House Bill 4123
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 4123
By the Committee on Elder Affairs & Long Term Care and
Representatives Brooks, Jacobs, Argenziano, Carlton, Wiles,
Reddick and Barreiro
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public records; providing an
3 exemption from public records requirements for
4 information obtained by the Agency for Health
5 Care Administration or a nursing facility in
6 connection with background screening of
7 employees and prospective employees of the
8 facility; providing for future review and
9 repeal; providing a finding of public
10 necessity; providing a contingent effective
11 date.
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13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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15 Section 1. Except as provided in ss. 400.215(2)(c) and
16 435.10, Florida Statutes, criminal records, juvenile records,
17 or abuse registry information that is obtained by the Agency
18 for Health Care Administration in connection with background
19 screening requirements that apply to an employee or a
20 prospective employee of a nursing facility is confidential and
21 exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes,
22 and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This section
23 is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in
24 accordance with s. 119.15, Florida Statutes, and shall stand
25 repealed on October 2, 2003, unless reviewed and saved from
26 repeal through enactment by the Legislature.
27 Section 2. The Legislature finds that exempting
28 criminal records, juvenile records, and abuse registry
29 background screening information related to employees and
30 prospective employees of nursing facilities from public
31 disclosure is a public necessity, in that the health and
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 4123
173-949-98
1 safety of the public necessitates having available applicants
2 for positions as nursing facility personnel. Allowing such
3 information concerning employees or applicants to be
4 disseminated would have a chilling effect upon the willingness
5 to apply for such positions on the part of any person about
6 whom there is information of past misbehavior contained in
7 juvenile records or criminal records or in the central abuse
8 registry, even if the person were fully rehabilitated and
9 would be a suitable employee. Juvenile records and central
10 abuse registry information are otherwise already exempt.
11 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date
12 that Committee Substitute for House Bills 3089 and 171 or
13 similar legislation creating the Nursing Home Facility
14 Personnel Screening Act takes effect, if such legislation is
15 adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
16 thereof.
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19 HOUSE SUMMARY
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Provides an exemption from public records requirements
21 for information obtained by the Agency for Health Care
Administration or a nursing facility in connection with
22 background screening of employees and prospective
employees of the facility. Provides for future review and
23 repeal.
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