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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
creating s. 744.2112, F.S.; requiring the Florida 3
Clerks of Court Operations Corporation and the clerks 4
of court to establish a statewide database of 5
guardianship data; providing requirements for the 6
database; requiring the Florida Clerks of Court 7
Operations Corporation to generate certain monthly 8
statistical data reports with certain information; 9
requiring the Department of Elderly Affairs to publish 10
such reports on its website; requiring the database to 11
be searchable by the public for certain information; 12
prohibiting certain information from being accessible 13
to the public in the database; requiring the Florida 14
Clerks of Court Operations Corporation to generate 15
certain reports at the request of certain enti ties; 16
requiring the Office Public and Professional Guardians 17
to share certain data; requiring the Florida Clerks of 18
Court Operations Corporation to compile and report 19
certain data to the Office of Program Policy Analysis 20
and Governmental Accountability sta rting on a 21
specified date and annually thereafter until a date 22
certain; requiring certain data to be produced in a 23
certain format; requiring the Office of Program Policy 24
Analysis and Governmental Accountability to analyze 25
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data and prepare reports containin g certain 26
information; requiring such reports be provided to the 27
Governor and the Legislature by a date certain and 28
annually thereafter until a date certain; providing 29
requirements and prohibitions of such reports; 30
amending s. 744.2001, F.S.; requiring the Office of 31
Public and Professional Guardians to publish online 32
profiles of registered professional guardians; 33
requiring the online profiles to contain certain 34
information; providing appropriations; providing an 35
effective date. 36
37
Be It Enacted by the Leg islature of the State of Florida: 38
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Section 1. Section 744.2112, Florida Statutes, is created 40
to read: 41
744.2112 Guardianship information and transparency. — 42
(1) On or after July 1, 2023, the Florida Clerks of Court 43
Operations Corporation and the cler ks of court shall establish a 44
statewide database of guardian and guardianship case information 45
to facilitate improving court oversight of guardianship cases. 46
The database must meet interoperability standards defined by the 47
Florida Courts Technology Commiss ion so that each circuit court 48
can easily access the information for regular use in judicial 49
proceedings under this chapter. The database must include, at a 50
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minimum, the following: 51
(a) The registration status of each professional guardian. 52
(b) The disciplinary history of each professional 53
guardian. 54
(c) The status of each guardian's compliance with the 55
statutory qualifications for guardianship under s. 744.2003 or 56
s. 744.3145. 57
(d) The status of statutorily required reports and 58
submissions under ss. 7 44.362, 744.363, 744.365, 744.367, and 59
744.3678. 60
(e) The number of wards served by each guardian, by the 61
ward's county of residence. 62
(2)(a) Except as provided under paragraph (3)(b), the 63
database shall only be accessible to judges, magistrates, 64
judicial staff, and the clerks of court. The database must 65
restrict access to the information necessary to perform such 66
individual's duties, but in no way restrict access by judges or 67
magistrates. 68
(b) The database must be searchable by, at a minimum, the 69
name of the petitioner, ward, guardian, other parties to the 70
case, and legal counsel for all parties; the demographic 71
information of the ward; the location of the guardian's office; 72
and the judge. 73
(3)(a) The Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation 74
must generate monthly reports of statewide, circuit -level, and 75
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county-level statistical data to provide assistance to the 76
courts and the Department of Elderly Affairs and to provide 77
transparency to the public and the Legislature regarding the 78
state's guardianship system. The monthly reports shall only 79
include aggregated and deidentified data. The Department of 80
Elderly Affairs must publish the statistical data reports 81
monthly on its website. 82
(b) The database must allow the public to search by the 83
name of a professional guardian and view current data regarding 84
the number of wards served by that guardian, the counties of 85
residence of such wards, and whether the wards are under limited 86
or plenary guardianships. The database may not allow the public 87
to access personal identifying information of wards. 88
(c) The Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation 89
must generate reports using information in the database at the 90
request of the Legislature, the judiciary, or the Department of 91
Elderly Affairs. 92
(4) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians is 93
directed to share professional guardian registration and 94
disciplinary action information for the purposes of this 95
section. 96
(5)(a) Beginning July 1, 2024, and annually thereafter 97
through July 1, 2027, the Florida Cl erks of Court Operations 98
Corporation must compile and report data collected by the clerks 99
of court and the Department of Elderly Affairs and maintained in 100
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the database to the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 101
Governmental Accountability (OPPAGA). 102
(b) OPPAGA must analyze the consolidated data compiled in 103
accordance with paragraph (a) to evaluate trends in the use of 104
guardianships in the state and to conduct a comparative analysis 105
of guardianship laws in other states. OPPAGA must consult with 106
the Office of the State Courts Administrator, the Florida Clerks 107
of Court Operations Corporation, the clerks of court, and the 108
Department of Elderly Affairs during its analysis. OPPAGA shall 109
submit a report containing its findings and recommendations to 110
the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of 111
the House of Representatives by October 15, 2024, and annually 112
thereafter through October 15, 2027. 113
(c) The data compiled and used for the reports required 114
under this subsection must be produced in a stat ewide, circuit-115
level, and county-level statistical format. Such reports must 116
only include aggregated and deidentified data and may not 117
contain personal identifying information of wards. 118
Section 2. Subsection (7) is added to section 744.2001, 119
Florida Statutes, to read: 120
744.2001 Office of Public and Professional Guardians. —121
There is created the Office of Public and Professional Guardians 122
within the Department of Elderly Affairs. 123
(7)(a) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians 124
shall publish on its website a profile of each registered 125
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professional guardian. The profiles must be accessible and 126
searchable by the public and must include, at a minimum, the 127
following information: 128
1. The guardian's name and business address. 129
2. Whether the guardian me ets the education and bonding 130
requirements under s. 744.2003. 131
3. The number and type of substantiated complaints against 132
the guardian. 133
4. Any disciplinary actions taken by the Department of 134
Elderly Affairs against the guardian. 135
(b) The Department of Elderly Affairs may adopt rules 136
necessary to implement this subsection. 137
Section 3. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sum of 138
$2,400,000 in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the 139
General Revenue Fund to the Justice Administrative Commission 140
for distribution to the Florida Clerks of Court Operations 141
Corporation for the purpose of implementing this act. 142
Section 4. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sums of 143
$40,000 in recurring funds and $300,000 in nonrecurring funds 144
are appropriated from the Gene ral Revenue Fund to the Department 145
of Elderly Affairs for the purpose of implementing this act. 146
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 147