ENROLLED
       2017 Legislature      CS for CS for CS for SB 118, 1st Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                                              2017118er
    1  
    2         An act relating to criminal history records;
    3         prohibiting a person or entity engaged in publishing
    4         or disseminating arrest booking photographs from
    5         soliciting or accepting a fee or other payment to
    6         remove a photograph; authorizing a person whose arrest
    7         booking photograph is published to request in writing
    8         that it be removed; requiring that the written request
    9         be sent by registered mail and include specified
   10         information; requiring a person or entity to remove an
   11         arrest booking photograph within a specified timeframe
   12         after receipt of a written request; authorizing a
   13         person to bring a civil action to enjoin such
   14         publishing of a photograph; authorizing a court to
   15         impose a civil penalty and award attorney fees and
   16         court costs; providing that refusal to remove an
   17         arrest booking photograph after written request
   18         constitutes an unfair or deceptive practice; providing
   19         applicability; creating s. 943.0586, F.S.; requiring
   20         the Criminal Justice Information Program to
   21         administratively seal the criminal history records of
   22         an adult or a minor upon notification by the clerk of
   23         the court under specified circumstances; providing
   24         effective dates, including a contingent effective
   25         date.
   26          
   27  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   28  
   29         Section 1. (1)Any person or entity engaged in the business
   30  of publishing through a publicly accessible print or electronic
   31  medium or otherwise disseminating arrest booking photographs of
   32  persons who have previously been arrested may not solicit or
   33  accept a fee or other form of payment to remove the photographs.
   34         (2) A person whose arrest booking photograph is published
   35  or otherwise disseminated, or his or her legal representative,
   36  may make a request, in writing, for the removal of an arrest
   37  booking photograph to the registered agent of the person or
   38  entity who published or otherwise disseminated the photograph.
   39  The written request for removal of the arrest booking photograph
   40  must be sent by registered mail and include sufficient proof of
   41  identification of the person whose arrest booking photograph was
   42  published or otherwise disseminated and specific information
   43  identifying the arrest booking photograph that the written
   44  request is seeking to remove. Within 10 days of receipt of the
   45  written request for removal of the arrest booking photograph,
   46  the person or entity who published or otherwise disseminated the
   47  photograph shall remove the arrest booking photograph without
   48  charge.
   49         (3)The person whose arrest booking photograph was
   50  published or otherwise disseminated in the publication or
   51  electronic medium may bring a civil action to enjoin the
   52  continued publication or dissemination of the photograph if the
   53  photograph is not removed within 10 calendar days after receipt
   54  of the written request for removal. The court may impose a civil
   55  penalty of $1,000 per day for noncompliance with an injunction
   56  and shall award reasonable attorney fees and court costs related
   57  to the issuance and enforcement of the injunction. Moneys
   58  recovered for civil penalties under this section shall be
   59  deposited into the General Revenue Fund.
   60         (4)Refusal to remove an arrest booking photograph after
   61  written request has been made constitutes an unfair or deceptive
   62  trade practice in accordance with part II of chapter 501,
   63  Florida Statutes.
   64         (5)This section does not apply to any person or entity
   65  that publishes or disseminates information relating to arrest
   66  booking photographs unless the person or entity solicits or
   67  accepts payment to remove the photographs.
   68         Section 2. Effective upon the same date that SB 450 or
   69  similar legislation takes effect, only if such legislation is
   70  adopted in the same legislative session or an extension thereof
   71  and becomes a law, section 943.0586, Florida Statutes, is
   72  created to read:
   73         943.0586 Administrative sealing of criminal history
   74  records.—
   75         (1) The Criminal Justice Information Program shall
   76  administratively seal the criminal history records pertaining to
   77  an arrest or incident of alleged criminal activity of an adult
   78  or a minor charged with a felony, misdemeanor, or violation of a
   79  comparable rule or ordinance by a state, county, municipal, or
   80  other law enforcement agency upon notification by the clerk of
   81  the court, pursuant to s. 943.052(2), that all the charges
   82  related to the arrest or incident of alleged criminal activity
   83  were declined to be filed by the state attorney or statewide
   84  prosecutor, were dismissed or nolle prosequi before trial, or
   85  resulted in a judgment of acquittal or a verdict of not guilty
   86  at trial and that all appeals by the prosecution have been
   87  exhausted or the time to file an appeal has expired.
   88         Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
   89  act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon
   90  this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect July 1,
   91  2018.