Bill Text: FL S0838 | 2019 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Public Records/Mental Health Treatment and Services

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2019-05-24 - Chapter No. 2019-51 [S0838 Detail]

Download: Florida-2019-S0838-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2019                              CS for SB 838
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and
       Senator Powell
       
       
       
       
       586-02926-19                                           2019838c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s.
    3         394.464, F.S.; providing an exemption from public
    4         records requirements for petitions for voluntary and
    5         involuntary admission for mental health treatment,
    6         court orders, related records, and personal
    7         identifying information regarding persons seeking
    8         mental health treatment and services; providing
    9         exceptions authorizing the release of such petitions,
   10         orders, records, and identifying information to
   11         certain persons and entities; providing applicability;
   12         prohibiting a clerk of court from publishing personal
   13         identifying information on a court docket or in a
   14         publicly accessible file; providing for retroactive
   15         application; providing for future legislative review
   16         and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of
   17         public necessity; providing an effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Section 394.464, Florida Statutes, is created to
   22  read:
   23         394.464 Court records; confidentiality.—
   24         (1) All petitions for voluntary and involuntary admission
   25  for mental health treatment, court orders, and related records
   26  that are filed with or by a court under this part are
   27  confidential and exempt from s. 119.071(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I
   28  of the State Constitution. Pleadings and other documents made
   29  confidential and exempt by this section may be disclosed by the
   30  clerk of the court, upon request, to any of the following:
   31         (a) The petitioner.
   32         (b) The petitioner’s attorney.
   33         (c) The respondent.
   34         (d) The respondent’s attorney.
   35         (e) The respondent’s guardian or guardian advocate, if
   36  applicable.
   37         (f) In the case of a minor respondent, the respondent’s
   38  parent, guardian, legal custodian, or guardian advocate.
   39         (g) The respondent’s treating health care practitioner.
   40         (h) The respondent’s health care surrogate or proxy.
   41         (i) The Department of Children and Families, without
   42  charge.
   43         (j) The Department of Corrections, without charge, if the
   44  respondent is committed or is to be returned to the custody of
   45  the Department of Corrections from the Department of Children
   46  and Families.
   47         (k) A person or entity authorized to view records upon a
   48  court order for good cause. In determining if there is good
   49  cause for the disclosure of records, the court must weigh the
   50  person or entity’s need for the information against potential
   51  harm to the respondent from the disclosure.
   52         (2) This section does not preclude the clerk of the court
   53  from submitting the information required by s. 790.065 to the
   54  Department of Law Enforcement.
   55         (3) The clerk of the court may not publish personal
   56  identifying information on a court docket or in a publicly
   57  accessible file.
   58         (4) A person or entity receiving information pursuant to
   59  this section shall maintain that information as confidential and
   60  exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
   61  Constitution.
   62         (5) The exemption under this section applies to all
   63  documents filed with a court before, on, or after July 1, 2019.
   64         (6) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   65  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   66  on October 2, 2024, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   67  through reenactment by the Legislature.
   68         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   69  necessity that petitions for voluntary and involuntary admission
   70  for mental health treatment and related court orders and records
   71  that are filed with or by a court under part I of chapter 394,
   72  Florida Statutes, and the personal identifying information of a
   73  person seeking mental health treatment published on a court
   74  docket and maintained by the clerk of the court under part I of
   75  chapter 394, Florida Statutes, be made confidential and exempt
   76  from disclosure under s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s.
   77  24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. The mental health of
   78  a person, including a minor, is a medical condition, which
   79  should be protected from dissemination to the public. A person’s
   80  mental health is also an intensely private matter. The public
   81  stigma associated with a mental health condition may cause
   82  persons in need of treatment to avoid seeking treatment and
   83  related services if the record of such condition is accessible
   84  to the public. Without treatment, a person’s condition may
   85  worsen, the person may harm himself or herself or others, and
   86  the person may become a financial burden on the state. The
   87  content of such records or personal identifying information
   88  should not be made public merely because they are filed with or
   89  by a court or placed on a docket. Making such petitions, orders,
   90  records, and identifying information confidential and exempt
   91  from disclosure will protect such persons from the release of
   92  sensitive, personal information which could damage their and
   93  their families’ reputations. The publication of personal
   94  identifying information on a physical or virtual docket,
   95  regardless of whether any other record is published, defeats the
   96  purpose of protections otherwise provided. Further, the
   97  knowledge that such sensitive, personal information is subject
   98  to disclosure could have a chilling effect on a person’s
   99  willingness to seek out and comply with mental health treatment
  100  services.
  101         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.