House Bill 4123c1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.







    Florida House of Representatives - 1998             CS/HB 4123

        By the Committees on Governmental Operations, 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.

12

13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

14

15         Section 1.  Except as provided in ss. 400.215(2)(c) and

16  435.10, Florida Statutes, Federal Bureau of Investigation

17  criminal records, juvenile records, or abuse registry

18  information that is obtained by the Agency for Health Care

19  Administration in connection with background screening

20  requirements that apply to an employee or a prospective

21  employee of a nursing facility is confidential and exempt from

22  the provisions of s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s.

23  24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This section is

24  subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in

25  accordance with s. 119.15, Florida Statutes, and shall stand

26  repealed on October 2, 2003, unless reviewed and saved from

27  repeal through enactment by the Legislature.

28         Section 2.  The Legislature finds that exempting

29  Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal records, juvenile

30  records, and abuse registry background screening information

31  related to employees and prospective employees of nursing

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998             CS/HB 4123

    192-986-98






  1  facilities from public disclosure is a public necessity, in

  2  that the health and safety of the public necessitates having

  3  available applicants for positions as nursing facility

  4  personnel.  Allowing such information concerning employees or

  5  applicants to be disseminated would have a chilling effect

  6  upon the willingness to apply for such positions on the part

  7  of any person about whom there is information of past

  8  misbehavior contained in juvenile records or criminal records

  9  or in the central abuse registry, even if the person were

10  fully rehabilitated and would be a suitable employee.

11  Juvenile records and central abuse registry information are

12  otherwise already exempt.

13         Section 3.  This act shall take effect on the same date

14  that Committee Substitute for House Bills 3089 and 171 or

15  similar legislation creating the Nursing Home Facility

16  Personnel Screening Act takes effect, if such legislation is

17  adopted in the same legislative session or an extension

18  thereof.

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

                                  2