Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1157 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to public records; amending ss. 2
1616 394.464 and 397.6760, F.S.; exempting from public 3
1717 records requirements a respondent's name in certain 4
1818 documents at trial and on appeal; expanding exemptions 5
1919 from public records requirements for certain 6
2020 petitions, court orders, and related records to 7
2121 include applications for voluntary and involuntary 8
2222 mental health examinations and substance abuse 9
2323 treatment; expanding exceptions authorizing the 10
2424 disclosure of such personal identifying information 11
2525 and records to include certain service providers; 12
2626 authorizing a court to use a respondent's name for 13
2727 certain purposes; revising applicability to include 14
2828 appeals pending or file d on or after a specified date; 15
2929 revising the date for future legislative review and 16
3030 repeal of the exemptions; providing a statement of 17
3131 public necessity; providing a contingent effective 18
3232 date. 19
3333 20
3434 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21
3535 22
3636 Section 1. Section 394.464, Florida Statutes, is amended 23
3737 to read: 24
3838 394.464 Court records; confidentiality. — 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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5151 (1) A respondent's name, at trial and on appeal, and all 26
5252 petitions or applications for voluntary and involuntary 27
5353 admission for mental health examinations or treatment, court 28
5454 orders, and related records that are filed with or by a court 29
5555 under this part are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) 30
5656 and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Pleadings and 31
5757 other documents made confidential and exempt by this section may 32
5858 be disclosed by the clerk of the court, upon request, to any of 33
5959 the following: 34
6060 (a) The petitioner. 35
6161 (b) The petitioner's attorney. 36
6262 (c) The respondent. 37
6363 (d) The respondent's attorney. 38
6464 (e) The respondent's guardian or guar dian advocate, if 39
6565 applicable. 40
6666 (f) In the case of a minor respondent, the respondent's 41
6767 parent, guardian, legal custodian, or guardian advocate. 42
6868 (g) The respondent's treating health care practitioner and 43
6969 service provider. 44
7070 (h) The respondent's health ca re surrogate or proxy. 45
7171 (i) The Department of Children and Families, without 46
7272 charge. 47
7373 (j) The Department of Corrections, without charge, if the 48
7474 respondent is committed or is to be returned to the custody of 49
7575 the Department of Corrections from the Department of Children 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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8888 and Families. 51
8989 (k) A person or entity authorized to view records upon a 52
9090 court order for good cause. In determining if there is good 53
9191 cause for the disclosure of records, the court must weigh the 54
9292 person or entity's need for the information against potential 55
9393 harm to the respondent from the disclosure. 56
9494 (2) This section does not preclude the clerk of the court 57
9595 from submitting the information required by s. 790.065 to the 58
9696 Department of Law Enforcement. 59
9797 (3) The clerk of the court may not publish personal 60
9898 identifying information on a court docket or in a publicly 61
9999 accessible file, but the court may use a respondent's name to 62
100100 schedule and adjudicate cases, which includes transmitting a 63
101101 copy of any court order to the parties . 64
102102 (4) A person or entity receiving information pursuant to 65
103103 this section shall maintain that information as con fidential and 66
104104 exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 67
105105 Constitution. 68
106106 (5) The exemption under this section applies to all 69
107107 documents filed with a court before, on, or after July 1, 2019 , 70
108108 and appeals pending or filed on or after July 1, 20 22. 71
109109 (6) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset 72
110110 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 73
111111 on October 2, 2027 2024, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 74
112112 through reenactment by the Legislature. 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125125 Section 2. Section 3 97.6760, Florida Statutes, is amended 76
126126 to read: 77
127127 397.6760 Court records; confidentiality. — 78
128128 (1) A respondent's name, at trial and on appeal, and all 79
129129 petitions or applications for voluntary and involuntary 80
130130 substance abuse treatment or assessment and stabil ization, court 81
131131 orders, and related records that are filed with or by a court 82
132132 under this part or part IV are confidential and exempt from s. 83
133133 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 84
134134 Pleadings and other documents made confidential and exempt by 85
135135 this section may be disclosed by the clerk of the court, upon 86
136136 request, to any of the following: 87
137137 (a) The petitioner. 88
138138 (b) The petitioner's attorney. 89
139139 (c) The respondent. 90
140140 (d) The respondent's attorney. 91
141141 (e) The respondent's guardian or guardian ad vocate, if 92
142142 applicable. 93
143143 (f) In the case of a minor respondent, the respondent's 94
144144 parent, guardian, legal custodian, or guardian advocate. 95
145145 (g) The respondent's treating health care practitioner and 96
146146 service provider. 97
147147 (h) The respondent's health care surr ogate or proxy. 98
148148 (i) The Department of Children and Families, without 99
149149 charge. 100
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158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162162 (j) The Department of Corrections, without charge, if the 101
163163 respondent is committed or is to be returned to the custody of 102
164164 the Department of Corrections from the Department of C hildren 103
165165 and Families. 104
166166 (k) A person or entity authorized to view records upon a 105
167167 court order for good cause. In determining if there is good 106
168168 cause for the disclosure of records, the court must weigh the 107
169169 person or entity's need for the information against p otential 108
170170 harm to the respondent from the disclosure. 109
171171 (2) This section does not preclude the clerk of the court 110
172172 from submitting the information required by s. 790.065 to the 111
173173 Department of Law Enforcement. 112
174174 (3) The clerk of the court may not publish perso nal 113
175175 identifying information on a court docket or in a publicly 114
176176 accessible file, but the court may use a respondent's name to 115
177177 schedule and adjudicate cases, which includes transmitting a 116
178178 copy of any court order to the parties . 117
179179 (4) A person or entity recei ving information pursuant to 118
180180 this section shall maintain that information as confidential and 119
181181 exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 120
182182 Constitution. 121
183183 (5) The exemption under this section applies to all 122
184184 documents filed with a court before , on, or after July 1, 2017 , 123
185185 and appeals pending or filed on or after July 1, 2022 . 124
186186 (6) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset 125
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195195 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199199 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 126
200200 on October 2, 2027 2022, unless reviewed and sa ved from repeal 127
201201 through reenactment by the Legislature. 128
202202 Section 3. The Legislature finds that it is a public 129
203203 necessity that applications for voluntary and involuntary mental 130
204204 health examinations and substance abuse treatment which are 131
205205 filed with or by a court and a respondent's name, which is 132
206206 published on a court docket and maintained by the clerk of the 133
207207 court, under part I of chapter 394 and parts IV and V of chapter 134
208208 397, Florida Statutes, be made confidential and exempt from 135
209209 disclosure under s. 119.07( 1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 136
210210 Article I of the State Constitution. The mental health and 137
211211 substance abuse impairments of a person are medical conditions 138
212212 that should be protected from dissemination to the public. A 139
213213 person's health and sensitive persona l information regarding his 140
214214 or her mental health or substance abuse impairment are intensely 141
215215 private matters. Making such applications, petitions, orders, 142
216216 records, and identifying information confidential and exempt 143
217217 from disclosure will protect such person s from the release of 144
218218 sensitive, personal information that could damage their and 145
219219 their families' reputations. The publication of personal 146
220220 identifying information on a physical or virtual docket, 147
221221 regardless of whether any other record is published, defeats the 148
222222 purpose of protections otherwise provided. Further, the 149
223223 knowledge that such sensitive, personal information is subject 150
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232232 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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236236 to disclosure could have a chilling effect on a person's 151
237237 willingness to seek out and comply with mental health or 152
238238 substance abuse treatment services. 153
239239 Section 4. This act shall take effect on the same date 154
240240 that HB 1143 or similar legislation takes effect , if such 155
241241 legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an 156
242242 extension thereof and becomes a law. 157