FL
Florida House Bill H1527

Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1527 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11
22
33 HB 1527 2023
44
55
66
77 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
88 hb1527-00
99 Page 1 of 12
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
1111
1212
1313
1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to the accessibility of governmental 2
1616 records; creating ss. 11.1431, 16.011, 17.051, and 3
1717 19.521, F.S.; defining the terms "governmental entity" 4
1818 and "record"; requiring governmental entities to make 5
1919 requested records available to members of the 6
2020 Legislature, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial 7
2121 Officer, or the Commissioner of Agriculture, 8
2222 respectively, within a specified timeframe upon the 9
2323 request of such person; prohibiting members of the 10
2424 Legislature, the Chief Financial Officer, and the 11
2525 Commissioner of Agriculture from receiving certain 12
2626 records during a specified period of time; requiring 13
2727 that members of the Legislature, the Attorney General, 14
2828 the Chief Financial Officer, and the Commissioner of 15
2929 Agriculture ensure that any exempt or confidential and 16
3030 exempt information in records so received remains 17
3131 exempt or confidential and exempt; providing penalties 18
3232 for noncompliance; requiring that members o f the 19
3333 Legislature and such officers submit their requests to 20
3434 governmental entities in a specified format; providing 21
3535 for the sharing of such records; requiring 22
3636 governmental entities to waive all fees associated 23
3737 with providing such records when requests are properly 24
3838 made; providing an effective date. 25
3939
4040 HB 1527 2023
4141
4242
4343
4444 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
4545 hb1527-00
4646 Page 2 of 12
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
4848
4949
5050
5151 26
5252 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27
5353 28
5454 Section 1. Section 11.1431, Florida Statutes, is created 29
5555 to read: 30
5656 11.1431 Access to governmental records. — 31
5757 (1) As used in this section, the term: 32
5858 (a) "Governmental entity" means the state including the 33
5959 executive and judicial branches of government, or any political 34
6060 subdivision of the state, including counties, municipalities, 35
6161 districts, authorities, boards, or commissions. 36
6262 (b) "Record" means all documents, papers, letters, maps, 37
6363 books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, or other 38
6464 material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made 39
6565 or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with 40
6666 the transaction of official business by a governmental entity. 41
6767 (2)(a) If a member of the Legislature requests a record 42
6868 from a governmental entity, the governmental entity must make 43
6969 the record available without redactions to the member within 7 44
7070 days after receiving a request made pu rsuant to subsection (3). 45
7171 (b) A member may not receive records from a law 46
7272 enforcement agency during the period in which the information 47
7373 constitutes active criminal intelligence information or active 48
7474 criminal investigative information. 49
7575 (c) If a member receives any exempt or confidential and 50
7676
7777 HB 1527 2023
7878
7979
8080
8181 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
8282 hb1527-00
8383 Page 3 of 12
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
8585
8686
8787
8888 exempt information in a record, the member must ensure that the 51
8989 information remains exempt or confidential and exempt. A member 52
9090 who does not comply with the requirements of this paragraph is 53
9191 subject to any penalty imp osed by rule of the member's chamber 54
9292 for the improper disclosure of public records and the penalties 55
9393 imposed in s. 119.10. 56
9494 (3) To request a record from a governmental entity, a 57
9595 member of the Legislature must submit a request in substantially 58
9696 the following form: 59
9797 60
9898 RECORDS REQUEST FORM 61
9999 62
100100 I, ...(name of the member)..., a duly elected member of the 63
101101 Legislature, in order to fulfill my duties and responsibilities 64
102102 as an officer of the state, request from ...(name of the 65
103103 governmental entity)... the following recor d(s): ...(An addendum 66
104104 may be attached to this form with as much information as the 67
105105 member can provide regarding the name of the record, when the 68
106106 record was created or received by the governmental entity, and 69
107107 any keywords or other search parameters for the governmental 70
108108 entity.)... I, ...(name of the member)..., swear or affirm that 71
109109 the record requested, once received, will remain with my office 72
110110 and, if the record contains information that is exempt or 73
111111 confidential and exempt, I will be personally responsible for 74
112112 ensuring that the information remains exempt or confidential and 75
113113
114114 HB 1527 2023
115115
116116
117117
118118 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
119119 hb1527-00
120120 Page 4 of 12
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
122122
123123
124124
125125 exempt. 76
126126 I UNDERSTAND THAT I MAY NOT SHARE OR OTHERWISE TRANSFER THE 77
127127 RECORD TO ANY OTHER PARTY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, 78
128128 ANOTHER MEMBER, A MEMBER OF THE PRESS, OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO 79
129129 DOES NOT HAVE THE EXPRESS WRITTEN AUTHORITY FROM THE 80
130130 GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY TO ACCESS SUCH RECORD. BY SIGNING BELOW, I 81
131131 AGREE TO ABIDE BY ALL RESTRICTIONS RELATED TO THE RECORDS I HAVE 82
132132 REQUESTED. 83
133133 84
134134 ...(Signature of the member)... 85
135135 ...(Date signed)... 86
136136 ...(Date submitted)... 87
137137 88
138138 (4) The records received pursuant to this section may be 89
139139 shared only with another member, provided that member submits 90
140140 the records request form provided in subsection (3) to the 91
141141 governmental entity and receives confirmation from the 92
142142 governmental entity of its receipt of the form. 93
143143 (5) The governmental entity shall waive all fees 94
144144 associated with providing any record to a member of the 95
145145 Legislature if a request is made pursuant to this section. 96
146146 Section 2. Section 16.011, Florida Statute s, is created to 97
147147 read: 98
148148 16.011 Access to governmental records. — 99
149149 (1) As used in this section, the term: 100
150150
151151 HB 1527 2023
152152
153153
154154
155155 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
156156 hb1527-00
157157 Page 5 of 12
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
159159
160160
161161
162162 (a) "Governmental entity" means the state, including the 101
163163 executive branch of government, or any political subdivision of 102
164164 the state, including counti es, municipalities, districts, 103
165165 authorities, boards, or commissions. The term does not include 104
166166 the legislative or judicial branches of government. 105
167167 (b) "Record" means all documents, papers, letters, maps, 106
168168 books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, or other 107
169169 material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made 108
170170 or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with 109
171171 the transaction of official business by a governmental entity. 110
172172 (2)(a) If the Attorney General requests a record from a 111
173173 governmental entity, the governmental entity must make the 112
174174 record available without redactions to him or her within 7 days 113
175175 after receiving a request made pursuant to subsection (3). 114
176176 (b) If the Attorney General receives any exempt or 115
177177 confidential and exe mpt information in a record, he or she shall 116
178178 ensure that the information remains exempt or confidential and 117
179179 exempt. Records received pursuant to this section may not be 118
180180 shared without written authorization from the governmental 119
181181 entity. If the Attorney Gene ral does not comply with the 120
182182 requirements of this paragraph he or she is subject to the 121
183183 penalties imposed in s. 119.10. 122
184184 (3) To request a record from a governmental entity, the 123
185185 Attorney General must submit a request in substantially the 124
186186 following form: 125
187187
188188 HB 1527 2023
189189
190190
191191
192192 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
193193 hb1527-00
194194 Page 6 of 12
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
196196
197197
198198
199199 126
200200 RECORDS REQUEST FORM 127
201201 128
202202 I, ...(name)..., the Attorney General of Florida, in order 129
203203 to fulfill my duties and responsibilities as an officer of the 130
204204 state, request from ...(name of the governmental entity)... the 131
205205 following record(s): ...(An addendum may be atta ched to this 132
206206 form with as much information as the Attorney General can 133
207207 provide regarding the name of the record, when the record was 134
208208 created or received by the governmental entity, and any keywords 135
209209 or other search parameters for the governmental entity.).. . I, 136
210210 ...(name)..., swear or affirm that the record requested, once 137
211211 received, will remain with my office and, if the record contains 138
212212 information that is exempt or confidential and exempt, I am 139
213213 personally responsible for ensuring that the information remains 140
214214 exempt or confidential and exempt. 141
215215 I UNDERSTAND THAT I MAY NOT SHARE OR OTHERWISE TRANSFER THE 142
216216 RECORD TO ANY OTHER PARTY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, A 143
217217 MEMBER OF THE PRESS OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO DOES NOT HAVE THE 144
218218 EXPRESS WRITTEN AUTHORITY FROM THE GO VERNMENTAL ENTITY TO ACCESS 145
219219 SUCH RECORD. BY SIGNING BELOW, I AGREE TO ABIDE BY ALL 146
220220 RESTRICTIONS RELATED TO THE RECORDS I HAVE REQUESTED. 147
221221 148
222222 ...(Signature)... 149
223223 ...(Date signed)... 150
224224
225225 HB 1527 2023
226226
227227
228228
229229 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
230230 hb1527-00
231231 Page 7 of 12
232232 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
233233
234234
235235
236236 ...(Date submitted)... 151
237237 152
238238 (4) The governmental entity shall waive all fees 153
239239 associated with providing any record to the Attorney General if 154
240240 a request is made pursuant to this section. 155
241241 Section 3. Section 17.051, Florida Statutes, is created to 156
242242 read: 157
243243 17.051 Access to governmental records. — 158
244244 (1) As used in this section, the term: 159
245245 (a) "Governmental entity" means the state, including the 160
246246 executive branch of government, or any political subdivision of 161
247247 the state, including counties, municipalities, districts, 162
248248 authorities, boards, or commissions. The term does not include 163
249249 the legislative or judicial branches of government. 164
250250 (b) "Record" means all documents, papers, letters, maps, 165
251251 books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, or other 166
252252 material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made 167
253253 or received pursuant to law or ord inance or in connection with 168
254254 the transaction of official business by a governmental entity. 169
255255 (2)(a) If the Chief Financial Officer requests a record 170
256256 from a governmental entity, the governmental entity must make 171
257257 the record available without redactions to h im or her within 7 172
258258 days after receiving a request made pursuant to subsection (3). 173
259259 (b) The Chief Financial Officer may not receive records 174
260260 from a law enforcement agency during the period in which the 175
261261
262262 HB 1527 2023
263263
264264
265265
266266 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
267267 hb1527-00
268268 Page 8 of 12
269269 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
270270
271271
272272
273273 information constitutes active criminal intelligence i nformation 176
274274 or active criminal investigative information, unless the records 177
275275 relate to the official duties and responsibilities of the Chief 178
276276 Financial Officer. 179
277277 (c) If the Chief Financial Officer receives any exempt or 180
278278 confidential and exempt information i n a record, he or she shall 181
279279 ensure that the information remains exempt or confidential and 182
280280 exempt. Records received pursuant to this section may not be 183
281281 shared without written authorization from the governmental 184
282282 entity. If the Chief Financial Officer does n ot comply with the 185
283283 requirements of this paragraph he or she is subject to the 186
284284 penalties imposed in s. 119.10. 187
285285 (3) To request a record from a governmental entity, the 188
286286 Chief Financial Officer must submit a request in substantially 189
287287 the following form: 190
288288 191
289289 RECORDS REQUEST FORM 192
290290 193
291291 "I, ...(name)..., the Chief Financial Officer of Florida, 194
292292 in order to fulfill my duties and responsibilities as an officer 195
293293 of the state, request from ...(name of the governmental 196
294294 entity)... the following record(s): ...(An addendum may be 197
295295 attached to this form with as much information as the Chief 198
296296 Financial Officer can provide regarding the name of the record, 199
297297 when the record was created or received by the governmental 200
298298
299299 HB 1527 2023
300300
301301
302302
303303 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
304304 hb1527-00
305305 Page 9 of 12
306306 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
307307
308308
309309
310310 entity, and any keywords or other search parameters for the 201
311311 governmental entity.)... I, ...(name)..., swear or affirm that 202
312312 the records requested, once received, will remain with my office 203
313313 and, if the record contains information that is exempt or 204
314314 confidential and exempt, I am personally responsible for 205
315315 ensuring that the inform ation remains exempt or confidential and 206
316316 exempt. 207
317317 I UNDERSTAND THAT I MAY NOT SHARE OR OTHERWISE TRANSFER THE 208
318318 RECORD TO ANY OTHER PARTY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, A 209
319319 MEMBER OF THE PRESS OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO DOES NOT HAVE THE 210
320320 EXPRESS WRITTEN AUTHORITY FROM THE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY TO ACCESS 211
321321 SUCH RECORD. BY SIGNING BELOW, I AGREE TO ABIDE BY ALL 212
322322 RESTRICTIONS RELATED TO THE RECORDS I HAVE REQUESTED. 213
323323 214
324324 ...(Signature)... 215
325325 ...(Date signed)... 216
326326 ...(Date submitted)... 217
327327 218
328328 (4) The governmental entity shall waive all fees 219
329329 associated with providing any record to the Chief Financial 220
330330 Officer if a request is made pursuant to this section. 221
331331 Section 4. Section 19.521, Florida Statutes, is created to 222
332332 read: 223
333333 19.521 Access to governmental records. — 224
334334 (1) As used in this section, the term: 225
335335
336336 HB 1527 2023
337337
338338
339339
340340 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
341341 hb1527-00
342342 Page 10 of 12
343343 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
344344
345345
346346
347347 (a) "Governmental entity" means the state, including the 226
348348 executive branch of government, or any political subdivision of 227
349349 the state, including counties, municipalities, districts, 228
350350 authorities, boards, or commissions. The term do es not include 229
351351 the legislative or judicial branches of government. 230
352352 (b) "Record" means all documents, papers, letters, maps, 231
353353 books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, or other 232
354354 material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made 233
355355 or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with 234
356356 the transaction of official business by a governmental entity. 235
357357 (2)(a) If the Commissioner of Agriculture requests a 236
358358 record from a governmental entity, the governmental entity must 237
359359 make the record available without redactions to him or her 238
360360 within 7 days after receiving a request made pursuant to 239
361361 subsection (3). 240
362362 (b) The Commissioner of Agriculture may not receive 241
363363 records from a law enforcement agency during the period in which 242
364364 the information consti tutes active criminal intelligence 243
365365 information or active criminal investigative information. 244
366366 (c) If the Commissioner of Agriculture receives any exempt 245
367367 or confidential and exempt information in a record, he or she 246
368368 must ensure that the information remains exempt or confidential 247
369369 and exempt. Records received pursuant to this section may not be 248
370370 shared without written authorization from the governmental 249
371371 entity. If the Commissioner of Agriculture does not comply with 250
372372
373373 HB 1527 2023
374374
375375
376376
377377 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
378378 hb1527-00
379379 Page 11 of 12
380380 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
381381
382382
383383
384384 the requirements of this paragraph he or she is subject to the 251
385385 penalties imposed in s. 119.10. 252
386386 (3) To request a record from a government al entity, the 253
387387 Commissioner of Agriculture must submit a request in 254
388388 substantially the following form: 255
389389 256
390390 RECORDS REQUEST FORM 257
391391 258
392392 "I, ...(name)..., the Commissioner of Agriculture of 259
393393 Florida, in order to fulfill my duties and responsibilities as 260
394394 an officer of the state, request from ...(name of the 261
395395 governmental entity)... the following record(s): ...(An addendum 262
396396 may be attached to this form with as much information as the 263
397397 Commissioner of Agriculture can provide regarding the name of 264
398398 the record, when the record was created or received by the 265
399399 governmental entity, and any keywords or other search parameters 266
400400 for the governmental entity.)... I, ...(name)..., swear or 267
401401 affirm that the record requested, once received, will remain 268
402402 with my office and, if the record contai ns information that is 269
403403 exempt or confidential and exempt, I am personally responsible 270
404404 for ensuring that the information remains exempt or confidential 271
405405 and exempt. 272
406406 I UNDERSTAND THAT I MAY NOT SHARE OR OTHERWISE TRANSFER THE 273
407407 RECORD TO ANY OTHER PARTY, INCLU DING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, A 274
408408 MEMBER OF THE PRESS OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO DOES NOT HAVE THE 275
409409
410410 HB 1527 2023
411411
412412
413413
414414 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
415415 hb1527-00
416416 Page 12 of 12
417417 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
418418
419419
420420
421421 EXPRESS WRITTEN AUTHORITY FROM THE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY TO ACCESS 276
422422 SUCH RECORD. BY SIGNING BELOW, I AGREE TO ABIDE BY ALL 277
423423 RESTRICTIONS RELATED TO THE RECORDS I HAVE REQ UESTED. 278
424424 279
425425 ...(Signature)... 280
426426 ...(Date signed)... 281
427427 ...(Date submitted)... 282
428428 283
429429 (4) The governmental entity shall waive all fees 284
430430 associated with providing any record to the Commissioner of 285
431431 Agriculture if a request is made pursuant to this section. 286
432432 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 287