction still lands on the record.

Second-Degree Felony

Up to 15 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.³⁴

Restitution

Restitution runs separately from any fine. Under the general restitution statute, the sentencing court must order the defendant to pay for damage caused directly or indirectly by the offense unless there are clear and compelling reasons not to.⁵ The money covers the actual cost of repair or replacement and goes to the victim, not the state.

For memorial and historic property, restitution is flatly mandatory, with no exceptions. The court must order the full cost of repair or replacement.¹ Victims can also file a separate civil lawsuit for damages beyond what the criminal court orders, including compensation for loss of use during repairs.

Life After a Felony Conviction

The sentence ends; the record doesn’t. A Florida felony conviction strips several rights:

The right to vote, unless and until civil rights are restored
The right to own or possess firearms
Eligibility for jury service, permanently
The ability to hold public office

Employment consequences reach further. A felony record can disqualify you from government positions, jobs working with children or the elderly, law enforcement and corrections work, and security-sensitive roles at airports and seaports. Professional licensing boards in fields like real estate, law, and healthcare can deny or revoke licenses over a felony. Private employers routinely screen for felony records, and while some “ban the box” protections exist, the conviction surfaces eventually in the hiring process.

Defenses That Can Change the Outcome

A few defenses recur in these cases, and they map directly onto what the state has to prove.

Lack of intent. Because the damage must be willful and malicious, purely accidental damage isn’t criminal mischief. Backing into a mailbox or breaking a window during yard work doesn’t qualify, however expensive the repair.

Ownership. You cannot commit criminal mischief against your own property. The statute requires that the property belong to another. This defense turns up often in domestic situations and disputes between business partners where ownership is genuinely unclear.

Consent. If the owner authorized the act, the destruction isn’t criminal. The practical difficulty is proving the consent existed, especially when it was only verbal.

Disputing the damage amount. This one doesn’t defeat the charge but can drop its severity. If the prosecution alleges $1,200 in damage and the defense shows the actual cost was $900, a third-degree felony becomes a first-degree misdemeanor. Defense attorneys often bring in independent appraisers or contractors to challenge inflated repair estimates, and cases frequently turn on this fight.

Mistaken identity. Vandalism often happens without clear witnesses or good surveillance. The state still has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged is the person who did it. Unclear video or shaky eyewitness identification can be enough to create reasonable doubt.

1
Justia Law. Florida Code 806.13 – Criminal Mischief; Penalties; Penalty for Minor
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 806.135 – Destroying or Demolishing a Memorial or Historic Property
3
Justia Law. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures; Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Certain Reoffenders Previously Released From Prison
4
Justia Law. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines
5
FindLaw. Florida Code 775.089 – Restitution