DeSantis Signs Beach Access Bill Into Law

In Brief:

🏖️ Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1622, shifting the burden of proof onto beachfront homeowners to restrict public access based on lack of customary use.
📝 The new law replaces a 2018 rule that forced Walton County to sue homeowners, a process local officials called costly and burdensome.
🌊 Lawmakers and local officials say the bill protects tradition and tourism, with beach access crucial to Walton County’s economy and identity.

Governor Ron DeSantis has signed SB 1622 into law.

The bill has been at the center of discussion about Beach access for the public versus private property rights for beachfront homeowners.

The bill requires beachfront homeowners to prove that there has not been customary use of the beach and land in front of their homes in order to restrict people from using it.

A bill signed in 2018 required Walton County in Walton County only to sue beachfront owners for access to the beaches for the public.

The 2018 bill was considered onerous and capital intensive for Walton County.

This meant everything from complaints about aggressive beach chair owners to people being trespassed from the beach Took place between 2018 and 2025.

But with the signature of the new bill, the fight is not over. Private beach owners can still sueFor additional restrictions-so long as they can prove in court that there is no customary use of the beach in front of their home.

“I remember when I was running for governor in 2018 that people here in Walton County were concerned about this because there had been a bill that had been signed that effectively didn’t allow the customary public use for the beaches that had been that had historically done and certain parts of the state. I wasn’t involved in that and I don’t know how it came to be,” Florida governor Ron DeSantis said in a press conference in Walton County when he signed the bill on the morning of June 24,” I definitely saw that many years ago was that this was something that a lot of people really cared about and so this was something that I kind of had in the back of my mind. We have been very strong and supporting the vitality of Florida beaches.”

“this bill is about much more than policy it’s about families, “Said Senator Jean Trumbull at the press conference, “it’s about tradition and restoring something that never should’ve been taken away in the first place.”

Trumbull recounted how people who had walked on the same beaches for decades woke up in 2018 and were told that they were trespassing on somebody’s private beach.

“that’s not the Walton county I know and that is not the Florida I believe in, “said senator Trumble. He also noted that the economy in Walton County is completely dependent on the 26 miles of beach public and private that people come to visit every year. “and with 80% of your economy relies on these beautiful beaches, relating to tourism, it’s not just a legal issue it’s a community issue.”