CS/HB 841 2023
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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 public records; amending s. 2
943.0583, F.S.; providing that a petition for human 3
trafficking victim expunction and all pleadings and 4
documents related to the petition are confidential and 5
exempt from public records requirements; providing for 6
future legislative review and repeal under the Open 7
Government Sunset Review Act; providing a statement of 8
public necessity; providing an effective date. 9
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11
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Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 943.0583, Florida 13
Statutes, is amended to read: 14
943.0583 Human trafficking victim expunction. — 15
(2)(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upo n 16
the filing of a petition as provided in this section, any court 17
in the circuit in which the petitioner was arrested, so long as 18
the court has jurisdiction over the class of offense or offenses 19
sought to be expunged, may order a criminal justice agency to 20
expunge the criminal history record of a victim of human 21
trafficking who complies with the requirements of this section. 22
A petition need not be filed in the court where the petitioner's 23
criminal proceeding or proceedings originally occurred. This 24
section does not confer any right to the expunction of any 25
CS/HB 841 2023
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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
criminal history record, and any request for expunction of a 26
criminal history record may be denied at the discretion of the 27
court. The clerk of the court may not charge a filing fee, 28
service charge, or cop y fee or any other charge for a petition 29
filed under this section. The clerk of the court shall treat a 30
petition seeking to expunge more than one eligible case as a 31
single petition. 32
(b) A petition filed under this section and all pleadings 33
and documents related to the petition are confidential and 34
exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 35
Constitution. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government 36
Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and is repealed 37
on October 2, 2028, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 38
through reenactment by the Legislature. 39
Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 40
necessity that a petition filed under s. 943.0583, Florida 41
Statutes, and all pleadings and documents related to the 42
petition be made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), 43
Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State 44
Constitution. Persons who are victims of human trafficking and 45
who have been arrested for offenses committed, or reported to 46
have been committed, as a r esult of being trafficked are 47
themselves victims of crimes. These victims face barriers to 48
employment and loss of other life opportunities, and the fact 49
that the victims are seeking expungement, as well as the 50
CS/HB 841 2023
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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
information contained in related pleadings and documents, would 51
expose these victims to possible discrimination due to details 52
of their past lives becoming public knowledge. Therefore, it is 53
necessary that these petitions, pleadings, and related documents 54
be made confidential in order for human traffi cking victims to 55
have the chance to rebuild their lives and reenter society. 56
Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2023. 57