Florida Senate - 2025                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1640
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì701874:Î701874                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/01/2025           .                                
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       The Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability
       (Grall) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    3  and insert:
    4         Section 1. Paragraph (i) is added to subsection (2) of
    5  section 741.29, Florida Statutes, to read:
    6         741.29 Domestic violence; investigation of incidents;
    7  notice to victims of legal rights and remedies; reporting.—
    8         (2) The department shall consult with the Department of
    9  Children and Families, the Florida Sheriffs Association, the
   10  Florida Police Chiefs Association, the Florida Partnership to
   11  End Domestic Violence, and at least two domestic violence
   12  advocacy organizations to develop the policies, procedures, and
   13  training necessary for implementation of a statewide evidence
   14  based lethality assessment. Such policies, procedures, and
   15  training must establish how to determine whether a victim and
   16  aggressor are intimate partners and establish a statewide
   17  process for referring a victim to a certified domestic violence
   18  center. The group must review the questions in paragraph (e) and
   19  make a recommendation as to whether all questions should be
   20  included in the statewide lethality assessment instrument and
   21  form. By January 1, 2025, the department must adopt a statewide
   22  lethality assessment instrument and form. If a question in
   23  paragraph (e) is eliminated from the assessment, the department
   24  must confirm that the remaining or altered questions constitute
   25  an evidence-based lethality assessment. By January 31, 2025, the
   26  department shall report to the President of the Senate and the
   27  Speaker of the House of Representatives the results and
   28  recommendations of the group, including any proposed statutory
   29  changes that are necessary for implementation of a statewide
   30  lethality assessment. Training on how to administer a lethality
   31  assessment and the approved lethality assessment form must be
   32  accessible to a law enforcement officer in an online format.
   33         (i) A lethality assessment form that contains a victim’s
   34  information and responses to the lethality assessment completed
   35  on, before, or after January 1, 2025, is confidential and exempt
   36  from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   37  Constitution. A lethality form may be disclosed to a domestic
   38  violence center, as defined in s. 39.902, and the domestic
   39  violence center must treat the form and the information on such
   40  form as confidential. However, the victim's information and
   41  responses on a lethality form may not be disclosed to, or used
   42  by, a state attorney's office. This paragraph is subject to the
   43  Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15
   44  and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2030, unless reviewed and
   45  saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
   46         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   47  necessity that a lethality assessment form that contains a
   48  victim’s information and responses to the lethality assessment
   49  be made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida
   50  Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. The
   51  Legislature finds that the release of information included on a
   52  lethality assessment form could subject victims of domestic
   53  violence to an increased risk of abuse. Such information
   54  contained on a lethality assessment form is sensitive in nature.
   55  The Legislature further finds that such victims are more likely
   56  to participate in a lethality assessment if such form is
   57  protected from public disclosure. The Legislature finds that the
   58  harm that may result from the release of such information
   59  outweighs the public benefit that may be derived from the
   60  disclosure of the information.
   61         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
   62  
   63  
   64  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   65  And the title is amended as follows:
   66         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   67  and insert:
   68                        A bill to be entitled                      
   69         An act relating to public records; amending s. 741.29,
   70         F.S.; providing an exemption from public records
   71         requirements for a lethality assessment form that
   72         contains certain information and responses; providing
   73         for future legislative review and repeal of the
   74         exemption; providing for retroactive application of
   75         the exemption; providing a statement of public
   76         necessity; providing an effective date.