Florida statute

Fla. Stat. § 812.141 — Offenses involving critical infrastructure; improper tampering; civil remedies; trespass on critical infrastructure; computer offenses involving critical infrastructure

Current through 2025 Florida Statutes

Part of Chapter 812: Theft, Robbery, and Related Crimes, Florida Statutes.

Criminal charges under this statute

Offenses involving critical infrastructure; improper tampering; civil remedies; trespass on critical infrastructure; computer offenses involving critical infrastructure

Full text of Fla. Stat. § 812.141

Statutory text current through the 2025 Florida Statutes. This publication reproduces the official statutory text; it is not the official statutes of the State of Florida.

Fla. Stat. § 812.141Primary source, current through the 2025 Florida Statutes

(1) For purposes of this section, the term:(a) “Critical infrastructure” means:1. Any linear asset; or2. Any of the following for which the owner or operator thereof has employed measures designed to exclude unauthorized persons, including, but not limited to, fences, barriers, guard posts, or signs prohibiting trespass:a. An electric power generation, transmission, or distribution facility, or a substation, a switching station, or an electrical control center.b. A chemical or rubber manufacturing or storage facility.c. A mining facility.d. A natural gas or compressed gas compressor station or storage facility.e. A gas processing plant, including a plant used in the processing, treatment, or fractionation of natural gas.f. A liquid natural gas or propane gas terminal or storage facility with a capacity of 4,000 gallons or more.g. A wireless or wired communications facility, including the tower, antennas, support structures, and all associated ground-based equipment.h. A water intake structure, water treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, pump station, or lift station.i. A seaport listed in s. 311.09.j. A railroad switching yard, trucking terminal, or other freight transportation facility.k. An airport as defined in s. 330.27.l. A spaceport territory as defined in s. 331.303.m. A transmission facility used by a federally licensed radio or television station.n. A military base or military facility conducting research and development of military weapons systems, subsystems, components, or parts.o. A civilian defense industrial base conducting research and development of military weapons systems, subsystems, components, or parts.p. A dam as defined in s. 373.403(1), or other water control structures such as locks, floodgates, or dikes that are designed to maintain or control the level of navigable waterways.(b) “Improperly tampers” means to cause, or attempt to cause, significant damage to, or a significant interruption or impairment of a function of, critical infrastructure without permission or authority to do so.(c) “Linear asset” means any electric distribution or transmission asset, oil or gas distribution or transmission pipeline, communication wirelines, or railway, and any attachments thereto. (2) A person commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, if he or she knowingly and intentionally improperly tampers with critical infrastructure which results in:(a) Damage to such critical infrastructure that is $200 or more; or(b) The interruption or impairment of the function of such critical infrastructure which costs $200 or more in labor and supplies to restore. (3) A person who is found in a civil action to have improperly tampered with critical infrastructure based on a conviction for a violation of subsection (2) is liable to the owner or operator of the critical infrastructure for damages in an amount equal to three times the actual damage sustained by the owner or operator due to any property damage, personal injury, or wrongful death caused by the act or an amount equal to three times any claim the owner or operator was required to pay for any property damage, personal injury, or wrongful death caused by the malfunction of the critical infrastructure resulting from the act, whichever is greater. (4) A person commits the offense of trespass on critical infrastructure, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, if he or she, without being authorized, licensed, or invited, willfully enters upon or remains on critical infrastructure as to which notice against entering or remaining in is given, either by actual communication to the offender or by posting, fencing, or cultivation as described in s. 810.011. (5)(a) A person who willfully, knowingly, and without authorization gains access to a computer, a computer system, a computer network, or an electronic device that is owned, operated, or used by any critical infrastructure entity while knowing that such access is unauthorized commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.(b) A person who willfully, knowingly, and without authorization physically tampers with, inserts a computer contaminant into, or otherwise transmits commands or electronic communications to, a computer, a computer system, a computer network, or an electronic device that causes a disruption in any service delivered by any critical infrastructure commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.(c) For purposes of this subsection, the terms “computer,” “computer system,” “computer network,” and “electronic device” have the same meanings as in s. 815.03.

Official sources

Legal terms used in this section

Questions this section answers

Is offenses involving critical infrastructure; improper tampering; civil remedies; trespass on critical infrastructure; computer offenses involving critical infrastructure a felony or a misdemeanor in Florida?

It depends on the circumstances: offenses involving critical infrastructure; improper tampering; civil remedies; trespass on critical infrastructure; computer offenses involving critical infrastructure ranges from a Felony of the Third Degree to a Felony of the Second Degree in Florida under Fla. Stat. § 812.141.

Improper tampering with critical infrastructure: Felony of the Second Degree (Fla. Stat. § 812.141(2)) · Trespass on critical infrastructure: Felony of the Third Degree (Fla. Stat. § 812.141(4)) · Unauthorized computer access to critical infrastructure systems: Felony of the Third Degree (Fla. Stat. § 812.141(5)(a)) · Computer tampering causing disruption of critical infrastructure service: Felony of the Second Degree (Fla. Stat. § 812.141(5)(b))

Which Florida statute covers offenses involving critical infrastructure; improper tampering; civil remedies; trespass on critical infrastructure; computer offenses involving critical infrastructure?

Offenses involving critical infrastructure; improper tampering; civil remedies; trespass on critical infrastructure; computer offenses involving critical infrastructure is governed by Fla. Stat. § 812.141 (Offenses involving critical infrastructure; improper tampering; civil remedies; trespass on critical infrastructure; computer offenses involving critical infrastructure).

This reference is informational and is not legal advice.