ENROLLED
       2018 Legislature                     CS for CS for CS for SB 268
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                                              2018268er
    1  
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s.
    3         744.21031, F.S.; providing an exemption from public
    4         records requirements for certain identifying and
    5         location information of current or former public
    6         guardians, employees with fiduciary responsibility,
    7         and the spouses and children thereof; defining the
    8         term “employee with fiduciary responsibility”;
    9         providing for retroactive application; requiring an
   10         agency that is the custodian of certain information to
   11         maintain the exempt status of that information only if
   12         the current or former public guardians and employees
   13         with fiduciary responsibility submit a written request
   14         for maintenance of the exemption to the custodial
   15         agency; providing for future legislative review and
   16         repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of
   17         public necessity; providing an effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Section 744.21031, Florida Statutes, is created
   22  to read:
   23         744.21031 Public records exemption.—The home addresses,
   24  telephone numbers, dates of birth, places of employment, and
   25  photographs of current or former public guardians and employees
   26  with fiduciary responsibility; the names, home addresses,
   27  telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment of
   28  the spouses and children of such persons; and the names and
   29  locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the
   30  children of such persons are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s.
   31  24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. As used in this
   32  section, the term “employee with fiduciary responsibility” means
   33  an employee of a public guardian who has the ability to direct
   34  any transactions of a ward’s funds, assets, or property; who
   35  under the supervision of the guardian, manages the care of the
   36  ward; or who makes any health care decision, as defined in s.
   37  765.101, on behalf of the ward. This exemption applies to
   38  information held by an agency before, on, or after July 1, 2018.
   39  An agency that is the custodian of the information specified in
   40  this section shall maintain the exempt status of that
   41  information only if the current or former public guardians and
   42  employees with fiduciary responsibility submit to the custodial
   43  agency a written request for maintenance of the exemption. This
   44  section is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in
   45  accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2,
   46  2023, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment
   47  by the Legislature.
   48         Section 2. (1)The Legislature finds that it is a public
   49  necessity that the following identifying and location
   50  information be exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and
   51  s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution:
   52         (a)The home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth,
   53  places of employment, and photographs of current or former
   54  public guardians and employees with fiduciary responsibility;
   55         (b)The names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of
   56  birth, and places of employment of spouses and children of such
   57  guardians and employees with fiduciary responsibility; and
   58         (c)The names and locations of schools and day care
   59  facilities attended by the children of such guardians and
   60  employees with fiduciary responsibility.
   61         (2)The Legislature finds that the release of such
   62  identifying and location information might place current or
   63  former public guardians and employees with fiduciary
   64  responsibility and their family members in danger of physical
   65  and emotional harm from disgruntled individuals who react
   66  inappropriately to actions taken by the public guardians and
   67  employees with fiduciary responsibility. Public guardians and
   68  employees with fiduciary responsibility provide a valuable
   69  service to the community by helping some of the state’s most
   70  vulnerable residents who lack the physical or mental capacity to
   71  take care of most aspects of their own personal affairs. Public
   72  guardians and employees with fiduciary responsibility help those
   73  who lack a willing and qualified family member or friend and who
   74  do not have the income or assets to pay a professional guardian.
   75         (3)Despite the value of this service, however, some
   76  persons, including a public guardian’s own wards, become
   77  disgruntled with the assistance provided or the decisions a
   78  public guardian or an employee with fiduciary responsibility
   79  makes, which can result in a guardian or an employee with
   80  fiduciary responsibility or the family members of the guardian
   81  or the employee with fiduciary responsibility becoming potential
   82  targets for an act of revenge. Wards have harassed their public
   83  guardians with threats of incarceration, violence, and death
   84  through voicemail messages and social media. Wards have also
   85  left voicemail messages threatening to kill themselves and
   86  others, as well as the public guardian. In the course of their
   87  duties, public guardians have also been subject to being
   88  physically assaulted.
   89         (4)After a public guardian or an employee with fiduciary
   90  responsibility concludes his or her service, the risk continues
   91  because a disgruntled individual may wait until then to commit
   92  an act of revenge. The harm that may result from the release of
   93  a public guardian’s or an employee with fiduciary
   94  responsibility’s personal identifying and location information
   95  outweighs any public benefit that may be derived from the
   96  disclosure of the information.
   97         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.