Senate Bill sb0660e1

    CS for SB 660                                  First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public records and meetings;

  3         creating s. 246.1112, Florida Statutes;

  4         exempting certain investigatory records of the

  5         Commission for Independent Education; providing

  6         for future review and repeal; providing a

  7         statement of public necessity; providing a

  8         contingent effective date.

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

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12         Section 1.  Section 246.1112, Florida Statutes, is

13  created to read:

14         246.1112  Actions against a licensee and other

15  penalties; confidentiality of information.--The complaint and

16  all information obtained by the Commission for Independent

17  Education in the course of an investigation under s. 246.111

18  is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), and s. 24(a),

19  Art. I of the State Constitution, for a maximum of 10 days

20  after the probable-cause panel declares a finding of probable

21  cause, and the proceedings of that probable-cause panel are

22  exempt from s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State

23  Constitution until the panel declares a finding of probable

24  cause. This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset

25  Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15, and shall

26  stand repealed October 2, 2007, unless renewed and saved from

27  repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.

28         Section 2.  When the probable-cause panel determines

29  that probable cause does not exist, the Legislature finds that

30  it is a public necessity to exempt from public-disclosure a

31  complaint filed under section 246.111, Florida Statutes, and


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    CS for SB 660                                  First Engrossed



  1  all information obtained in the course of investigation of a

  2  complaint filed under section 246.111, Florida Statutes. The

  3  Legislature finds that it is a public necessity to exempt the

  4  proceedings of the probable-cause panel under section 246.111,

  5  Florida Statutes, from public-disclosure requirements. The

  6  exemption prevents unfounded complaints and investigations

  7  from being used to damage the good name of an individual or

  8  entity. The public interest would be protected because the

  9  complaint, all information obtained in the course of the

10  investigation of the complaint, and a record of the

11  proceedings of the probable-cause panel shall be subject to

12  public disclosure if the probable-cause panel determines that

13  probable cause exists.

14         Section 3.  This act shall take effect January 7, 2003,

15  if Senate Bill 2022, relating to independent postsecondary

16  educational institutions or similar legislation is adopted in

17  the same legislative session, or an extension thereof, and

18  becomes a law.

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