Florida Senate - 2015 CS for CS for SB 674 By the Committees on Governmental Oversight and Accountability; and Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security; and Senator Evers 585-03185-15 2015674c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 3 119.071, F.S.; defining the terms “identification and 4 location information” and “servicemember”; providing 5 an exemption from public records requirements for 6 certain identification and location information of 7 servicemembers and the spouses and dependents of 8 servicemembers; providing for retroactive application; 9 providing for future legislative review and repeal of 10 the exemption; providing a statement of public 11 necessity; providing an effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1. Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (5) of 16 section 119.071, Florida Statutes, to read: 17 119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of 18 public records.— 19 (5) OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION.— 20 (k)1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term: 21 a. “Identification and location information” means the: 22 (I) Home address, telephone number, and date of birth of a 23 servicemember; and the telephone number associated with a 24 servicemember’s personal communication device. 25 (II) Home address, telephone number, date of birth, and 26 place of employment of the spouse or dependent of a 27 servicemember; and the telephone number associated with such 28 spouse’s or dependent’s personal communication device. 29 (III) Name and location of the school attended by the 30 spouse, or the school or day care facility attended by a 31 dependent, of a servicemember. 32 b. “Servicemember” means a current or former member of the 33 Armed Forces of the United States, a reserve component of the 34 Armed Forces of the United States, or the National Guard who 35 served after September 11, 2001. 36 2. Identification and location information held by an 37 agency is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the 38 State Constitution if a servicemember submits the following to 39 an agency that has custody of the identification and location 40 information: 41 a. A written request to exempt the identification and 42 location information from public disclosure; and 43 b. A written statement that he or she has made reasonable 44 efforts to protect the identification and location information 45 from being accessible through other means available to the 46 public. 47 3. This exemption applies to identification and location 48 information held by an agency before, on, or after the effective 49 date of this exemption. 50 4. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset 51 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 52 on October 2, 2020, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 53 through reenactment by the Legislature. 54 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 55 necessity that the identification and location information held 56 by an agency of current or former members of the Armed Forces of 57 the United States, a reserve component of the Armed Forces of 58 the United States, or the National Guard who served after 59 September 11, 2001; their spouses; and their dependents be made 60 exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 61 Article I of the State Constitution. Servicemembers perform 62 among the most critical, most effective, and most dangerous 63 operations in defense of our nation’s freedom. Terrorist groups 64 have threatened servicemembers and their families and have 65 encouraged their sympathizers to harm servicemembers and their 66 families within the United States. One terrorist group has 67 allegedly gathered the photographs and home addresses of 68 servicemembers from public sources to create and publish a list 69 of servicemembers in order to make such persons vulnerable to an 70 act of terrorism. The Legislature finds that allowing continued 71 public access to the identification and location information of 72 current or former servicemembers and their families jeopardizes 73 the safety of servicemembers, their spouses, and their 74 dependents. The Legislature finds that protecting the safety and 75 security of current or former members of the Armed Forces of the 76 United States, a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the 77 United States, or the National Guard who served after September 78 11, 2001; their spouses; and their dependents outweighs any 79 public benefit that may be derived from the public disclosure of 80 their identification and location information. 81 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.