Bill Text: FL S1494 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Public Records Requests
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Governmental Oversight and Accountability [S1494 Detail]
Download: Florida-2024-S1494-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2024 SB 1494 By Senator Pizzo 37-01554B-24 20241494__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records requests; amending 3 s. 119.07, F.S.; prohibiting an agency from charging a 4 certain fee under a specified circumstance; providing 5 that custodians of public records may rely solely on 6 certain required safeguards to determine whether 7 records are partly or wholly exempt from disclosure; 8 making technical changes; amending s. 119.10, F.S.; 9 increasing the maximum civil penalty allowed for 10 certain violations related to public records; 11 prohibiting a public officer from knowingly deterring 12 a resident from enforcing specified provisions or 13 retaliating against a resident for making a certain 14 request; providing administrative and criminal 15 penalties; providing that any agency that violates 16 specified provisions must be assessed a daily civil 17 penalty that must be paid to the impacted public 18 records requestor under specified conditions; amending 19 s. 119.11, F.S.; requiring that courts set immediate 20 hearings on certain actions and give such hearings 21 priority over all other pending cases until specified 22 conditions are satisfied; prohibiting the termination 23 of certain civil actions without an evidentiary 24 hearing; revising the timeframe in which an agency 25 must comply with certain court orders; making 26 technical changes; amending s. 119.12, F.S.; providing 27 that a complainant is not required to provide a 28 certain written notice to an agency when the initial 29 public records request was furnished to the agency’s 30 custodian in written form, by e-mail, or through the 31 agency’s website; requiring a court to make a certain 32 determination after the merits of the case have been 33 decided; providing for retroactive application; 34 reenacting ss. 39.00145(2)(c) and 119.0701(3)(c), 35 F.S., relating to failing to make available certain 36 records that concern specified children and 37 contractors who fail to provide certain records to a 38 public agency, respectively, to incorporate the 39 amendment made to s. 119.10, F.S., in references 40 thereto; reenacting s. 213.732(7), F.S., relating to 41 priority of specified civil actions, to incorporate 42 the amendment made to s. 119.11, F.S., in a reference 43 thereto; providing an effective date. 44 45 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 46 47 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section 48 119.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 49 119.07 Inspection and copying of records; photographing 50 public records; fees; exemptions.— 51 (4) The custodian of public records shall furnish a copy or 52 a certified copy of the record upon payment of the fee 53 prescribed by law. If a fee is not prescribed by law, the 54 following fees are authorized: 55 (d) If the nature or volume of public records requested to 56 be inspected or copied pursuant to this subsection is such as to 57 require extensive use of information technology resources or 58 extensive clerical or supervisory assistance by personnel of the 59 agency involved, or both, the agency may charge, in addition to 60 the actual cost of duplication, a special service charge, which 61 mustshallbe reasonable andshall bebased on the cost incurred 62 for such extensive use of information technology resources or 63 the labor cost of the personnel providing the service that is 64 actually incurred by the agency or attributable to the agency 65 for the clerical and supervisory assistance required, or both. 66 An agency may not charge a fee under this paragraph once the 67 agency has received a request to produce records for inspection 68 or to be copied. An agency’s custodian of records may rely 69 solely on the safeguards required in paragraph (2)(b) to 70 determine whether the requested records are partly or wholly 71 exempt from disclosure. 72 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 73 119.10, Florida Statutes, is amended, paragraph (c) is added to 74 that subsection, and subsection (3) is added to that section, to 75 read: 76 119.10 Violation of chapter; penalties.— 77 (1) Any public officer who: 78 (a) Violates any provision of this chapter commits a 79 noncriminal infraction, punishable by fine not exceeding $5,000 80$500. 81 (c) Knowingly deters any resident from enforcing s. 82 119.07(1) or s. 119.12(1) or retaliates against any resident for 83 making a public records request is subject to suspension and 84 removal or impeachment and, in addition, commits a misdemeanor 85 of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 86 775.083. 87 (3) An agency that violates this chapter must be assessed a 88 civil penalty of $100 per day that the records are unlawfully 89 withheld, which must be paid to the impacted public records 90 requestor after a judge issues a final judgment in a civil 91 action to enforce this chapter. 92 Section 3. Section 119.11, Florida Statutes, is amended to 93 read: 94 119.11 Accelerated hearing; priority civil action; 95 immediate compliance.— 96 (1) Whenever an action is filed to enforce the provisions 97 of this chapter, the court shall setanimmediate hearings and 98 shall givehearing, givingthe case priority over all other 99 pending cases until the agency is in immediate compliance with 100 this chapter and all requested public records subject to 101 inspection and examination under s. 119.07(1) have been provided 102 to the requestor. A civil action filed under this chapter may 103 not be terminated without an evidentiary hearing. 104 (2) Whenever a court orders an agency to open its records 105 for inspection in accordance with this chapter, the agency shall 106 comply with such order within 2448hours, unless otherwise 107 provided by the court issuing such order, or unless the 108 appellate court issues a stay order within such 24-hour48-hour109 period. 110 (3) A stay order mayshallnot be issued unless the court 111 determines that there is a substantial probability that opening 112 the records for inspection will result in significant damage. 113 (4) Upon service of a complaint, counterclaim, or cross 114 claim in a civil action brought to enforce the provisions of 115 this chapter, the custodian of the public record that is the 116 subject matter of such civil action mayshallnot transfer 117 custody, alter, destroy, or otherwise dispose of the public 118 record sought to be inspected and examined, notwithstanding the 119 applicability of an exemption or the assertion that the 120 requested record is not a public record subject to inspection 121 and examination under s. 119.07(1), until the court directs 122 otherwise. The person who has custody of such public record may, 123 however, at any time permit inspection of the requested record 124 as provided in s. 119.07(1) and other provisions of law. 125 Section 4. Section 119.12, Florida Statutes, is amended to 126 read: 127 119.12 Attorney fees.— 128 (1) If a civil action is filed against an agency to enforce 129 the provisions of this chapter, the court shall assess and award 130 the reasonable costs of enforcement, including reasonable 131 attorney fees, against the responsible agency if the court 132 determines that: 133 (a) The agency unlawfully refused to permit a public record 134 to be inspected or copied; and 135 (b) The complainant provided written notice identifying the 136 public record request to the agency’s custodian of public 137 records at least 5 business days before filing the civil action, 138 except as provided under subsection (2). The notice period 139 begins on the day the written notice of the request is received 140 by the custodian of public records, excluding Saturday, Sunday, 141 and legal holidays, and runs until 5 business days have elapsed. 142 (2) The complainant is not required to provide written 143 notice of the public record request to the agency’s custodian of 144 public records as provided in paragraph (1)(b) if the agency 145 does not prominently post the contact information for the 146 agency’s custodian of public records in the agency’s primary 147 administrative building in which public records are routinely 148 created, sent, received, maintained, and requested and on the 149 agency’s website, if the agency has a website, or if the initial 150 public records request was furnished to the agency’s custodian 151 in written form, by e-mail, or through a public records request 152 option on the agency’s website. 153 (3) The court shall determine whether the complainant 154 requested to inspect or copy a public record or participated in 155 the civil action for an improper purpose after the merits of the 156 case have been decided. If the court determines there was an 157 improper purpose, the court may not assess and award the 158 reasonable costs of enforcement, including reasonable attorney 159 fees, to the complainant, and shall assess and award against the 160 complainant and to the agency the reasonable costs, including 161 reasonable attorney fees, incurred by the agency in responding 162 to the civil action. For purposes of this subsection, the term 163 “improper purpose” means a request to inspect or copy a public 164 record or to participate in the civil action primarily to cause 165 a violation of this chapter or for a frivolous purpose. 166 (4) This section does not create a private right of action 167 authorizing the award of monetary damages for a person who 168 brings an action to enforce the provisions of this chapter. 169 Payments by the responsible agency may include only the 170 reasonable costs of enforcement, including reasonable attorney 171 fees, directly attributable to a civil action brought to enforce 172 the provisions of this chapter. 173 Section 5. The amendments made by this act to s. 119.12, 174 Florida Statutes, are remedial in nature and apply retroactively 175 to July 1, 2017. 176 Section 6. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 177 made by this act to section 119.10, Florida Statutes, in a 178 reference thereto, paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 179 39.00145, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 180 39.00145 Records concerning children.— 181 (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, 182 all records in a child’s case record must be made available for 183 inspection, upon request, to the child who is the subject of the 184 case record and to the child’s caregiver, guardian ad litem, or 185 attorney. 186 (c) If a child or the child’s caregiver, guardian ad litem, 187 or attorney requests access to the child’s case record, any 188 person or entity that fails to provide any record in the case 189 record under assertion of a claim of exemption from the public 190 records requirements of chapter 119, or fails to provide access 191 within a reasonable time, is subject to sanctions and penalties 192 under s. 119.10. 193 Section 7. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 194 made by this act to section 119.10, Florida Statutes, in a 195 reference thereto, paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section 196 119.0701, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 197 119.0701 Contracts; public records; request for contractor 198 records; civil action.— 199 (3) REQUEST FOR RECORDS; NONCOMPLIANCE.— 200 (c) A contractor who fails to provide the public records to 201 the public agency within a reasonable time may be subject to 202 penalties under s. 119.10. 203 Section 8. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 204 made by this act to section 119.11, Florida Statutes, in a 205 reference thereto, subsection (7) of section 213.732, Florida 206 Statutes, is reenacted to read: 207 213.732 Jeopardy findings and assessments.— 208 (7) If the department proceeds to seize or freeze the 209 assets of a taxpayer upon a determination of jeopardy, the 210 taxpayer shall have a right to a meeting with the department, as 211 provided by subsection (3), immediately or within 24 hours after 212 requesting such meeting. The department shall, within 24 hours 213 after such meeting, determine whether to release the seizure or 214 freeze. If the department does not release such seizure or 215 freeze of property, the taxpayer shall have a right to request a 216 hearing within 5 days before the circuit court, at which hearing 217 the taxpayer and the department may present evidence with 218 respect to the issue of jeopardy. Venue in such an action shall 219 lie in the county in which the seizure was effected or, if there 220 are multiple seizures based upon the same assessment, venue 221 shall also lie in Leon County. Whenever an action is filed to 222 seek review of a jeopardy finding under this subsection, the 223 court shall set an immediate hearing and shall give the case 224 priority over other pending cases other than those filed 225 pursuant to s. 119.11. 226 Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.