| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public records; amending s. 985.04, |
| 3 | F.S.; deleting provisions declaring that specified |
| 4 | information concerning certain juvenile offenders not be |
| 5 | considered confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), |
| 6 | F.S.; providing for future legislative review and repeal |
| 7 | of the amendments and reversion of the text under the Open |
| 8 | Government Sunset Review Act; providing a statement of |
| 9 | public necessity; providing a contingent effective date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 985.04, Florida |
| 14 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 15 | 985.04 Oaths; records; confidential information.- |
| 16 | (2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, |
| 17 | the name, photograph, address, and crime or arrest report of a |
| 18 | child: |
| 19 | (a) Taken into custody if the child has been taken into |
| 20 | custody by a law enforcement officer for a violation of law |
| 21 | which, if committed by an adult, would be a felony; |
| 22 | (b) Found by a court to have committed three or more |
| 23 | violations of law which, if committed by an adult, would be |
| 24 | misdemeanors; |
| 25 | (a)(c) Transferred to the adult system under s. 985.557, |
| 26 | indicted under s. 985.56, or waived under s. 985.556; |
| 27 | (b)(d) Taken into custody by a law enforcement officer for |
| 28 | a violation of law subject to s. 985.557(2)(b) or (d); or |
| 29 | (c)(e) Transferred to the adult system but sentenced to |
| 30 | the juvenile system under s. 985.565 |
| 31 |
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| 32 | shall not be considered confidential and exempt from s. |
| 33 | 119.07(1) solely because of the child's age. |
| 34 | Section 2. The amendment to subsection (2) of section |
| 35 | 985.04, Florida Statutes, by this act is subject to the Open |
| 36 | Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15, |
| 37 | Florida Statutes, and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2016, |
| 38 | and the text of that subsection shall revert to that in |
| 39 | existence on the effective date of this act, except that any |
| 40 | amendments to such text enacted other than by this act shall be |
| 41 | preserved and continue to operate to the extent that such |
| 42 | amendments are not dependent upon the portions of such text |
| 43 | which are repealed pursuant to this section, unless reviewed and |
| 44 | saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 45 | Section 3. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 46 | necessity to exempt from public records requirements the name, |
| 47 | photograph, address, and crime or arrest report of a child taken |
| 48 | into custody for a violation of law which, if committed by an |
| 49 | adult, would be a felony, or of a child found by a court to have |
| 50 | committed three or more violations of law which, if committed by |
| 51 | an adult, would be misdemeanors. Release of this information |
| 52 | makes it extremely difficult for such juveniles to find |
| 53 | employment. Failure of these juveniles to find lawful |
| 54 | employment, which is frequently coupled with a lack of education |
| 55 | and job experience, leaves these juveniles with few options in |
| 56 | life other than to reoffend. Thus, it is a public necessity that |
| 57 | such information not be subject to the public records laws. |
| 58 | Section 4. This act shall take effect on the same date |
| 59 | that HB 1297 or similar legislation takes effect, if such |
| 60 | legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an |
| 61 | extension thereof and becomes law. |