What Are My Rights If Florida Police Want Me to Become an Informant After a Search?

Attorney Answer

You have the right to talk to a lawyer before you agree to anything, and given what you've described, you should use that right immediately rather than deciding this on your own.

Florida has a specific law, often called Rachel's Law (Fla. Stat. § 914.28), passed after a young confidential informant was killed during a police operation. It requires law enforcement agencies to have written policies for recruiting informants, including giving a potential informant the opportunity to consult with an attorney, on request, before agreeing to work as one, and considering factors like age and the nature of any offense involved. You are not required to become an informant on the spot, and you can ask for the chance to get legal advice before you decide anything.

Just because you were not arrested that day does not mean this is over. Florida prosecutors generally have up to three years to file most felony drug charges after the alleged offense (Fla. Stat. § 775.15), so a decision not to arrest you immediately is not the same as a decision not to charge you later, especially if you are seen as more useful as a potential informant right now.

What you can do

1. Do not agree to be an informant, sign anything, or make any statements about the alleged drugs until you have spoken with a criminal defense attorney. 2. Do not write out your own account of what happened. Notes you create yourself are not protected by attorney-client privilege, can be seized or subpoenaed, and can be used to impeach you if your testimony later differs. Instead preserve the records that already exist — texts, call logs, emails, receipts, photos and location history — along with the names and contact details of any witnesses, and give your account to your attorney verbally. 3. Contact a Florida criminal defense attorney now, even though you have not been arrested or charged. Being approached about becoming an informant is exactly the kind of situation a defense attorney can help you navigate safely. 4. If you are contacted again about the informant arrangement, you can simply say you want to speak with an attorney first, and stop the conversation there.

Being stopped twice in one week by the same officer, and then being asked to work as an informant instead of being arrested, is the kind of situation where the details matter enormously and legal advice should come before you say or sign anything else. This is general legal information, not legal advice. A Florida criminal defense attorney can review the details of your stops and advise you on next steps.