Florida Senate - 2020                                    SB 7010
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs and Space
       
       
       
       
       
       583-01415-20                                          20207010__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to a review under the Open Government
    3         Sunset Review Act; amending s. 119.071, F.S., which
    4         provides a public records exemption for the
    5         identification and location information of
    6         servicemembers and the spouses and dependents of
    7         servicemembers; expanding the exemption by removing
    8         the requirement that a servicemember submit a written
    9         statement that reasonable efforts have been made to
   10         protect the information in order to claim the
   11         exemption; providing for future legislative review and
   12         repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of
   13         public necessity; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Paragraph (k) of subsection (5) of section
   18  119.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   19         119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of
   20  public records.—
   21         (5) OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION.—
   22         (k)1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term:
   23         a. “Identification and location information” means the:
   24         (I) Home address, telephone number, and date of birth of a
   25  servicemember, and the telephone number associated with a
   26  servicemember’s personal communication device.
   27         (II) Home address, telephone number, date of birth, and
   28  place of employment of the spouse or dependent of a
   29  servicemember, and the telephone number associated with such
   30  spouse’s or dependent’s personal communication device.
   31         (III) Name and location of a school attended by the spouse
   32  of a servicemember or a school or day care facility attended by
   33  a dependent of a servicemember.
   34         b. “Servicemember” means a current or former member of the
   35  Armed Forces of the United States, a reserve component of the
   36  Armed Forces of the United States, or the National Guard, who
   37  served after September 11, 2001.
   38         2. Identification and location information held by an
   39  agency is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the
   40  State Constitution if a servicemember submits to an agency that
   41  has custody of the identification and location information:
   42         a. a written request to exempt the identification and
   43  location information from public disclosure; and
   44         b. A written statement that he or she has made reasonable
   45  efforts to protect the identification and location information
   46  from being accessible through other means available to the
   47  public.
   48         3. This exemption applies to identification and location
   49  information held by an agency before, on, or after the effective
   50  date of this exemption.
   51         4. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   52  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   53  on October 2, 2025 2020, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   54  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   55         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   56  necessity to remove the requirement that a servicemember submit
   57  a written statement that he or she has made reasonable efforts
   58  to protect their identification and location information from
   59  being accessible through other means available to the public in
   60  order to claim the public records exemption under s.
   61  119.071(5)(k), Florida Statutes. The requirement of a written
   62  statement of reasonable efforts is an added burden on these
   63  individuals as well as on agencies receiving public records
   64  requests. The extent to which servicemembers must protect their
   65  information from public accessibility in order to satisfy the
   66  reasonable efforts standard is unclear. It is also unclear how
   67  much proof of reasonable efforts made by an individual is needed
   68  by an agency in order to grant the exemption. The burden on an
   69  agency to verify whether these individuals have protected from
   70  public disclosure their identification and location information
   71  adversely impacts the effective and efficient administration of
   72  government in establishing who is otherwise eligible for an
   73  exemption. In 2017, the Legislature removed the requirement that
   74  certain agency personnel could claim a public records exemption
   75  only if reasonable efforts had been made in protecting such
   76  information from being accessible through other means available
   77  to the public from numerous public records exemptions. Following
   78  the 2017 amendments, only two public records exemptions under
   79  current law, including the exemption for identification and
   80  location information for servicemembers, continue to impose that
   81  requirement. Such inconsistencies among public records
   82  exemptions reduce accuracy and efficiency of redacting exempt
   83  information when a public records request for agency personnel
   84  information is made. It is not in the public interest for the
   85  public to receive inaccurately redacted information.
   86         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2020.