(1) A person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property, or an agent of such person or organization, shall not be held liable for any civil damages for death of or injury or damage to a trespasser upon the property when such trespasser was under the influence of alcoholic beverages with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher, when such trespasser was under the influence of any chemical substance set forth in s. 877.111, when such trespasser was illegally under the influence of any substance controlled under chapter 893, or if the trespasser is affected by any of the aforesaid substances to the extent that her or his normal faculties are impaired. However, the person or organization owning or controlling the interest in real property shall not be immune from liability if gross negligence or intentional misconduct on the part of such person or organization or agent thereof is a proximate cause of the death of or injury or damage to the trespasser.
(2) A person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property, or an agent of such person or organization, is not liable for any civil damages for the death of or injury or damage to any discovered or undiscovered trespasser, except as provided in paragraphs (3)(a), (b), and (c), and regardless of whether the trespasser was intoxicated or otherwise impaired.
(3)(a) As used in this subsection, the term:
1. “Invitation” means that the visitor entering the premises has an objectively reasonable belief that he or she has been invited or is otherwise welcome on that portion of the real property where injury occurs.
2. “Discovered trespasser” means a person who enters real property without invitation, either express or implied, and whose actual physical presence was detected, within 24 hours preceding the accident, by the person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property or to whose actual physical presence the person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property was alerted by a reliable source within 24 hours preceding the accident. The status of a person who enters real property shall not be elevated to that of an invitee, unless the person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property has issued an express invitation to enter the property or has manifested a clear intent to hold the property open to use by persons pursuing purposes such as those pursued by the person whose status is at issue.
3. “Undiscovered trespasser” means a person who enters property without invitation, either express or implied, and whose actual physical presence was not detected, within 24 hours preceding the accident, by the person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property.
(b) To avoid liability to undiscovered trespassers, a person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property must refrain from intentional misconduct that proximately causes injury to the undiscovered trespasser, but has no duty to warn of dangerous conditions. To avoid liability to discovered trespassers, a person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property must refrain from gross negligence or intentional misconduct that proximately causes injury to the discovered trespasser, and must warn the trespasser of dangerous conditions that are known to the person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property but that are not readily observable by others.
(c) This subsection shall not be interpreted or construed to alter the common law as it pertains to the “attractive nuisance doctrine.”
(4) A person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property, or an agent of such person or organization, shall not be held liable for negligence that results in the death of, injury to, or damage to a person who is attempting to commit a felony or who is engaged in the commission of a felony on the property.
History.—s. 1, ch. 90-140; s. 1161, ch. 97-102; s. 19, ch. 99-225.
Structure Florida Statutes
Part I - General Provisions (Ss. 768.041-768.39)
768.041 - Release or covenant not to sue.
768.0415 - Liability for injury to parent.
768.043 - Remittitur and additur actions arising out of operation of motor vehicles.
768.07 - Railroad liability for injury to employees.
768.0705 - Limitation on premises liability.
768.075 - Immunity from liability for injury to trespassers on real property.
768.0755 - Premises liability for transitory foreign substances in a business establishment.
768.0895 - Limitation of liability for employers of persons with disabilities.
768.091 - Employer liability limits; ridesharing.
768.092 - Special mobile equipment; liability of lessors.
768.093 - Owner liability limits; powered shopping carts.
768.096 - Employer presumption against negligent hiring.
768.098 - Limitation of liability for employee leasing.
768.10 - Pits and holes not to be left open.
768.11 - Pits and holes; measure of damages.
768.12 - Motor vehicle colliding with any animal at large on a public highway.
768.125 - Liability for injury or damage resulting from intoxication.
768.1256 - Government rules defense.
768.1257 - State-of-the-art defense for products liability.
768.13 - Good Samaritan Act; immunity from civil liability.
768.1315 - Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighters’ Assistance Act; immunity from civil liability.
768.1325 - Cardiac Arrest Survival Act; immunity from civil liability.
768.1326 - Placement of automated external defibrillators in state buildings; rulemaking authority.
768.1335 - Emergency Medical Dispatch Act; presumption.
768.1345 - Professional malpractice; immunity.
768.135 - Volunteer team physicians; immunity.
768.1355 - Florida Volunteer Protection Act.
768.136 - Liability for canned or perishable food distributed free of charge.
768.137 - Definition; limitation of civil liability for certain farmers; exception.
768.138 - Interruption of electric utility service by order of law enforcement; immunity.
768.1382 - Streetlights, security lights, and other similar illumination; limitation on liability.
768.14 - Suit by state; waiver of sovereign immunity.
768.23 - Protection of minors and incompetents.
768.24 - Death of a survivor before judgment.
768.25 - Court approval of settlements.
768.295 - Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) prohibited.
768.31 - Contribution among tortfeasors.
768.35 - Continuing domestic violence.
768.36 - Alcohol or drug defense.
768.38 - Liability protections for COVID-19-related claims.
768.381 - COVID-19-related claims against health care providers.
768.382 - Limitation of liability for certain voluntary engineering or architectural services.
768.39 - Immunity for educational institutions for actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.