House Bill hb1701

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1701

        By Representative Smith






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public records; amending s.

  3         119.07, F.S.; exempting from disclosure under

  4         s. 119.07(1), F.S., and s. 24(a), Art. I of the

  5         State Constitution, certain information

  6         pertaining to county and municipal code

  7         enforcement officers and their families;

  8         providing for future repeal and prior

  9         legislative review of these exemptions;

10         providing a statement of public necessity for

11         the exemptions; providing an effective date.

12

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

14

15         Section 1.  Paragraph (i) of subsection (3) of section

16  119.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

17         119.07  Inspection, examination, and duplication of

18  records; exemptions.--

19         (3)

20         (i)1.  The home addresses, telephone numbers, social

21  security numbers, and photographs of active or former law

22  enforcement personnel, including correctional and correctional

23  probation officers, personnel of the Department of Children

24  and Family Services whose duties include the investigation of

25  abuse, neglect, exploitation, fraud, theft, or other criminal

26  activities, personnel of the Department of Health whose duties

27  are to support the investigation of child abuse or neglect,

28  and personnel of the Department of Revenue or local

29  governments whose responsibilities include revenue collection

30  and enforcement or child support enforcement, and code

31  enforcement officers; the home addresses, telephone numbers,

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1701

    727-130-01






  1  social security numbers, photographs, and places of employment

  2  of the spouses and children of such personnel; and the names

  3  and locations of schools and day care facilities attended by

  4  the children of such personnel are exempt from the provisions

  5  of subsection (1). The home addresses, telephone numbers, and

  6  photographs of firefighters certified in compliance with s.

  7  633.35; the home addresses, telephone numbers, photographs,

  8  and places of employment of the spouses and children of such

  9  firefighters; and the names and locations of schools and day

10  care facilities attended by the children of such firefighters

11  are exempt from subsection (1). The home addresses and

12  telephone numbers of justices of the Supreme Court, district

13  court of appeal judges, circuit court judges, and county court

14  judges; the home addresses, telephone numbers, and places of

15  employment of the spouses and children of justices and judges;

16  and the names and locations of schools and day care facilities

17  attended by the children of justices and judges are exempt

18  from the provisions of subsection (1). The home addresses,

19  telephone numbers, social security numbers, and photographs of

20  current or former state attorneys, assistant state attorneys,

21  statewide prosecutors, or assistant statewide prosecutors; the

22  home addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers,

23  photographs, and places of employment of the spouses and

24  children of current or former state attorneys, assistant state

25  attorneys, statewide prosecutors, or assistant statewide

26  prosecutors; and the names and locations of schools and day

27  care facilities attended by the children of current or former

28  state attorneys, assistant state attorneys, statewide

29  prosecutors, or assistant statewide prosecutors are exempt

30  from subsection (1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State

31  Constitution. The home addresses and home telephone numbers of

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1701

    727-130-01






  1  county and municipal code inspectors and code enforcement

  2  officers are confidential and exempt from the provisions of

  3  subsection (1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.

  4         2.  An agency that is the custodian of the personal

  5  information specified in subparagraph 1. and that is not the

  6  employer of the officer, employee, justice, judge, or other

  7  person specified in subparagraph 1. shall maintain the

  8  confidentiality of the personal information only if the

  9  officer, employee, justice, judge, other person, or employing

10  agency of the designated employee submits a written request

11  for confidentiality to the custodial agency.

12         Section 2.  The exemptions from section 119.07(1) and

13  s. 24(a) of Art. I of the State Constitution which are

14  provided under section 1 of this act are repealed effective

15  October 2, 2006, and must be reviewed by the Legislature

16  before that date in accordance with section 119.15, Florida

17  Statutes, the Open Government Sunset Review Act of 1995.

18         Section 3.  The Legislature finds that the exemptions

19  provided for in section 1 of this act are a public necessity.

20  The current exemption of names and addresses has not

21  completely shielded the identities of the county and municipal

22  code enforcement officers. The responsibilities of these

23  employees regularly take them into areas of neglect, abuse,

24  and personal danger. Citations issued in response to

25  violations that they encounter often lead to retribution by

26  the offenders. Their personnel files are reviewed on numerous

27  occasions by code violators seeking information relating to

28  the code enforcement officers and their families. The

29  disclosure of this personal information has led to threats,

30  acts of violence, and unwarranted risk to the officers and

31  their families.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1701

    727-130-01






  1         Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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  4                          SENATE SUMMARY

  5    Provides exemptions from public records requirements for
      the social security numbers and photographs of county and
  6    municipal code enforcement officers and for information
      relating to the spouses and children of those officers.
  7    Provides for future repeal and prior legislative review
      of these exemptions under the Open Government Sunset
  8    Review Act of 1995.

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