Florida Senate - 2015 CS for CS for SB 182
By the Committees on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
and Higher Education; and Senator Hays
585-01921-15 2015182c2
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public records and meetings;
3 creating s. 1004.097, F.S.; providing an exemption
4 from public records requirements for identifying
5 information of an applicant for president, provost, or
6 dean of a state university or Florida College System
7 institution; providing an exemption from public
8 meeting requirements for any portion of a meeting
9 which is held for the purpose of identifying or
10 vetting, or which would otherwise disclose identifying
11 information of, potential applicants for president,
12 provost, or dean; requiring that closed meetings be
13 reasonably noticed and be recorded; providing that the
14 recordings of closed portions of a meeting are exempt
15 from public records requirements; specifying that any
16 portion of a meeting held for the purpose of
17 establishing the qualifications of, or any
18 compensation framework to be offered to, potential
19 applicants are subject to public meetings
20 requirements; specifying that the identifying
21 information of final applicants is no longer exempt
22 from public records and public meetings requirements
23 for a minimum period before a final decision or vote;
24 providing for future legislative review and repeal of
25 the exemptions; providing a statement of public
26 necessity; providing an effective date.
27
28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30 Section 1. Section 1004.097, Florida Statutes, is created
31 to read:
32 1004.097 Information identifying applicants for president,
33 provost, or dean at state universities or Florida College System
34 institutions; public records exemption; public meetings
35 exemption.—
36 (1) Any identifying information of an applicant for
37 president, provost, or dean of a state university or Florida
38 College System institution is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s.
39 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
40 (2)(a) Any portion of a meeting held for the purpose of
41 identifying or vetting a potential applicant for president,
42 provost, or dean of a state university or Florida College System
43 institution is exempt from s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of
44 the State Constitution.
45 (b) Any portion of a meeting that would disclose
46 identifying information of an applicant for president, provost,
47 or dean of a state university or Florida College System
48 institution is exempt from s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of
49 the State Constitution.
50 (c) Any portion of a meeting that is closed pursuant to
51 paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) must be reasonably noticed. A
52 complete recording must be made of any closed portion of a
53 meeting, and a closed portion of a meeting may not be held off
54 the record. The recording of the closed portion of a meeting is
55 exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
56 Constitution.
57 (d) Any portion of a meeting held for the purposes of
58 establishing the qualifications of potential applicants or
59 establishing the compensation framework to be offered to
60 potential applicants must be open to the public and is subject
61 to s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution.
62 (3) No later than 30 days before the date of the meeting at
63 which a final action or vote is to be taken regarding the
64 employment of an applicant, identifying information of the
65 applicants on whom a final action or vote is to be taken is no
66 longer exempt as provided under subsection (2).
67 (4) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
68 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
69 on October 2, 2020, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
70 through reenactment by the Legislature.
71 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
72 necessity that any identifying information of an applicant for
73 president, provost, or dean of a state university or Florida
74 College System institution be exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida
75 Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. The
76 Legislature also finds that any portion of any meeting which is
77 held for the purpose of identifying or vetting applicants for
78 president, provost, or dean of a state university or Florida
79 College System institution or which would disclose identifying
80 information of an applicant be exempt from s. 286.011, Florida
81 Statutes, and s. 24(b), Article I of the State Constitution.
82 Identifying information of finalists is no longer exempt from
83 public records and public meetings requirements 30 days before
84 the date of the meeting at which a final action or vote occurs
85 regarding the hiring of a president, provost, or dean. The task
86 of filling the position of president, provost, or dean of a
87 state university or Florida College System institution is often
88 conducted by an executive search committee. Many, if not most,
89 applicants for such a position are currently employed at another
90 job at the time they apply and disclosure of their applications
91 could jeopardize their current positions. These exemptions from
92 public records and public meeting requirements are needed to
93 ensure that the executive search committee can avail itself of
94 the most experienced and desirable pool of qualified applicants
95 from which to fill the position of president, provost, or dean
96 of a state university or Florida College System institution. If
97 potential applicants fear the possibility of losing their
98 current employment as a consequence of attempting to progress
99 along their chosen career path or seeking different and more
100 rewarding employment, failure to have these exemptions in place
101 could have a chilling effect on the number and quality of
102 applicants available to fill the position of president, provost,
103 or dean of a state university or Florida College System
104 institution.
105 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2015.