Florida Senate - 2020 CS for SB 774 By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability; and Senator Diaz 585-03768-20 2020774c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records and public meetings; 3 creating s. 1004.098, F.S.; providing an exemption 4 from public records requirements for any personal 5 identifying information of an applicant for president 6 of a state university or Florida College System 7 institution; specifying that personal identifying 8 information of applicants who comprise a final group 9 of applicants is no longer confidential and exempt at 10 a time certain; providing an exemption from public 11 meeting requirements for any portion of a meeting held 12 for the purpose of identifying or vetting applicants 13 for president of a state university or Florida College 14 System institution, including any portion of a meeting 15 that would disclose identifying information of such 16 applicants; requiring a recording to be made of any 17 portion of a closed meeting; providing that no portion 18 of a closed meeting may be held off the record; 19 providing that the recording of any closed portion of 20 a meeting is exempt from public record requirements; 21 specifying that certain meetings are not exempt from 22 public meeting requirements; providing for future 23 legislative review and repeal of the exemptions; 24 providing a statement of public necessity; providing 25 an effective date. 26 27 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 28 29 Section 1. Section 1004.098, Florida Statutes, is created 30 to read: 31 1004.098 Applicants for president of a state university or 32 Florida College System institution; public records exemption; 33 public meetings exemption.— 34 (1)(a) Any personal identifying information of an applicant 35 for president of a state university or Florida College System 36 institution is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 37 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 38 (b) The personal identifying information of an applicant 39 included in a final group of applicants for president of a state 40 university or Florida College System institution is no longer 41 confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I 42 of the State Constitution at least 21 days before the date of a 43 meeting at which an interview of an applicant will be conducted 44 or at which final action or a vote is to be taken on the offer 45 of the employment of an applicant as president. 46 (2)(a) Any portion of a meeting held for the purpose of 47 identifying or vetting applicants for president of a state 48 university or Florida College System institution, including any 49 portion of a meeting that would disclose personal identifying 50 information of such applicants, is exempt from s. 286.011 and s. 51 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. 52 (b) A complete recording must be made of any portion of a 53 meeting that is closed pursuant to paragraph (a), and any closed 54 portion of such meeting may not be held off the record. The 55 recording of the closed portion of a meeting is exempt from s. 56 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 57 (c) The public meeting exemption provided in paragraph (a) 58 does not apply to: 59 1. Any portion of a meeting held for the purpose of 60 establishing qualifications for the position or establishing any 61 compensation framework to be offered to an applicant for 62 president of a state university or Florida College System 63 institution. 64 2. Any meeting held after a final group of applicants for 65 president of a state university or Florida College System 66 institution has been established at which an interview of an 67 applicant is conducted or at which final action or a vote is to 68 be taken on the offer of the employment of an applicant as 69 president. 70 (3) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset 71 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 72 on October 2, 2025, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 73 through reenactment by the Legislature. 74 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 75 necessity that any personal identifying information of an 76 applicant for president of a state university or Florida College 77 System institution be made confidential and exempt from s. 78 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the 79 State Constitution. The Legislature also finds that it is a 80 public necessity that any portion of a meeting held for the 81 purpose of identifying or vetting applicants for president of a 82 state university or Florida College System institution, 83 including any portion of a meeting that would disclose personal 84 identifying information of such applicants, be made exempt from 85 s. 286.011, Florida Statutes, and s. 24(b), Article I of the 86 State Constitution, and that the recording of such meeting be 87 made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), 88 Article I of the State Constitution. The task of filling the 89 position of president of a state university or Florida College 90 System institution is often conducted by an executive search 91 committee. Many, if not most, applicants for such a position are 92 currently employed at another job at the time they apply and 93 could jeopardize their current positions if it were to become 94 known that they were seeking employment elsewhere. These 95 exemptions from public records and public meeting requirements 96 are needed to ensure that such a search committee can avail 97 itself of the most experienced and desirable pool of qualified 98 applicants from which to fill the position of president of a 99 state university or Florida College System institution. If 100 potential applicants fear the possibility of losing their 101 current jobs as a consequence of attempting to progress along 102 their chosen career path or simply seeking different and more 103 rewarding employment, failure to have these safeguards in place 104 could have a chilling effect on the number and quality of 105 applicants available to fill the position of president of a 106 state university or Florida College System institution. 107 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.