Florida Senate - 2014                             CS for SB 1046
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Rules; and Senator Galvano
       
       
       
       
       
       595-04451-14                                          20141046c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s.
    3         316.066, F.S.; providing an exemption from public
    4         records requirements for certain personal contact
    5         information contained in motor vehicle crash reports;
    6         providing for future legislative review and repeal of
    7         the exemption; providing a statement of public
    8         necessity; providing a contingent effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
   13  316.066, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (f) is
   14  added to that subsection, to read:
   15         316.066 Written reports of crashes.—
   16         (2)
   17         (b) Crash reports held by an agency under paragraph (a) may
   18  be made immediately available to the parties involved in the
   19  crash, their legal representatives, their licensed insurance
   20  agents, their insurers or insurers to which they have applied
   21  for coverage, persons under contract with such insurers to
   22  provide claims or underwriting information, prosecutorial
   23  authorities, law enforcement agencies, the Department of
   24  Transportation, county traffic operations, victim services
   25  programs, radio and television stations licensed by the Federal
   26  Communications Commission, newspapers qualified to publish legal
   27  notices under ss. 50.011 and 50.031, and, in accordance with
   28  paragraph (f), free newspapers of general circulation, published
   29  once a week or more often, of which at least 7,500 copies are
   30  distributed by mail or by carrier as verified by a postal
   31  statement or by a notarized printer’s statement of press run,
   32  which are intended to be generally distributed and circulated,
   33  and which contain news of general interest with at least 10
   34  pages per publication, available and of interest to the public
   35  generally for the dissemination of news. For the purposes of
   36  this section, the following products or publications are not
   37  newspapers as referred to in this section: those intended
   38  primarily for members of a particular profession or occupational
   39  group; those with the primary purpose of distributing
   40  advertising; and those with the primary purpose of publishing
   41  names and other personal identifying information concerning
   42  parties to motor vehicle crashes.
   43         (f) Free newspapers of general circulation published once a
   44  week or more often, of which at least 7,500 copies are
   45  distributed by mail or by carrier as verified by a postal
   46  statement or by a notarized printer’s statement of press run,
   47  which are intended to be generally distributed and circulated,
   48  which contain news of general interest with at least 10 pages
   49  per publication, available and of interest to the public
   50  generally for the dissemination of news, and which request 10 or
   51  more crash reports within a 24-hour period before 60 days have
   52  elapsed after the report is filed may not have access to the
   53  home, cellular, employment, or other telephone number or the
   54  home or employment address of any of the parties involved in the
   55  crash. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   56  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   57  on October 2, 2019, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   58  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   59         Section 2. The Legislature finds that a crash report that
   60  reveals the home, cellular, employment, or other telephone
   61  number or the home or employment address of any of the parties
   62  involved in a crash and that is held by an agency that regularly
   63  receives or prepares information from or concerning the parties
   64  involved in motor vehicle crashes is confidential and exempt
   65  from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of
   66  the State Constitution for 60 days after the date that the
   67  report is filed. Public access to such information during that
   68  60-day period by free newspapers of general circulation,
   69  published once a week or more often, of which at least 7,500
   70  copies are distributed by mail or by carrier as verified by a
   71  postal statement or by a notarized printer’s statement of press
   72  run, which are intended to be generally distributed and
   73  circulated, which contain news of general interest with at least
   74  10 pages per publication, available and of interest to the
   75  public generally for the dissemination of news, and which
   76  request 10 or more crash reports within a 24-hour period before
   77  60 days have elapsed after the report is filed should be
   78  restricted to combat widespread insurance fraud that occurs when
   79  the information is unlawfully used to contact the parties
   80  involved in a crash. The exemption protects the parties involved
   81  in a crash from those who would unlawfully solicit personal
   82  injury protection insurance claims. Accordingly, the Legislature
   83  finds that the harm to parties involved in a crash which could
   84  result from the release of such information outweighs any
   85  minimal public benefit that would be derived from disclosure of
   86  that information to the public. Therefore, it is the finding of
   87  the Legislature that such information must be made confidential
   88  and exempt from public records requirements.
   89         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
   90  SB 876 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
   91  is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
   92  thereof and becomes law.