Florida Senate - 2022                   (PROPOSED BILL) SPB 7008
       
       
        
       FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Children, Families, and
       Elder Affairs
       
       
       
       
       586-00942-22                                          20227008pb
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to a review under the Open Government
    3         Sunset Review Act; amending s. 397.6760, F.S.,
    4         relating to an exemption from public records
    5         requirements for involuntary assessment and
    6         stabilization, court orders, related records, and
    7         personal identifying information regarding substance
    8         abuse impaired persons; removing the scheduled repeal
    9         date of the exemption; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 397.6760, Florida Statutes, is amended
   14  to read:
   15         397.6760 Court records; confidentiality.—
   16         (1) All petitions for involuntary assessment and
   17  stabilization, court orders, and related records that are filed
   18  with or by a court under this part are confidential and exempt
   19  from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   20  Constitution. Pleadings and other documents made confidential
   21  and exempt by this section may be disclosed by the clerk of the
   22  court, upon request, to any of the following:
   23         (a) The petitioner.
   24         (b) The petitioner’s attorney.
   25         (c) The respondent.
   26         (d) The respondent’s attorney.
   27         (e) The respondent’s guardian or guardian advocate, if
   28  applicable.
   29         (f) In the case of a minor respondent, the respondent’s
   30  parent, guardian, legal custodian, or guardian advocate.
   31         (g) The respondent’s treating health care practitioner.
   32         (h) The respondent’s health care surrogate or proxy.
   33         (i) The Department of Children and Families, without
   34  charge.
   35         (j) The Department of Corrections, without charge, if the
   36  respondent is committed or is to be returned to the custody of
   37  the Department of Corrections from the Department of Children
   38  and Families.
   39         (k) A person or entity authorized to view records upon a
   40  court order for good cause. In determining if there is good
   41  cause for the disclosure of records, the court must weigh the
   42  person or entity’s need for the information against potential
   43  harm to the respondent from the disclosure.
   44         (2) This section does not preclude the clerk of the court
   45  from submitting the information required by s. 790.065 to the
   46  Department of Law Enforcement.
   47         (3) The clerk of the court may not publish personal
   48  identifying information on a court docket or in a publicly
   49  accessible file.
   50         (4) A person or entity receiving information pursuant to
   51  this section shall maintain that information as confidential and
   52  exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   53  Constitution.
   54         (5) The exemption under this section applies to all
   55  documents filed with a court before, on, or after July 1, 2017.
   56         (6) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   57  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   58  on October 2, 2022, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   59  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   60         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2022.