5 laws going into effect in Florida on Oct. 1

🚘 New specialty license plates (SB 246): The law creates eight new specialty license plates, including ones for UFC, Miami-Dade College and St. Petersburg College.

🚔 New gang membership criteria (HB 429): The law changes the criteria that authorities can use to identify someone as a criminal gang member. A person must meet at least two criteria.

• Authorities can now consider social media admissions, communications indicating gang affiliation and repeated association with known gang members.

🪪 Expanded career offender registration (SB 1332): The law requires career offenders to register in person at a sheriff's office within 48 hours of release or establishing a residence.

• Career offenders must now have "775.261, F.S." printed on the front of their driver's license as well.

🐾 Stiffer animal cruelty laws (HB 559): The law makes it a felony for adults to cause or entice minors to commit aggravated animal cruelty or commit aggravated animal cruelty in their presence.

• It also expands the state's public animal abuse database.

🚗 Crash reporting changes (SB 488): The law raises the property damage threshold for reporting a crash to law enforcement from $500 to $2,000.

• It also permits license plate frames that do not obscure the plate number or validation sticker.