Florida Senate - 2015                       CS for CS for SB 674
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security;
       and Senator Evers
       
       
       
       585-03185-15                                           2015674c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s.
    3         119.071, F.S.; defining the terms “identification and
    4         location information” and “servicemember”; providing
    5         an exemption from public records requirements for
    6         certain identification and location information of
    7         servicemembers and the spouses and dependents of
    8         servicemembers; providing for retroactive application;
    9         providing for future legislative review and repeal of
   10         the exemption; providing a statement of public
   11         necessity; providing an effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (5) of
   16  section 119.071, Florida Statutes, to read:
   17         119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of
   18  public records.—
   19         (5) OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION.—
   20         (k)1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term:
   21         a. “Identification and location information” means the:
   22         (I) Home address, telephone number, and date of birth of a
   23  servicemember; and the telephone number associated with a
   24  servicemember’s personal communication device.
   25         (II) Home address, telephone number, date of birth, and
   26  place of employment of the spouse or dependent of a
   27  servicemember; and the telephone number associated with such
   28  spouse’s or dependent’s personal communication device.
   29         (III) Name and location of the school attended by the
   30  spouse, or the school or day care facility attended by a
   31  dependent, of a servicemember.
   32         b. “Servicemember” means a current or former member of the
   33  Armed Forces of the United States, a reserve component of the
   34  Armed Forces of the United States, or the National Guard who
   35  served after September 11, 2001.
   36         2. Identification and location information held by an
   37  agency is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the
   38  State Constitution if a servicemember submits the following to
   39  an agency that has custody of the identification and location
   40  information:
   41         a. A written request to exempt the identification and
   42  location information from public disclosure; and
   43         b. A written statement that he or she has made reasonable
   44  efforts to protect the identification and location information
   45  from being accessible through other means available to the
   46  public.
   47         3. This exemption applies to identification and location
   48  information held by an agency before, on, or after the effective
   49  date of this exemption.
   50         4. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   51  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   52  on October 2, 2020, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   53  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   54         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   55  necessity that the identification and location information held
   56  by an agency of current or former members of the Armed Forces of
   57  the United States, a reserve component of the Armed Forces of
   58  the United States, or the National Guard who served after
   59  September 11, 2001; their spouses; and their dependents be made
   60  exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a),
   61  Article I of the State Constitution. Servicemembers perform
   62  among the most critical, most effective, and most dangerous
   63  operations in defense of our nation’s freedom. Terrorist groups
   64  have threatened servicemembers and their families and have
   65  encouraged their sympathizers to harm servicemembers and their
   66  families within the United States. One terrorist group has
   67  allegedly gathered the photographs and home addresses of
   68  servicemembers from public sources to create and publish a list
   69  of servicemembers in order to make such persons vulnerable to an
   70  act of terrorism. The Legislature finds that allowing continued
   71  public access to the identification and location information of
   72  current or former servicemembers and their families jeopardizes
   73  the safety of servicemembers, their spouses, and their
   74  dependents. The Legislature finds that protecting the safety and
   75  security of current or former members of the Armed Forces of the
   76  United States, a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the
   77  United States, or the National Guard who served after September
   78  11, 2001; their spouses; and their dependents outweighs any
   79  public benefit that may be derived from the public disclosure of
   80  their identification and location information.
   81         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.