| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public records; providing an exemption |
| 3 | from public records requirements for a manuscript or other |
| 4 | archival material donated to and held by an official |
| 5 | archive of a municipality or county and subject to special |
| 6 | terms and conditions that limit the right to copy or |
| 7 | inspect the manuscript or material; requiring that such a |
| 8 | manuscript or other archival material be made available |
| 9 | for inspection and copying after a specified period or |
| 10 | pursuant to court order; providing for future legislative |
| 11 | review and repeal; providing a finding of public |
| 12 | necessity; providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Manuscripts or other archival material; public |
| 17 | records exemption.-- |
| 18 | (1) A manuscript or other archival material that is |
| 19 | donated to and held by an official archive of a municipality or |
| 20 | county contingent upon special terms and conditions that limit |
| 21 | the right to inspect or copy such manuscript or other material, |
| 22 | but which manuscript or archival material is not otherwise made |
| 23 | or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with |
| 24 | the transaction of official business by any governmental agency, |
| 25 | is confidential and exempt from section 119.07(1), Florida |
| 26 | Statutes, and Section 24(a), Article I of the State |
| 27 | Constitution, except as otherwise provided in the special terms |
| 28 | and conditions. However, a manuscript or other archival material |
| 29 | received under special terms and conditions as provided by this |
| 30 | section, or other public records, shall be made available for |
| 31 | inspection and copying 50 years after the date of the creation |
| 32 | of the manuscript or other archival material, at an earlier date |
| 33 | specified in the special terms or conditions, or upon a showing |
| 34 | of good cause before a court of competent jurisdiction. |
| 35 | (2) Subsection (1) is subject to the Open Government |
| 36 | Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with section 119.15, |
| 37 | Florida Statutes, and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2009, |
| 38 | unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the |
| 39 | Legislature. |
| 40 | Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 41 | necessity to make certain donated manuscripts and other archival |
| 42 | material held by an official archive of a municipality or county |
| 43 | exempt from public disclosure. The Legislature finds that a |
| 44 | municipal or county archive is often designated as the |
| 45 | repository for manuscripts or other material of a private |
| 46 | individual. Except for the deposit of these manuscripts or |
| 47 | material in an official archive of a municipality or county, |
| 48 | such manuscripts and material are not otherwise made available |
| 49 | or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with |
| 50 | the transaction of official business by any governmental agency, |
| 51 | and would not be in the possession of a governmental agency |
| 52 | except for the donation of the private person. Nevertheless, |
| 53 | such manuscript or other material may be of important historical |
| 54 | interest to the municipality or county and therefore should be |
| 55 | preserved in the public interest. The diaries of prominent |
| 56 | historical figures, manuscripts of important writers, and |
| 57 | personal effects of significant persons are examples of the |
| 58 | types of archival material that could be placed in an official |
| 59 | municipal or county archive. A private donor often makes the |
| 60 | donation of such manuscripts or other material contingent upon |
| 61 | special terms and conditions in order to protect private facts |
| 62 | during the lifetime of the donor or during the lifetime of |
| 63 | another person. If a municipal or county archive is unable to |
| 64 | comply with the special terms and conditions, a potential donor |
| 65 | would be unlikely to donate manuscripts or other material that |
| 66 | is of significant archival value to the municipality or county. |
| 67 | As a result, important historical information could be lost to |
| 68 | the public. While the receipt of such manuscripts or other |
| 69 | archival material is in the public interest, the Legislature |
| 70 | also finds that special terms and conditions should not forever |
| 71 | preclude the ability of the public to inspect and copy such |
| 72 | manuscripts or other archival material. The Legislature finds |
| 73 | that the interests of the donor and the public are protected by |
| 74 | limiting such special terms and conditions to 50 years following |
| 75 | the date of the creation of the manuscript or other material. |
| 76 | Such a limitation helps to protect private facts during the |
| 77 | lifetime of an affected person and ensures the preservation of |
| 78 | manuscripts and material beneficial to the public, while |
| 79 | ultimately preserving public access. |
| 80 | Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2004. |