FL
Florida House Bill H1327

Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1327 Compare Versions

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1010 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
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14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to public records; amending s. 2
1616 119.071, F.S.; providing definitions; providing an 3
1717 exemption from public records requirements for 4
1818 investigative genetic genealogy information and 5
1919 materials; authorizing the disclosure of such 6
2020 information and materials in certain circumstances; 7
2121 providing retroactive application; providing for 8
2222 future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 9
2323 providing a statemen t of public necessity; providing 10
2424 an effective date. 11
2525 12
2626 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
2727 14
2828 Section 1. Paragraph (r) is added to subsection (2) of 15
2929 section 119.071, Florida Statutes, to read: 16
3030 119.071 General exemptions from ins pection or copying of 17
3131 public records.— 18
3232 (2) AGENCY INVESTIGATIONS. — 19
3333 (r)1. As used in this paragraph, the term: 20
3434 a. "DNA record" means all information associated with the 21
3535 collection and analysis of a person's DNA sample, including the 22
3636 distinguishing characteristics collectively referred to as a DNA 23
3737 profile, and includes a single nucleotide polymorphism and a 24
3838 whole genome sequencing DNA profile. 25
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4747 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
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5151 b. "Genetic genealogy" means the use of DNA testing in 26
5252 combination with traditional genealogical methods to i nfer 27
5353 relationships between persons and determine ancestry. 28
5454 c. "Investigative genetic genealogy" means the application 29
5555 of genetic genealogy and law enforcement investigative 30
5656 techniques to develop investigative leads in unsolved violent 31
5757 crimes and provide investigative leads as to the identity of 32
5858 unidentified human remains and living unidentified missing 33
5959 persons. 34
6060 d. "Investigative genetic genealogy information and 35
6161 materials" means the information, records, and DNA records 36
6262 created or collected by or on beh alf of a law enforcement agency 37
6363 conducting investigative genetic genealogy research, and 38
6464 includes the names and personal identifying information of 39
6565 persons identified through the use of genealogy databases, 40
6666 traditional genealogical methods, or other invest igative means. 41
6767 The term does not include the name or personal identifying 42
6868 information of: 43
6969 (I) The donor of a biological sample attributable to a 44
7070 perpetrator; or 45
7171 (II) A person identified through investigative genetic 46
7272 genealogy who is a witness to or has personal knowledge related 47
7373 to the crime under investigation. 48
7474 e. "Traditional genealogical methods" means the use of 49
7575 genealogical databases and historical records to trace the 50
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8484 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
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8888 family lineage of a person. 51
8989 2. Investigative genetic genealogy information a nd 52
9090 materials are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 53
9191 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 54
9292 3. Notwithstanding subparagraph 2., a law enforcement 55
9393 agency: 56
9494 a. May disclose investigative genetic genealogy 57
9595 information and materials in furtherance of its official duties 58
9696 and responsibilities or to another governmental agency in the 59
9797 furtherance of its official duties and responsibilities. 60
9898 b. Shall disclose investigative genetic genealogy 61
9999 information and materials pursuant to a court orde r for 62
100100 furtherance of a criminal prosecution. If a court orders the 63
101101 disclosure of such information and materials, the recipient of 64
102102 the information and materials must maintain the confidential and 65
103103 exempt status of the information and materials and may only 66
104104 publicly disclose the information and materials as necessary for 67
105105 purposes of a criminal prosecution as determined by the court. 68
106106 4. The exemption in this paragraph applies to 69
107107 investigative genetic genealogy information and materials held 70
108108 by an agency before, on, or after July 1, 2023. 71
109109 5. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset 72
110110 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 73
111111 on October 2, 2028, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 74
112112 through reenactment by the Legislature. 75
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121121 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
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125125 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 76
126126 necessity that investigative genetic genealogy information and 77
127127 materials be made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), 78
128128 Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State 79
129129 Constitution. Investig ative genetic genealogy is an advanced 80
130130 investigative tool that uses law enforcement agency 81
131131 investigative resources and traditional genealogical research in 82
132132 collaboration with crime laboratories, private vendor 83
133133 laboratories, and companies and organizations that provide 84
134134 genealogy services and information to the public. Investigative 85
135135 genetic genealogy allows law enforcement to generate 86
136136 investigative leads on unknown perpetrators. Such investigative 87
137137 leads aid law enforcement in determining potential donors of 88
138138 crime scene samples, which can be confirmed or refuted by a 89
139139 crime laboratory for use in legal proceedings. Convictions and 90
140140 exonerations have been aided by the use of investigative genetic 91
141141 genealogy. The same techniques are also used in missing persons 92
142142 and unidentified human remains cases. Investigative genetic 93
143143 genealogy is a valuable tool to solve violent crimes and hold 94
144144 accountable perpetrators who may otherwise roam freely and 95
145145 undetected in society. Traditional forensic DNA testing attempts 96
146146 to identify the possible donor of a crime scene sample through 97
147147 matches in law enforcement DNA databases comprised of short 98
148148 tandem repeat DNA databases. The use of investigative genetic 99
149149 genealogy differs from traditional law enforcement investigative 100
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158158 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
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162162 techniques because it uses advanced DNA testing in order to 101
163163 develop an SNP or a WGS profile from unknown crime scene DNA. 102
164164 Profiles consisting of SNP data from various locations in a 103
165165 genome are made up of letters representing the building blocks 104
166166 of DNA and, depending on the loc ations tested, may reveal 105
167167 information on physical characteristics, disease predisposition, 106
168168 and susceptibility to environmental factors such as toxins or 107
169169 drugs. A WGS profile represents the entirety of a person's DNA 108
170170 and the traits, health, and ancestry inf ormation the DNA 109
171171 contains. Such SNP or WGS profiles are then uploaded into public 110
172172 genealogy databases and used to locate personal identifying 111
173173 information for possible relatives and ancestors who participate 112
174174 in the databases. Persons whose names, contact in formation, and 113
175175 other family associations are available in these databases 114
176176 routinely have no association with or knowledge of the 115
177177 perpetrator or the crime law enforcement is investigating. The 116
178178 first publicized use of investigative genetic genealogy involved 117
179179 the Golden State Killer case in California. The publicity 118
180180 surrounding law enforcement's use of genetic genealogy led 119
181181 genealogy service providers, genealogical testing companies, 120
182182 privacy advocates, and ethicists to express privacy concerns. 121
183183 Private companies have since strictly limited or precluded law 122
184184 enforcement access to genetic genealogy databases due to fear 123
185185 that persons biologically related to a perpetrator but 124
186186 unassociated with the crime may be identified, harassed, and 125
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195195 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
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199199 even victimized. Law enforceme nt use has been restricted to 126
200200 violent crimes and unidentified human remains, and companies 127
201201 employ opt-in features for customers. Failure to properly 128
202202 protect and limit the disclosure of investigative genetic 129
203203 genealogy materials will hinder the ability of la w enforcement 130
204204 to use investigative genetic genealogy to solve violent crimes 131
205205 and provide closure to the family members of victims of these 132
206206 heinous acts. Unidentified human remains are often homicide 133
207207 victims, so protection of investigative genetic genealogy tools 134
208208 and information is important in giving names to these victims as 135
209209 well. 136
210210 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 137