Florida Senate - 2014 CS for SB 298 By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senators Soto, Dean, and Sachs 591-01605-14 2014298c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to arrest booking photographs; 3 creating s. 119.17, F.S.; defining terms; prohibiting 4 a person who publishes or disseminates an arrest 5 booking photograph through a publicly accessible print 6 or electronic medium from soliciting or accepting 7 payment of a fee or other consideration to remove, 8 correct, or modify such photograph; authorizing an 9 action to enjoin publication or dissemination of an 10 arrest booking photograph if the publisher or 11 disseminator unlawfully solicits or accepts a fee or 12 other consideration to remove, correct, or modify such 13 photograph; specifying the time period during which an 14 arrest booking photograph must be removed pursuant to 15 court order; providing a civil penalty; providing for 16 reasonable attorney fees and costs; requiring the 17 court to terminate an injunction under certain 18 circumstances; providing applicability; providing an 19 effective date. 20 21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22 23 Section 1. Section 119.17, Florida Statutes, is created to 24 read: 25 119.17 Arrest booking photographs.— 26 (1) As used in this section, the term: 27 (a) “Arrestee” means an individual who has been arrested 28 for a violation of law in this state. 29 (b) “Arrest booking photograph” means a photograph of an 30 arrestee taken for the purpose of recording the arrestee’s image 31 as part of the arrest and booking process. 32 (c) “Fee or other consideration” does not include a fee or 33 consideration, including attorney fees and costs, solicited or 34 accepted in connection with the actual or attempted settlement 35 or compromise of a lawsuit, threatened lawsuit, arbitration 36 claim, threatened arbitration claim, or other judicial or quasi 37 judicial proceeding. 38 (2) A person engaged in publishing or otherwise 39 disseminating arrest booking photographs through a publicly 40 accessible print or electronic medium may not solicit or accept 41 a fee or other consideration to remove, correct, or modify an 42 arrest booking photograph of an arrestee. 43 (3) If a person engaged in publishing or otherwise 44 disseminating arrest booking photographs through a publicly 45 accessible print or electronic medium solicits or accepts a fee 46 or other consideration to remove, correct, or modify an arrest 47 booking photograph in violation of subsection (2), the arrestee 48 who is the subject of the arrest booking photograph may bring an 49 action to enjoin the publication or other dissemination of the 50 arrest booking photograph. 51 (a) If the court enjoins the publication or other 52 dissemination of the arrest booking photograph, the court shall 53 specify in its order that the arrest booking photograph must be 54 removed from publication or other dissemination not later than 55 14 days after the date the order is entered. The court shall 56 impose a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for each day of 57 noncompliance with the order. 58 (b) If the court enjoins publication or other dissemination 59 of an arrestee’s arrest booking photograph, the arrestee is 60 entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs relating to 61 issuance of the injunction and to any appeal of the order 62 issuing the injunction in which the arrestee is the prevailing 63 party. 64 (c) If, subsequent to the 14-day period for removal 65 pursuant to paragraph (a), the person subject to the injunction 66 demonstrates to the court that he or she is in compliance with 67 this section, the court shall terminate the injunction. 68 (4) This section does not apply to any state, regional, 69 county, local, or municipal governmental entity of this state, 70 whether executive, judicial, or legislative, or any department, 71 division, bureau, commission, authority, or political 72 subdivision of this state. 73 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2014.