Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0595 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version Filed 11/15/2021

                               
 
HB 595  	2022 
 
 
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to public records; amending s. 2 
119.071, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 3 
records requirements for the personal identifying and 4 
location information of the chair, commissioners, and 5 
hearing officers of the Public Employees Relations 6 
Commission and the personal identifying and location 7 
information of spouses and children of such personnel; 8 
providing for future legislative review and repeal o f 9 
the exemption; providing a statement of public 10 
necessity; providing an effective date. 11 
 12 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13 
 14 
 Section 1.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section 15 
119.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to rea d: 16 
 119.071  General exemptions from inspection or copying of 17 
public records.— 18 
 (4)  AGENCY PERSONNEL INFORMATION. — 19 
 (d)1.  For purposes of this paragraph, the term: 20 
 a.  "Home addresses" means the dwelling location at which 21 
an individual resides and inclu des the physical address, mailing 22 
address, street address, parcel identification number, plot 23 
identification number, legal property description, neighborhood 24 
name and lot number, GPS coordinates, and any other descriptive 25     
 
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property information that may reve al the home address. 26 
 b.  "Telephone numbers" includes home telephone numbers, 27 
personal cellular telephone numbers, personal pager telephone 28 
numbers, and telephone numbers associated with personal 29 
communications devices. 30 
 2.a.  The home addresses, telephon e numbers, dates of 31 
birth, and photographs of active or former sworn law enforcement 32 
personnel or of active or former civilian personnel employed by 33 
a law enforcement agency, including correctional and 34 
correctional probation officers, personnel of the Depa rtment of 35 
Children and Families whose duties include the investigation of 36 
abuse, neglect, exploitation, fraud, theft, or other criminal 37 
activities, personnel of the Department of Health whose duties 38 
are to support the investigation of child abuse or neglec t, and 39 
personnel of the Department of Revenue or local governments 40 
whose responsibilities include revenue collection and 41 
enforcement or child support enforcement; the names, home 42 
addresses, telephone numbers, photographs, dates of birth, and 43 
places of employment of the spouses and children of such 44 
personnel; and the names and locations of schools and day care 45 
facilities attended by the children of such personnel are exempt 46 
from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 47 
Constitution. 48 
 b.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 49 
and photographs of current or former nonsworn investigative 50     
 
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personnel of the Department of Financial Services whose duties 51 
include the investigation of fraud, theft, workers' compensation 52 
coverage requirements and c ompliance, other related criminal 53 
activities, or state regulatory requirement violations; the 54 
names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and 55 
places of employment of the spouses and children of such 56 
personnel; and the names and locations of s chools and day care 57 
facilities attended by the children of such personnel are exempt 58 
from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 59 
Constitution. 60 
 c.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 61 
and photographs of current or former nonsworn investigative 62 
personnel of the Office of Financial Regulation's Bureau of 63 
Financial Investigations whose duties include the investigation 64 
of fraud, theft, other related criminal activities, or state 65 
regulatory requirement violations; the names, home addre sses, 66 
telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of 67 
the spouses and children of such personnel; and the names and 68 
locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the 69 
children of such personnel are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 70 
24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 71 
 d.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 72 
and photographs of current or former firefighters certified in 73 
compliance with s. 633.408; the names, home addresses, telephone 74 
numbers, photographs, dates of birth, and places of employment 75     
 
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of the spouses and children of such firefighters; and the names 76 
and locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the 77 
children of such firefighters are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and 78 
s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 79 
 e.  The home addresses, dates of birth, and telephone 80 
numbers of current or former justices of the Supreme Court, 81 
district court of appeal judges, circuit court judges, and 82 
county court judges; the names, home addresses, telephone 83 
numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of the spouses 84 
and children of current or former justices and judges; and the 85 
names and locations of schools and day care facilities attended 86 
by the children of current or former justices and judges are 87 
exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 88 
Constitution. 89 
 f.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 90 
and photographs of current or former state attorneys, assistant 91 
state attorneys, statewide prosecutors, or assistant statewide 92 
prosecutors; the names, home addresses, telephone numbers, 93 
photographs, dates of birth, and places of employment of the 94 
spouses and children of current or former state attorneys, 95 
assistant state attorneys, statewide prosecutors, or assistant 96 
statewide prosecutors; and the names and locations of schools 97 
and day care facilitie s attended by the children of current or 98 
former state attorneys, assistant state attorneys, statewide 99 
prosecutors, or assistant statewide prosecutors are exempt from 100     
 
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s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 101 
 g.  The home addresses, date s of birth, and telephone 102 
numbers of general magistrates, special magistrates, judges of 103 
compensation claims, administrative law judges of the Division 104 
of Administrative Hearings, and child support enforcement 105 
hearing officers, and the chair, commissioners , and hearing 106 
officers of the Public Employees Relations Commission ; the 107 
names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and 108 
places of employment of the spouses and children of general 109 
magistrates, special magistrates, judges of compensation clai ms, 110 
administrative law judges of the Division of Administrative 111 
Hearings, and child support enforcement hearing officers , and 112 
the chair, commissioners, and hearing officers of the Public 113 
Employees Relations Commission ; and the names and locations of 114 
schools and day care facilities attended by the children of 115 
general magistrates, special magistrates, judges of compensation 116 
claims, administrative law judges of the Division of 117 
Administrative Hearings, and child support enforcement hearing 118 
officers, and the chair, commissioners, and hearing officers of 119 
the Public Employees Relations Commission are exempt from s. 120 
119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 121 
 h.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 122 
and photographs of current or form er human resource, labor 123 
relations, or employee relations directors, assistant directors, 124 
managers, or assistant managers of any local government agency 125     
 
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or water management district whose duties include hiring and 126 
firing employees, labor contract negotiati on, administration, or 127 
other personnel-related duties; the names, home addresses, 128 
telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of 129 
the spouses and children of such personnel; and the names and 130 
locations of schools and day care facilities atte nded by the 131 
children of such personnel are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 132 
24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 133 
 i.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 134 
and photographs of current or former code enforcement officers; 135 
the names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 136 
and places of employment of the spouses and children of such 137 
personnel; and the names and locations of schools and day care 138 
facilities attended by the children of such personnel are exempt 139 
from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 140 
Constitution. 141 
 j.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, places of 142 
employment, dates of birth, and photographs of current or former 143 
guardians ad litem, as defined in s. 39.820; the names, home 144 
addresses, telephone numbers, d ates of birth, and places of 145 
employment of the spouses and children of such persons; and the 146 
names and locations of schools and day care facilities attended 147 
by the children of such persons are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and 148 
s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Cons titution. 149 
 k.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 150     
 
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and photographs of current or former juvenile probation 151 
officers, juvenile probation supervisors, detention 152 
superintendents, assistant detention superintendents, juvenile 153 
justice detention officers I and II, juvenile justice detention 154 
officer supervisors, juvenile justice residential officers, 155 
juvenile justice residential officer supervisors I and II, 156 
juvenile justice counselors, juvenile justice counselor 157 
supervisors, human services coun selor administrators, senior 158 
human services counselor administrators, rehabilitation 159 
therapists, and social services counselors of the Department of 160 
Juvenile Justice; the names, home addresses, telephone numbers, 161 
dates of birth, and places of employment of spouses and children 162 
of such personnel; and the names and locations of schools and 163 
day care facilities attended by the children of such personnel 164 
are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 165 
Constitution. 166 
 l.  The home addresses, telepho ne numbers, dates of birth, 167 
and photographs of current or former public defenders, assistant 168 
public defenders, criminal conflict and civil regional counsel, 169 
and assistant criminal conflict and civil regional counsel; the 170 
names, home addresses, telephone nu mbers, dates of birth, and 171 
places of employment of the spouses and children of current or 172 
former public defenders, assistant public defenders, criminal 173 
conflict and civil regional counsel, and assistant criminal 174 
conflict and civil regional counsel; and the names and locations 175     
 
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of schools and day care facilities attended by the children of 176 
current or former public defenders, assistant public defenders, 177 
criminal conflict and civil regional counsel, and assistant 178 
criminal conflict and civil regional counsel are exempt from s. 179 
119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 180 
 m.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 181 
and photographs of current or former investigators or inspectors 182 
of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation ; the 183 
names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and 184 
places of employment of the spouses and children of such current 185 
or former investigators and inspectors; and the names and 186 
locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the 187 
children of such current or former investigators and inspectors 188 
are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 189 
Constitution. 190 
 n.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, and dates of 191 
birth of county tax collectors; the names, home addresses, 192 
telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of 193 
the spouses and children of such tax collectors; and the names 194 
and locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the 195 
children of such tax collectors are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and 196 
s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 197 
 o.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 198 
and photographs of current or former personnel of the Department 199 
of Health whose duties include, or result in, the determination 200     
 
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or adjudication of eligibi lity for social security disability 201 
benefits, the investigation or prosecution of complaints filed 202 
against health care practitioners, or the inspection of health 203 
care practitioners or health care facilities licensed by the 204 
Department of Health; the names, home addresses, telephone 205 
numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of the spouses 206 
and children of such personnel; and the names and locations of 207 
schools and day care facilities attended by the children of such 208 
personnel are exempt from s. 119.07(1 ) and s. 24(a), Art. I of 209 
the State Constitution. 210 
 p.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 211 
and photographs of current or former impaired practitioner 212 
consultants who are retained by an agency or current or former 213 
employees of an impaired practitioner consultant whose duties 214 
result in a determination of a person's skill and safety to 215 
practice a licensed profession; the names, home addresses, 216 
telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of 217 
the spouses and children of such con sultants or their employees; 218 
and the names and locations of schools and day care facilities 219 
attended by the children of such consultants or employees are 220 
exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 221 
Constitution. 222 
 q.  The home addresses, tele phone numbers, dates of birth, 223 
and photographs of current or former emergency medical 224 
technicians or paramedics certified under chapter 401; the 225     
 
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names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and 226 
places of employment of the spouses and children of such 227 
emergency medical technicians or paramedics; and the names and 228 
locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the 229 
children of such emergency medical technicians or paramedics are 230 
exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 231 
Constitution. 232 
 r.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 233 
and photographs of current or former personnel employed in an 234 
agency's office of inspector general or internal audit 235 
department whose duties include auditing or investigating waste, 236 
fraud, abuse, theft, exploitation, or other activities that 237 
could lead to criminal prosecution or administrative discipline; 238 
the names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 239 
and places of employment of spouses and children of such 240 
personnel; and the names and locations of schools and day care 241 
facilities attended by the children of such personnel are exempt 242 
from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 243 
Constitution. 244 
 s.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 245 
and photographs of current or former directors, managers, 246 
supervisors, nurses, and clinical employees of an addiction 247 
treatment facility; the home addresses, telephone numbers, 248 
photographs, dates of birth, and places of employment of the 249 
spouses and children of such per sonnel; and the names and 250     
 
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locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the 251 
children of such personnel are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 252 
24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. For purposes of this 253 
sub-subparagraph, the term "addiction treatm ent facility" means 254 
a county government, or agency thereof, that is licensed 255 
pursuant to s. 397.401 and provides substance abuse prevention, 256 
intervention, or clinical treatment, including any licensed 257 
service component described in s. 397.311(26). 258 
 t.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, 259 
and photographs of current or former directors, managers, 260 
supervisors, and clinical employees of a child advocacy center 261 
that meets the standards of s. 39.3035(2) and fulfills the 262 
screening requirement of s. 39.3035(3), and the members of a 263 
Child Protection Team as described in s. 39.303 whose duties 264 
include supporting the investigation of child abuse or sexual 265 
abuse, child abandonment, child neglect, and child exploitation 266 
or to provide services as part o f a multidisciplinary case 267 
review team; the names, home addresses, telephone numbers, 268 
photographs, dates of birth, and places of employment of the 269 
spouses and children of such personnel and members; and the 270 
names and locations of schools and day care facil ities attended 271 
by the children of such personnel and members are exempt from s. 272 
119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 273 
 u.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, places of 274 
employment, dates of birth, and photographs of current or former 275     
 
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staff and domestic violence advocates, as defined in s. 276 
90.5036(1)(b), of domestic violence centers certified by the 277 
Department of Children and Families under chapter 39; the names, 278 
home addresses, telephone numbers, places of employment, dates 279 
of birth, and photographs of the spouses and children of such 280 
personnel; and the names and locations of schools and day care 281 
facilities attended by the children of such personnel are exempt 282 
from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 283 
Constitution. 284 
 3.  An agency that is the custodian of the information 285 
specified in subparagraph 2. and that is not the employer of the 286 
officer, employee, justice, judge, or other person specified in 287 
subparagraph 2. must maintain the exempt status of that 288 
information only if the o fficer, employee, justice, judge, other 289 
person, or employing agency of the designated employee submits a 290 
written and notarized request for maintenance of the exemption 291 
to the custodial agency. The request must state under oath the 292 
statutory basis for the i ndividual's exemption request and 293 
confirm the individual's status as a party eligible for exempt 294 
status. 295 
 4.a.  A county property appraiser, as defined in s. 296 
192.001(3), or a county tax collector, as defined in s. 297 
192.001(4), who receives a written and notarized request for 298 
maintenance of the exemption pursuant to subparagraph 3. must 299 
comply by removing the na me of the individual with exempt status 300     
 
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and the instrument number or Official Records book and page 301 
number identifying the property with the exempt status from all 302 
publicly available records maintained by the property appraiser 303 
or tax collector. For writte n requests received on or before 304 
July 1, 2021, a county property appraiser or county tax 305 
collector must comply with this sub -subparagraph by October 1, 306 
2021. A county property appraiser or county tax collector may 307 
not remove the street address, legal descr iption, or other 308 
information identifying real property within the agency's 309 
records so long as a name or personal information otherwise 310 
exempt from inspection and copying pursuant to this section are 311 
not associated with the property or otherwise displayed i n the 312 
public records of the agency. 313 
 b.  Any information restricted from public display, 314 
inspection, or copying under sub -subparagraph a. must be 315 
provided to the individual whose information was removed. 316 
 5.  An officer, an employee, a justice, a judge, or other 317 
person specified in subparagraph 2. may submit a written request 318 
for the release of his or her exempt information to the 319 
custodial agency. The written request must be notarized and must 320 
specify the information to be released and the party authorized 321 
to receive the information. Upon receipt of the written request, 322 
the custodial agency must release the specified information to 323 
the party authorized to receive such information. 324 
 6.  The exemptions in this paragraph apply to information 325     
 
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held by an agency before, on, or after the effective date of the 326 
exemption. 327 
 7.  Information made exempt under this paragraph may be 328 
disclosed pursuant to s. 28.2221 to a title insurer authorized 329 
pursuant to s. 624.401 and its affiliates as defined in s. 330 
624.10; a title insurance agent or title insurance agency as 331 
defined in s. 626.841(1) or (2), respectively; or an attorney 332 
duly admitted to practice law in this state and in good standing 333 
with The Florida Bar. 334 
 8.  The exempt status of a home address contained in the 335 
Official Records is maintained only during the period when a 336 
protected party resides at the dwelling location. Upon 337 
conveyance of real property after October 1, 2021, and when such 338 
real property no longer constitutes a protected party's home 339 
address as defined in sub-subparagraph 1.a., the protected party 340 
must submit a written request to release the removed information 341 
to the county recorder. The written request to release the 342 
removed information must be notarized, must confirm that a 343 
protected party's request for release is pursuant to a 344 
conveyance of his or her dwelling location, and must specify the 345 
Official Records book and page, instrument number, or clerk's 346 
file number for each document containing the information to be 347 
released. 348 
 9.  Upon the death of a prote cted party as verified by a 349 
certified copy of a death certificate or court order, any party 350     
 
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can request the county recorder to release a protected 351 
decedent's removed information unless there is a related request 352 
on file with the county recorder for continu ed removal of the 353 
decedent's information or unless such removal is otherwise 354 
prohibited by statute or by court order. The written request to 355 
release the removed information upon the death of a protected 356 
party must attach the certified copy of a death certi ficate or 357 
court order and must be notarized, must confirm the request for 358 
release is due to the death of a protected party, and must 359 
specify the Official Records book and page number, instrument 360 
number, or clerk's file number for each document containing t he 361 
information to be released. A fee may not be charged for the 362 
release of any document pursuant to such request. 363 
 10.  This paragraph is subject to the Open Government 364 
Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand 365 
repealed on October 2, 2 024, unless reviewed and saved from 366 
repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 367 
 Section 2.  The Legislature finds that it is a public 368 
necessity that the home addresses, dates of birth, and telephone 369 
numbers of the chair, commissioners, and hearing of ficers of the 370 
Public Employees Relations Commission; the names, home 371 
addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of 372 
employment of the spouses and children of such personnel; and 373 
the names and locations of schools and day care facilities 374 
attended by the children of such personnel be exempt from s. 375     
 
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119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the 376 
State Constitution. Such personnel and their families are at a 377 
heightened risk of physical and emotional harm from disgruntled 378 
individuals who have contentious reactions to actions taken by 379 
the commission. In addition, such personnel may be subject to 380 
threats or acts of revenge because of the duties they perform. 381 
The spouses and children of such personnel are also endangered 382 
by people who may seek to intimidate or harm such personnel. The 383 
Legislature finds that the harm that may result from the release 384 
of such personal identifying and location information outweighs 385 
any public benefit that may be derived from disclosure of the 386 
information. 387 
 Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 388