HB 1349 2022
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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to guardianship data transparency; 2
amending s. 744.2001, F.S.; authorizing a monitoring 3
tool to include a financial audit under certain 4
circumstances; creating s. 744.20012, F.S.; creating 5
the Guardianship Data Commission; providing the 6
purpose of the commission; requiring the Department of 7
Elderly Affairs to provide administrative and staff 8
support to the commission; providing for the 9
composition and chair of the commission; providing 10
meeting requirements; providing duties; requiring an 11
annual report to the Governor and Legislature; 12
authorizing the commission to contract or consult with 13
third parties; creating s. 744.2112, F.S.; requiring 14
the department to collect, maintain, and update 15
certain information when a guardianship case is 16
opened; requiring the department to make publicly 17
accessible on the department's website certain 18
information relating to professional guardians; 19
requiring the department to create and maintain a 20
real-time statewide dashboard on the department's 21
website and include certain information on the 22
dashboard, while maintaining certain confidentiality; 23
requiring the department to adopt rules; amending ss. 24
744.362 and 744.367, F.S.; requiring guardians to 25
HB 1349 2022
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submit certain information to the clerk of the circuit 26
court when filing certain reports; amending s. 27
744.368, F.S.; providing additional responsibilities 28
of the clerk of the circuit court; amending s. 29
744.3701, F.S.; authorizing the clerk of the circuit 30
court to disclose certain confidential information to 31
the department and the Office of Public and 32
Professional Guardians; providing that information 33
obtained from the clerk remains exempt or confidential 34
and exempt; providing an effective date. 35
36
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 37
38
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 39
744.2001, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 40
744.2001 Office of Public and Professional Guardians. —41
There is created the Office of Public and Professional Guardians 42
within the Department of Elderly Affairs. 43
(3) The executive director's oversight responsibilities of 44
professional guardians must be finalized by October 1, 2016, and 45
shall include, but are not limited to: 46
(a) Developing and implementing a monitoring tool to 47
ensure compliance of professional guardia ns with the standards 48
of practice established by the Office of Public and Professional 49
Guardians. This monitoring tool may not include a financial 50
HB 1349 2022
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audit as required by the clerk of the circuit court under s. 51
744.368, unless the monitoring tool is primarily used by the 52
clerk of the circuit court for auditing and reviewing purposes 53
and the Department of Elderly Affairs collects the data derived 54
by the monitoring tool in compliance with s. 744.2112 . 55
Section 2. Section 744.20012, Florida Statutes, is create d 56
to read: 57
744.20012 Guardianship Data Commission. — 58
(1) The Guardianship Data Commission, a commission as 59
defined in s. 20.03(10), is created within the Department of 60
Elderly Affairs to facilitate the collection of reliable and 61
consistent guardianship data at the local and state levels, to 62
identify barriers or deficiencies in the collection of such 63
data, and to recommend changes to existing laws, rules, and 64
policies in order to implement the commission's recommendations. 65
The Department of Elderly Affair s shall provide administrative 66
and staff support services for the commission. Except as 67
otherwise provided in this section, the commission shall operate 68
in a manner consistent with s. 20.052. 69
(2) The commission shall be composed of the following 70
members, appointed by the Secretary of Elderly Affairs: 71
(a) A circuit court judge. 72
(b) A clerk of court. 73
(c) The administrative coordinator of the Statewide 74
Investigation Alliance. 75
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(d) A member in good standing of The Florida Bar. 76
(e) A professional guardian registered under s. 744.2002. 77
(f) A public guardian appointed by or contracted with the 78
executive director of the Office of Public and Professional 79
Guardians. 80
(g) A child and family advocate. 81
(h) A representative from Disability Rights Flori da or the 82
Florida Statewide Advocacy Council. 83
(i) A member who has a career in academia with an 84
expertise in statistics. 85
(j) A member representing the news media. 86
(3) The executive director of the Office of Public and 87
Professional Guardians is the ch air of the commission, but is 88
not a voting member of the commission. 89
(4) The commission must meet at least twice per year. 90
(5) The commission shall develop data elements and 91
definitions to ensure uniformity and consistency of guardianship 92
data collection throughout the state. The commission shall make 93
recommendations to the Department of Elderly Affairs for data 94
collection requirements. 95
(6) By December 1 of each year, the commission shall 96
submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 97
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the actions 98
of the commission relative to its prescribed duties and any 99
recommendations for improvements to data collection of 100
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guardianship information. 101
(7) The commission may contract or consult with 102
appropriate third parties as needed in the discharge of its 103
duties. 104
Section 3. Section 744.2112, Florida Statutes, is created 105
to read: 106
744.2112 Guardianship data collection and transparency. — 107
(1) DATA COLLECTION. —When a petition to determine 108
incapacity is filed in a circuit court of the state, the 109
Department of Elderly Affairs shall collect and maintain the 110
following information and update such information as 111
appropriate: 112
(a) The type of guardianship case. 113
(b) The current case status. 114
(c) Once a case is closed, the reason for its closure. 115
(d) The following information on the alleged incapacitated 116
person: 117
1. Legal name. 118
2. Date of birth. 119
3. Residential and mailing addresses. 120
4. Race and biological sex assigned at birth. 121
5. Residential status. 122
6. Marital status. 123
7. Indigent status. 124
8. The name and Florida Bar number of the attorney for the 125
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alleged incapacitated person. 126
9. Date of the death of the alleged incapacitated person, 127
if applicable. 128
(e) The following information on the a ppointed guardian: 129
1. Legal name. 130
2. Residential and mailing addresses. 131
3. The guardian's relationship to the ward. 132
4. The name of the representative payee. 133
5. The name and Florida Bar number of the attorney for the 134
guardian, if applicable, and whether the attorney for the 135
guardian withdrew from the case. 136
(f) The date and type of initial pleading, the name of the 137
petitioner, and the reason the petitioner believes the alleged 138
incapacitated person is incapacitated. 139
(g) A copy of the court's ord er determining incapacity. 140
(h) A copy of the letters of guardianship. 141
(i) Whether the ward executed an advance directive, a 142
power of attorney, or a trust instrument before incapacity. If 143
so, what powers are retained by the surrogate guardian, agent, 144
or trustee and what powers are given to the guardian. 145
(j) If the guardian is not a professional guardian, 146
whether the guardian completed the education requirements under 147
s. 744.3145 or whether the court waived such requirements. 148
(k) Whether the guardian has undergone a credit history 149
investigation and level 2 background screening as required under 150
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s. 744.3135 or whether the court waived such requirements. 151
(2) PROFESSIONAL GUARDIAN TRANSPARENCY. —The Department of 152
Elderly Affairs must make the following i nformation about 153
professional guardians publicly accessible on the department's 154
website: 155
(a) Legal name. 156
(b) Registration number and year the professional guardian 157
first registered. 158
(c) Eligibility status to be a professional guardian. 159
(d) Mailing address. 160
(e) E-mail address. 161
(f) Counties in which the professional guardian is 162
registered to practice. 163
(g) Education. 164
(h) Agency or firm name. 165
(i) Any complaints against the professional guardian that 166
have been substantiated by the Statewide Inv estigation Alliance. 167
(j) The professional guardian's 10 -year discipline 168
history. 169
(3)(a) GUARDIANSHIP DASHBOARD. —The Department of Elderly 170
Affairs must create and maintain a real -time statewide dashboard 171
that is available for viewing by the public on th e department's 172
website that provides the following information, while 173
maintaining the confidentiality required under ss. 744.21031 and 174
744.2111: 175
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1. The number of open, active, and ongoing guardianship 176
cases in the state. 177
2. The number of guardianship c ases closed in the 178
preceding fiscal year. 179
3. The number of guardianship cases opened in the 180
preceding fiscal year. 181
4. The percentage of cases with a nonprofessional guardian 182
or a family member acting as the guardian. 183
5. The average age of an adult wa rd. 184
6. The percentage of cases in which there is a guardian of 185
the person but not a guardian of the property. 186
7. The percentage of cases that involve a plenary 187
guardian. 188
8. The percentage of adult wards who have had their rights 189
restored. 190
9. The percentage of cases that have been closed due to 191
the death of the ward. 192
10. The percentage of cases in which the petitioner who 193
filed the petition alleging incapacity was a family member of 194
the ward. 195
11. The percentage of cases in which there were 196
allegations of exploitation by a family member before the 197
appointment of a guardian. 198
12. The number of legally sufficient complaints about the 199
conduct of professional guardians which are investigated by the 200
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Statewide Investigation Alliance. 201
13. The percentage of substantiated complaints and the 202
number of unsubstantiated complaints submitted to the Statewide 203
Investigation Alliance. 204
14. The primary deficiencies of professional guardians 205
alleged in the complaints submitted to the Statewide 206
Investigation Alliance, broken down by subject matter. 207
15. The number and type of disciplinary actions taken 208
against a professional guardian. 209
(b) The Guardianship Data Commission may require 210
additional information be reported on the dashboard. 211
(4) RULEMAKING.—The Department of Elderly Affairs shall 212
adopt rules to implement and administer this section. 213
Section 4. Subsection (3) is added to section 744.362, 214
Florida Statutes, to read: 215
744.362 Initial guardianship report. — 216
(3) When a guardian files an initial guard ianship report 217
with the court, the guardian must also submit to the clerk of 218
the circuit court the information required under s. 744.2112 in 219
an electronic format approved by the Department of Elderly 220
Affairs. 221
Section 5. Subsection (7) is added to secti on 744.367, 222
Florida Statutes, to read: 223
744.367 Duty to file annual guardianship report. — 224
(7) When a guardian files an annual guardianship report 225
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with the court, the guardian must also submit to the clerk of 226
the circuit court the information required un der s. 744.2112 in 227
an electronic format approved by the Department of Elderly 228
Affairs. 229
Section 6. Subsection (8) is added to section 744.368, 230
Florida Statutes, to read: 231
744.368 Responsibilities of the clerk of the circuit 232
court.— 233
(8)(a) The clerk is responsible for ensuring that the 234
guardian has submitted to the clerk's office the information 235
required under s. 744.2112 in an electronic format approved by 236
the Department of Elderly Affairs. 237
(b) Once the clerk receives the information required under 238
s. 744.2112 from a guardian, he or she must submit the 239
information to the Department of Elderly Affairs in an 240
electronic format approved by the department. 241
Section 7. Subsection (5) is added to section 744.3701, 242
Florida Statutes, to read: 243
744.3701 Confidentiality.— 244
(5) The clerk may disclose confidential information to the 245
Department of Elderly Affairs and the Office of Public and 246
Professional Guardians to the extent required under s. 247
744.2112(1). Any information obtained by the Department of 248
Elderly Affairs or the Office of Public and Professional 249
Guardians from the clerk which is confidential and exempt from 250
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s. 119.07(1) or s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution shall 251
retain its confidential and exempt status. 252
Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 253