Florida Senate - 2021                                    SB 1046
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-01228-21                                            20211046__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to arrest booking photographs;
    3         amending s. 901.43, F.S.; expanding the applicability
    4         of provisions relating to the dissemination of arrest
    5         booking photographs to include a person or entity
    6         whose primary business model is the publishing or
    7         dissemination of such photographs for a commercial
    8         purpose or pecuniary gain; revising applicability;
    9         providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 901.43, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   14  read:
   15         901.43 Dissemination of arrest booking photographs.—
   16         (1) Any person or entity engaged in the business of
   17  publishing through a publicly accessible print or electronic
   18  medium or otherwise disseminating arrest booking photographs of
   19  persons who have previously been arrested may not solicit or
   20  accept a fee or other form of payment to remove the photographs.
   21         (2) A person whose arrest booking photograph is published
   22  or otherwise disseminated, or his or her legal representative,
   23  may make a request, in writing, for the removal of an arrest
   24  booking photograph to the registered agent of the person or
   25  entity who published or otherwise disseminated the photograph.
   26  The written request for removal of the arrest booking photograph
   27  must be sent by registered mail and include sufficient proof of
   28  identification of the person whose arrest booking photograph was
   29  published or otherwise disseminated and specific information
   30  identifying the arrest booking photograph that the written
   31  request is seeking to remove. Within 10 days of receipt of the
   32  written request for removal of the arrest booking photograph,
   33  the person or entity who published or otherwise disseminated the
   34  photograph shall remove the arrest booking photograph without
   35  charge.
   36         (3) The person whose arrest booking photograph was
   37  published or otherwise disseminated in the publication or
   38  electronic medium may bring a civil action to enjoin the
   39  continued publication or dissemination of the photograph if the
   40  photograph is not removed within 10 calendar days after receipt
   41  of the written request for removal. The court may impose a civil
   42  penalty of $1,000 per day for noncompliance with an injunction
   43  and shall award reasonable attorney fees and court costs related
   44  to the issuance and enforcement of the injunction. Moneys
   45  recovered for civil penalties under this section shall be
   46  deposited into the General Revenue Fund.
   47         (4) Refusal to remove an arrest booking photograph after
   48  written request has been made constitutes an unfair or deceptive
   49  trade practice in accordance with part II of chapter 501.
   50         (5) This section does not apply to:
   51         (a) Any person or entity that publishes or disseminates
   52  information relating to arrest booking photographs unless:
   53         1. The person or entity solicits or accepts payment to
   54  remove the photographs; or
   55         2. The person or entity’s primary business model is the
   56  publishing and disseminating of arrest booking photographs for a
   57  commercial purpose or pecuniary gain.
   58         (b) Any act performed for the purpose of disseminating news
   59  to the public, including gathering, publishing, or broadcasting
   60  information to the public for a news-related purpose, or to any
   61  other act performed by a publisher, owner, agent, employee, or
   62  retailer of a newspaper, radio station, radio network,
   63  television station, television broadcast network, cable
   64  television network, or other online news outlet associated with
   65  any news organization in connection with the dissemination of
   66  news to the public.
   67         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2021.