Senate Bill sb0712

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                   SB 712

    By the Committee on Transportation





    596-588-06

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to a review under the Open

  3         Government Sunset Review Act; amending s.

  4         316.066, F.S., relating to an exemption from

  5         public-records requirements provided for

  6         written reports of motor vehicle crashes which

  7         are forwarded to the Department of Highway

  8         Safety and Motor Vehicles or to a traffic

  9         records center; saving the exemption from

10         repeal under the Open Government Sunset Review

11         Act; deleting provisions providing for the

12         repeal of the exemption; providing an effective

13         date.

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

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17         Section 1.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section

18  316.066, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

19         316.066  Written reports of crashes.--

20         (3)

21         (c)  Crash reports required by this section which

22  reveal the identity, home or employment telephone number or

23  home or employment address of, or other personal information

24  concerning the parties involved in the crash and which are

25  received or prepared by any agency that regularly receives or

26  prepares information from or concerning the parties to motor

27  vehicle crashes are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1)

28  and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution for a period of

29  60 days after the date the report is filed. However, such

30  reports may be made immediately available to the parties

31  involved in the crash, their legal representatives, their

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                   SB 712
    596-588-06




 1  licensed insurance agents, their insurers or insurers to which

 2  they have applied for coverage, persons under contract with

 3  such insurers to provide claims or underwriting information,

 4  prosecutorial authorities, victim services programs, radio and

 5  television stations licensed by the Federal Communications

 6  Commission, newspapers qualified to publish legal notices

 7  under ss. 50.011 and 50.031, and free newspapers of general

 8  circulation, published once a week or more often, available

 9  and of interest to the public generally for the dissemination

10  of news. For the purposes of this section, the following

11  products or publications are not newspapers as referred to in

12  this section: those intended primarily for members of a

13  particular profession or occupational group; those with the

14  primary purpose of distributing advertising; and those with

15  the primary purpose of publishing names and other personal

16  identifying information concerning parties to motor vehicle

17  crashes. Any local, state, or federal agency, victim services

18  program, agent, or employee that is authorized to have access

19  to such reports by any provision of law shall be granted such

20  access in the furtherance of the agency's statutory duties

21  notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph. Any local,

22  state, or federal agency, agent, or employee receiving such

23  crash reports shall maintain the confidential and exempt

24  status of those reports and shall not disclose such crash

25  reports to any person or entity. As a condition precedent to

26  accessing a crash report within 60 days after the date the

27  report is filed, a person must present a valid driver's

28  license or other photographic identification, proof of status,

29  or identification that demonstrates his or her qualifications

30  to access that information, and file a written sworn statement

31  with the state or local agency in possession of the

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                   SB 712
    596-588-06




 1  information stating that information from a crash report made

 2  confidential by this section will not be used for any

 3  commercial solicitation of accident victims, or knowingly

 4  disclosed to any third party for the purpose of such

 5  solicitation, during the period of time that the information

 6  remains confidential. In lieu of requiring the written sworn

 7  statement, an agency may provide crash reports by electronic

 8  means to third-party vendors under contract with one or more

 9  insurers, but only when such contract states that information

10  from a crash report made confidential by this section will not

11  be used for any commercial solicitation of accident victims by

12  the vendors, or knowingly disclosed by the vendors to any

13  third party for the purpose of such solicitation, during the

14  period of time that the information remains confidential, and

15  only when a copy of such contract is furnished to the agency

16  as proof of the vendor's claimed status. This subsection does

17  not prevent the dissemination or publication of news to the

18  general public by any legitimate media entitled to access

19  confidential information pursuant to this section. A law

20  enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10(1) may enforce

21  this subsection. This exemption is subject to the Open

22  Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s.

23  119.15, and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2006, unless

24  reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the

25  Legislature.

26         Section 2.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2006.

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    Florida Senate - 2006                                   SB 712
    596-588-06




 1            *****************************************

 2                          SENATE SUMMARY

 3    Removes the repeal under the Open Government Sunset
      Review Act of the public-records exemption for written
 4    reports of motor vehicle crashes forwarded to the
      Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or to a
 5    traffic records center.

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