Florida Senate - 2009                             CS for SB 1834
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Governmental Oversight and Accountability
       
       
       
       585-03030-09                                          20091834c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to a review under the Open Government
    3         Sunset Review Act; amending ss. 257.35 and 257.38,
    4         F.S.; revising a public-records exemption that is
    5         provided for nonpublic manuscripts and other archival
    6         material held by the Florida State Archives within the
    7         Department of State or held by a local government
    8         archive; providing a definition; clarifying provisions
    9         governing the continued confidentiality of certain
   10         records that are transferred to the custody of the
   11         Division of Library and Information Services, placed
   12         in the keeping of the division, or donated to an
   13         official archive of a municipality or county; saving
   14         the exemption from repeal under the Open Government
   15         Sunset Review Act; deleting provisions that provide
   16         for repeal of the exemption; providing an effective
   17         date.
   18  
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Section 257.35, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   22  read:
   23         257.35 Florida State Archives.—
   24         (1) There is created within the Division of Library and
   25  Information Services of the Department of State the Florida
   26  State Archives for the preservation of those public records, as
   27  defined in s. 119.011(12) s. 119.011, manuscripts, and other
   28  archival material that have been determined by the division to
   29  have sufficient historical or other value to warrant their
   30  continued preservation and have been accepted by the division
   31  for deposit in its custody. It is the duty and responsibility of
   32  the division to:
   33         (a) Organize and administer the Florida State Archives.
   34         (b) Preserve and administer such records as shall be
   35  transferred to its custody; accept, arrange, and preserve them,
   36  according to approved archival practices; and permit them, at
   37  reasonable times and under the supervision of the division, to
   38  be inspected and copied. All public records transferred to the
   39  custody of the division shall be subject to the provisions of s.
   40  119.07(1), except that any public record or other record
   41  provided by law to be confidential or prohibited from inspection
   42  by the public shall be made accessible only after a period of 50
   43  years from the date of the creation of the record. Any nonpublic
   44  manuscript or other archival material which is placed in the
   45  keeping of the division under special terms and conditions,
   46  shall be made accessible only in accordance with such law terms
   47  and conditions and shall be exempt from the provisions of s.
   48  119.07(1) to the extent necessary to meet the terms and
   49  conditions for a nonpublic manuscript or other archival
   50  material.
   51         (c) Assist the records and information management program
   52  in the determination of retention values for records.
   53         (d) Cooperate with and assist insofar as practicable state
   54  institutions, departments, agencies, counties, municipalities,
   55  and individuals engaged in activities in the field of state
   56  archives, manuscripts, and history and accept from any person
   57  any paper, book, record, or similar material which in the
   58  judgment of the division warrants preservation in the state
   59  archives.
   60         (e) Provide a public research room where, under rules
   61  established by the division, the materials in the state archives
   62  may be studied.
   63         (f) Conduct, promote, and encourage research in Florida
   64  history, government, and culture and maintain a program of
   65  information, assistance, coordination, and guidance for public
   66  officials, educational institutions, libraries, the scholarly
   67  community, and the general public engaged in such research.
   68         (g) Cooperate with and, insofar as practicable, assist
   69  agencies, libraries, institutions, and individuals in projects
   70  designed to preserve original source materials relating to
   71  Florida history, government, and culture and prepare and publish
   72  handbooks, guides, indexes, and other literature directed toward
   73  encouraging the preservation and use of the state’s documentary
   74  resources.
   75         (h) Encourage and initiate efforts to preserve, collect,
   76  process, transcribe, index, and research the oral history of
   77  Florida government.
   78         (i) Assist and cooperate with the records and information
   79  management program in the training and information program
   80  described in s. 257.36(1)(g).
   81         (2) Any agency is authorized and empowered to turn over to
   82  the division any record no longer in current official use. The
   83  division, in its discretion, is authorized to accept such record
   84  and, having done so, shall provide for its administration and
   85  preservation as herein provided and, upon acceptance, shall be
   86  considered the legal custodian of such record. The division is
   87  empowered to direct and effect the transfer to the archives of
   88  any records that are determined by the division to have such
   89  historical or other value to warrant their continued
   90  preservation or protection, unless the head of the agency which
   91  has custody of the records certifies in writing to the division
   92  that the records shall be retained in the agency’s custody for
   93  use in the conduct of the regular current business of the
   94  agency.
   95         (3) Title to any record transferred to the Florida State
   96  Archives, as authorized in this chapter, shall be vested in the
   97  division.
   98         (4) The division shall make certified copies under seal of
   99  any record transferred to it upon the application of any person,
  100  and said certificates shall have the same force and effect as if
  101  made by the agency from which the record was received. The
  102  division may charge a fee for this service based upon the cost
  103  of service.
  104         (5) The division may establish and maintain a schedule of
  105  fees for services which shall include, but not be limited to,
  106  restoration of archival materials, storage of archival
  107  materials, special research services, and publications.
  108         (6) The division may establish and maintain as part of the
  109  state archives a Florida State Photographic Collection. The
  110  division shall:
  111         (a) Acquire, identify, appraise, arrange, index, restore,
  112  and preserve photographs, motion pictures, drawings, and other
  113  iconographic material considered appropriate for preservation.
  114         (b) Initiate appropriate action to acquire, identify,
  115  preserve, recover, and restore photographs, motion pictures, and
  116  other iconographic material considered appropriate for
  117  preservation.
  118         (c) Provide for an index to the historical photographic
  119  holdings of the Florida State Photographic Collection and the
  120  State of Florida.
  121  
  122  Any use or reproduction of material deposited with the Florida
  123  State Photographic Collection shall be allowed pursuant to the
  124  provisions of paragraph (1)(b) and subsection (4) provided that
  125  appropriate credit for its use is given.
  126         (7) The division shall adopt promulgate such rules as are
  127  necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
  128         Section 2. Section 257.38, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  129  read:
  130         257.38 Manuscripts or other archival material held by the
  131  Florida State Archives or a local government archive; public
  132  records public records exemption.—
  133         (1)As used in this section, the term “nonpublic manuscript
  134  or other archival material” means a manuscript or archival
  135  material that is not otherwise made or received pursuant to law
  136  or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official
  137  business by any governmental agency.
  138         (2)All public records transferred to the custody of the
  139  division are subject to s. 119.07(1), except that any public
  140  record or other record that is provided by law to be
  141  confidential or prohibited from inspection by the public shall
  142  be made accessible only after a period of 50 years after the
  143  date of the creation of the record.
  144         (3)Any nonpublic manuscript or other archival material
  145  that is placed in the keeping of the division under special
  146  terms and conditions shall be made accessible to the public only
  147  in accordance with such terms and conditions and is exempt from
  148  s. 119.07(1) to the extent necessary to meet the special terms
  149  and conditions.
  150         (4)(1)Any nonpublic A manuscript or other archival
  151  material that is donated to and held by an official archive of a
  152  municipality or county contingent upon special terms and
  153  conditions that limit the right to inspect or copy such
  154  manuscript or other material, but which manuscript or archival
  155  material is not otherwise made or received pursuant to law or
  156  ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official
  157  business by any governmental agency, is confidential and exempt
  158  from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
  159  Constitution, except as otherwise provided in the special terms
  160  and conditions. However, A nonpublic manuscript or other
  161  archival material received under special terms and conditions as
  162  authorized provided by this subsection section shall be made
  163  available for inspection and copying 50 years after the date of
  164  the creation of the nonpublic manuscript or other archival
  165  material, at an earlier date specified in the special terms or
  166  conditions, or upon a showing of good cause before a court of
  167  competent jurisdiction.
  168         (2)Subsection (1) is subject to the Open Government Sunset
  169  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
  170  on October 2, 2009, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
  171  through reenactment by the Legislature.
  172         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2009.