New custody exchange law aims to protect families
Starting Monday, there will be new custody exchange locations in Florida.
ORLANDO, Florida. – Starting Monday, we'll see purple signs in sheriff's offices across the state, marking special locations where parents with shared custody can meet at any time to surrender their children, with cameras rolling and officers watching the children.
Orlando attorney Albert Yonfa said this is a sensible step to protect families. “The new law, HB-385, I think will be tremendously helpful to vulnerable families. We're talking about couples who exchange their child as part of a parenting plan.”
Each designated parking space shall have a purple light or sign to identify the drop-off location. The purple color at the drop-off location represents domestic violence awareness. The parking space shall be accessible 24 hours a day.
There has to be good lighting and video surveillance that records continuously. Former Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said Florida lawmakers passed the measure almost unanimously. “In this day and age, when everyone is so divided politically, these two parties have come together to come up with something that will undoubtedly benefit at-risk families.”
This new law is named after Cassie Carli, a Northwest Florida mother who disappeared in 2022 after meeting her child's father in a restaurant parking lot during a custody hearing. Investigators found Cassie's body six weeks later in Alabama.
The child's father is now in court. Attorneys like Cassie's friend Stacy Cole said if those protections had been in place, Cassie might still be here today. “Currently, most of those places are public parking lots, Walmart, parking lots, CVS. And some of those facilities have 24/7 surveillance. But to achieve that surveillance, there are additional steps that need to be taken. And it's not always that safe.”
Yonfa said the law gives courts the authority to order parents to use these locations if there is evidence that one of the people involved may be at risk. “In these situations, there is often a risk of domestic violence, there is a history of violence, or there is a risk to the mother or father in a child exchange. This law will protect everyone by requiring that the children be dropped off at a location designated by the sheriff of the respective county.”
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