Florida Senate - 2022 CS for SB 1526 By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senator Boyd 597-02318-22 20221526c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 3 119.0714, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 4 records requirements for personal identifying 5 information and annuity contract numbers of a payee of 6 a structured settlement and the names of family 7 members, dependents, and beneficiaries of such payee 8 contained in the court records for a proceeding for 9 the approval of the transfer of structured settlement 10 payment rights; limiting such exemption to a specified 11 period; 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 (l) is added to subsection (1) of 18 section 119.0714, Florida Statutes, to read: 19 119.0714 Court files; court records; official records.— 20 (1) COURT FILES.—Nothing in this chapter shall be construed 21 to exempt from s. 119.07(1) a public record that was made a part 22 of a court file and that is not specifically closed by order of 23 court, except: 24 (l) Personal identifying information and annuity contract 25 numbers of a payee of a structured settlement as defined in s. 26 626.99296(2) and the names of family members, dependents, and 27 beneficiaries of such payee contained within a court file 28 relating to a proceeding for the approval of the transfer of 29 structured settlement payment rights under s. 626.99296. Such 30 information shall remain exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), 31 Art. I of the State Constitution during the pendency of the 32 transfer proceeding and for 6 months after the final court order 33 approving, or not approving, the transferee’s application. This 34 paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in 35 accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 36 2027, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment 37 by the Legislature. 38 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 39 necessity that the personal identifying information and annuity 40 contract numbers of a payee of a structured settlement and the 41 names of family members, dependents, and beneficiaries of such 42 payee be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 43 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. Recipients of 44 structured settlements have been targets of criminal and 45 fraudulent acts based upon publicly available identifying 46 information and are especially vulnerable during transfer 47 proceedings to fraudulent actors purporting to be from 48 legitimate entities. These fraudulent actors may use such 49 information to intercept transfer payments or obtain other 50 sensitive information, such as bank account and social security 51 numbers. The Legislature finds that the harm that may result 52 from the release of personal identifying information and annuity 53 contract numbers of a payee of a structured settlement and the 54 names of family members, dependents, and beneficiaries of such 55 payee outweighs any public benefit that may be derived from the 56 disclosure of such information during the specified period. 57 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.