Florida Senate - 2016                                    SB 7048
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs
       
       586-02131-16                                          20167048__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to a review under the Open Government
    3         Sunset Review Act; amending s. 1004.55, F.S., which
    4         provides an exemption from public records requirements
    5         for information relating to client records and donor
    6         information collected by regional autism centers;
    7         removing the scheduled repeal of the exemption;
    8         providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 1004.55, Florida
   13  Statutes, is amended to read:
   14         1004.55 Regional autism centers; public record exemptions.—
   15         (6)(a) Client records.—
   16         1. All records that relate to a client of a regional autism
   17  center who receives the services of a center or participates in
   18  center activities, and all records that relate to the client’s
   19  family, are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s.
   20  24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
   21         2. A client who receives the services of a center, if
   22  competent, or the client’s parent or legal guardian if the
   23  client is incompetent, shall be provided with a copy of the
   24  client’s individual record upon request.
   25         3. A regional autism center may release the confidential
   26  and exempt records as follows:
   27         a. To physicians, attorneys, or governmental entities
   28  having need of the confidential and exempt information to aid a
   29  client, as authorized by the client, if competent, or the
   30  client’s parent or legal guardian if the client is incompetent.
   31         b. In response to a subpoena or to persons authorized by
   32  order of court.
   33         c. To the State Board of Education or the Board of
   34  Governors of the State University System when the director of
   35  the center deems it necessary for the treatment of the client,
   36  maintenance of adequate records, compilation of treatment data,
   37  or evaluation of programs.
   38         4. Provided that personal identifying information of a
   39  client or the client’s family has been removed, a regional
   40  autism center may release information contained in the
   41  confidential and exempt records as follows:
   42         a. to a person engaged in bona fide research if that person
   43  agrees to sign a confidentiality agreement with the regional
   44  autism center, agrees to maintain the confidentiality of the
   45  information received, and, to the extent permitted by law and
   46  after the research has concluded, destroy any confidential
   47  information obtained.
   48         5.b. The director of the center or his or her designee may
   49  release information for statistical and research purposes by the
   50  director of the center or designee, provided that any
   51  confidential and exempt information is removed in the reporting
   52  of such statistical or research data.
   53         (b) Donor information.—Personal identifying information of
   54  a donor or prospective donor to a regional autism center who
   55  desires to remain anonymous is confidential and exempt from s.
   56  119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
   57         (c) Review and repeal.—This subsection is subject to the
   58  Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15
   59  and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2016, unless reviewed and
   60  saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
   61         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.