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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; specifying restrictions on accessing the 7
database; specifying duties of the corporation 8
relating to uploading certain database information to 9
a certain website and generating and publishing 10
certain reports; providing requirements for the 11
website; requiring the Office of Public and 12
Professional Guardians to share certain data; 13
requiring the corporation to compile and report 14
certain data to the Office of Program Policy Analysis 15
and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) at specified 16
intervals; requiring certain data to be produced in a 17
certain format; requiring OPPAGA to analyze data and 18
prepare reports containing certain information; 19
requiring such reports to be provided to the Governor 20
and the Legislature at specified intervals; providing 21
requirements and prohibitions of such reports; 22
amending s. 744.2001, F.S.; requiring the office to 23
publish online profiles of registered professional 24
guardians on or before a certain date; requiring the 25
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online profiles to contain certain information; 26
prohibiting the Department of Elderly Affairs from 27
populating the profiles with certain information; 28
authorizing the department to adopt rules; providing 29
appropriations; providin g an effective date. 30
31
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 32
33
Section 1. Section 744.2112, Florida Statutes, is created 34
to read: 35
744.2112 Guardianship information and transparency. — 36
(1) The Florida Clerks of Court Operations C orporation and 37
the clerks of court shall establish a statewide database of 38
guardian and guardianship case information to facilitate 39
improving court oversight of guardianship cases. The database 40
may not be operational for end users until on or after July 1, 41
2023. The database must meet interoperability standards defined 42
by the Florida Courts Technology Commission so that each circuit 43
court can easily access the information for regular use in 44
judicial proceedings under this chapter. The database must 45
include, at a minimum, the following: 46
(a) The registration status of each professional guardian. 47
(b) The substantiated disciplinary history of each 48
professional guardian. 49
(c) The status of each guardian's compliance with the 50
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statutory qualifications for guar dianship under s. 744.2003 or 51
s. 744.3145. 52
(d) The status of statutorily required reports and 53
submissions under chapter 744. 54
(2)(a) Except as provided under paragraph (3)(b), the 55
database shall be accessible only by members of the judiciary, 56
their direct staff, and court personnel and clerks of court 57
personnel authorized by a judge to assist with guardianship 58
matters. The database must restrict access to the information 59
necessary to perform such individual's duties, but in no way 60
restrict access by judg es or magistrates. 61
(b) The database must be searchable by, at a minimum, the 62
name of the petitioner, ward, guardian, and legal counsel for 63
all parties; the demographic information of the ward; the 64
location of the guardian's office; the name of the judge and the 65
circuit in which the case is brought; and the number of wards 66
served by each guardian, by ward county of residence. 67
(3) The Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation 68
shall: 69
(a) Upload certain professional guardian information from 70
the database to a webpage accessible to the general public in a 71
searchable format. Such professional guardian information must 72
be limited to the names of professional guardians and current 73
data regarding the number of wards served by each guardian, the 74
counties of residence of such wards and the number of wards 75
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residing in each county, and whether the wards are under limited 76
or plenary guardianships. Personal identifying information of 77
wards may not be included in the data that is searchable under 78
this paragraph. 79
(b) Generate monthly reports of statewide, circuit -level, 80
and county-level statistical data to provide assistance to the 81
courts and the Department of Elderly Affairs and to provide 82
transparency to the public and the Legislature regarding the 83
state's guardianship system. The monthly reports shall include 84
only aggregated and deidentified data. The Florida Clerks of 85
Court Operations Corporation shall publish the statistical data 86
reports monthly on the webpage under paragraph (a). 87
(c) Generate reports using information in the database at 88
the request of the Legislature, the judiciary, or the Department 89
of Elderly Affairs. 90
(4) The Office of Public and Professional Guardians is 91
directed to share professional guardian registration and 92
disciplinary action inform ation for the purposes of this 93
section. 94
(5)(a) Beginning July 1, 2024, and annually thereafter 95
through July 1, 2027, the Florida Clerks of Court Operations 96
Corporation must compile and report data collected by the clerks 97
of court and the Department of El derly Affairs and maintained in 98
the database to the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 99
Government Accountability (OPPAGA). 100
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(b) OPPAGA must analyze the consolidated data compiled in 101
accordance with paragraph (a) to evaluate trends in the use of 102
guardianships in this state and to conduct a comparative 103
analysis of guardianship laws in other states. OPPAGA must 104
consult with the Office of the State Courts Administrator, the 105
Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, the clerks of 106
court, and the Departm ent of Elderly Affairs during its 107
analysis. OPPAGA shall submit a report containing its findings 108
and recommendations to the Governor, the President of the 109
Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by 110
October 15, 2024, and annually thereafter through October 15, 111
2027. 112
(c) The data compiled and used for the reports required 113
under this subsection must be produced in a statewide, circuit -114
level, and county-level statistical format. Such reports must 115
include only aggregated and deidentified data a nd may not 116
contain personal identifying information of wards. 117
Section 2. Subsection (7) is added to section 744.2001, 118
Florida Statutes, to read: 119
744.2001 Office of Public and Professional Guardians. —120
There is created the Office of Public and Professio nal Guardians 121
within the Department of Elderly Affairs. 122
(7)(a) On or before July 1, 2023, the Office of Public and 123
Professional Guardians shall publish on its website a profile of 124
each registered professional guardian. The profiles must be 125
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accessible and searchable by the public and must include, at a 126
minimum, the following information: 127
1. The guardian's name and business address. 128
2. Whether the guardian meets the education and bonding 129
requirements under s. 744.2003. 130
3. The number and type of substa ntiated complaints against 131
the guardian. 132
4. Any disciplinary actions taken by the Department of 133
Elderly Affairs against the guardian. 134
(b) The Department of Elderly Affairs may not populate the 135
professional guardian profiles with information from the 136
database established in s. 744.2112. 137
(c) The Department of Elderly Affairs may adopt rules 138
necessary to implement this subsection. 139
Section 3. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sum of 140
$2,400,000 in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the 141
General Revenue Fund to the Justice Administrative Commission 142
for distribution to the Florida Clerks of Court Operations 143
Corporation for the purpose of implementing this act. 144
Section 4. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sums of 145
$40,000 in recurring fu nds and $300,000 in nonrecurring funds 146
are appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department 147
of Elderly Affairs for the purpose of implementing this act. 148
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 149