Florida 2022 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1243 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 02/17/2022

                       
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to public records and public meetings; 2 
creating s. 415.1104, F.S.; specifying that 3 
information obtained by an elder abuse fatality review 4 
team which is confidential or exempt from public 5 
records requirements retains its protected status; 6 
providing an exemption from public records 7 
requirements for personal identifying information of 8 
an elder abuse victim and other specified information 9 
contained in records held by a review team; providing 10 
an exemption from public meetings requirements for 11 
portions of review team meetings during which 12 
confidential or exempt information is discussed; 13 
providing for future legislative review and repeal; 14 
providing a statement of public necessity; providing 15 
an effective date. 16 
 17 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18 
 19 
 Section 1.  Section 415.1104, Florida Statutes, is created 20 
to read: 21 
 415.1104  Elder abuse fatality review teams; public record s 22 
and public meetings exemptions. — 23 
 (1)(a)  Any information that is confidential or exempt from 24 
s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution and 25     
 
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is obtained by an elder abuse fatality review team pursuant to 26 
s. 415.1103 retains its confident ial or exempt status. 27 
 (b)  Any information contained in a record held by an elder 28 
abuse fatality review team which reveals the identity of a 29 
victim of elder abuse and the address or location of such 30 
victim's residence; the identity of a person providing d irect 31 
care to the victim and the address or location of such person's 32 
residence; and the identity of any person reporting abuse, 33 
neglect, or exploitation to the central abuse hotline is 34 
confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I 35 
of the State Constitution. 36 
 (2)  Any portion of a meeting of an elder abuse fatality 37 
review team during which information made confidential or exempt 38 
pursuant to subsection (1) is discussed is exempt from s. 39 
286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. 40 
 (3)  This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset 41 
Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 42 
on October 2, 2027, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 43 
through reenactment by the Legislature. 44 
 Section 2.  The Legislature finds that it is a public 45 
necessity that information that is confidential or exempt from 46 
s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the 47 
State Constitution remain confidential or exempt when held by an 48 
elder abuse fatality review team and tha t any information 49 
contained in a record held by an elder abuse fatality review 50     
 
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team which reveals the identity of a victim of elder abuse and 51 
the address or location of such victim's residence; the identity 52 
of a person providing direct care to the victim a nd the address 53 
or location of such person's residence; and the identity of any 54 
person reporting abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the central 55 
abuse hotline be made confidential and exempt from public 56 
records requirements. Without the public records exempt ion, 57 
sensitive personal information concerning victims of elder abuse 58 
and persons providing direct care to such victims, as well as 59 
persons reporting abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the central 60 
abuse hotline, would be subject to public disclosure and op en 61 
communication and coordination among the parties involved in 62 
elder abuse fatality review teams would be hampered. The 63 
Legislature further finds that it is a public necessity that any 64 
portion of a meeting of an elder abuse fatality review team 65 
during which confidential or exempt information is discussed be 66 
made exempt from s. 286.011, Florida Statutes, and s. 24(b), 67 
Article I of the State Constitution. The failure to close 68 
portions of meetings during which confidential or exempt 69 
information is discussed w ould defeat the purpose of the public 70 
records exemption and would have a chilling effect on the 71 
ability of the task force members to discuss the information 72 
that the members have been tasked with reviewing and analyzing. 73 
As such, the Legislature finds that without the exemptions from 74 
public records and public meetings requirements, the elder abuse 75     
 
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fatality review teams would be unable to operate in an effective 76 
and efficient manner. 77 
 Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 78