RYAN D. MAXEY v. STATE OF FLORIDA

S IXTH D ISTRICT C OURT OF APPEAL
S TATE OF FLORIDA
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Case No. 6D2024-1883
Lower Tribunal No. 2007-CF-012555
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R YAN D. MAXEY,
Appellant,
v.
S TATE OF F LORIDA ,
Appellee.
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Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County.
Robert J. Egan, Judge.
March 6, 2026
MIZE, J.
Appellant, Ryan D. Maxey (“Maxey”), challenges the lower court’s order
vacating 	its 	prior 	order 	which 	granted 	Maxey’s 	motion 	for 	removal 	of 	the
requirement to register as a sexual offender under section 943.04354, Florida
Statutes (2022). Because the trial court was correct that it did not have discretion to
grant Maxey relief under section 943.04354, we affirm.
This Court reviews “a trial court’s interpretation of a statute de novo.” Marlin
Constr. Grp., LLC v. Bollinger, 412 So. 3d 812, 815 (Fla. 6th DCA 2024). 	“In

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matters involving statutory interpretation, courts must first look to the actual
language of the statute and examine the statute’s plain meaning.” Id. (internal
quotations omitted).
Under section 943.04354, “a person shall be considered for removal of the
requirement to register as a sexual offender . . . only if the person . . . [w]as convicted
. . . or adjudicated delinquent of a violation of” section 800.04, 827.071, or
847.0135(5), “is required to register as a sexual offender . . . solely on the basis of
this conviction or adjudication,” and “[i]s not more than 4 years older than the victim
of this violation who was 13 years of age or older but younger than 18 years of age
at the time the person committed this violation.” § 943.04354(1)(a), (b)1., (c), Fla.
Stat. Maxey was 28 years old when he committed a violation of section 847.0135(3)
involving a perceived 14-year-old victim. 	Since the offense of which Maxey was
convicted is not one of the offenses listed in section 943.04354, and Maxey also was
more than four years older than the perceived victim of his offense at the time of the
offense, Maxey did not qualify for consideration of removal from the sex offender
registry under section 943.04354, and the trial court was correct to vacate its prior
order granting Maxey’s motion.
AFFIRMED.
TRAVER, C.J., and PRATT, J., concur.

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Briana Fosah and Robert I. Mandell, of Mandell Law, P.A., Orlando, for Appellant.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Alyssa M. Williams, Assistant
Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING
AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED