HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 23 Pub. Rec./Reform School Abuse Victims
SPONSOR(S): State Affairs Committee, Judiciary Committee, Salzman, Michael, and others
TIED BILLS: CS/HB 21 IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/CS/SB 26
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Judiciary Committee 19 Y, 0 N, As CS Mawn Kramer
2) State Affairs Committee 16 Y, 0 N, As CS Skinner Williamson
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys (“Dozier School”), initially called the Florida State Reform School,
opened in Marianna, Florida, in 1900. Children as young as five were sent to the Dozier School for various
criminal and other offenses, ranging from theft and murder to “incorrigibility” and truancy, as well as orphaned
and abandoned children. In 1955, the Florida School for Boys at Okeechobee (“Okeechobee School”) opened
to address overcrowding at the Dozier School, with some Dozier School staff transferring to the new campus.
Allegations of abuse at the Dozier School began as early as 1901, with reports of children being chained to
walls in irons, whippings, and peonage. Reports of sexual abuse, beatings, torture, and mysterious deaths at
the Dozier School continued in the subsequent decades, and a succession of reports and commissions called
for reforms at the school with little success. The same degrading policies and abusive practices that occurred
at the Dozier School were implemented at the Okeechobee School. The United States Department of Justice
reported in 2011 that it had found “harmful practices” that put the Dozier School’s residents at “serious risk of
avoidable harm.” The state closed the Dozier School in 2011, citing budget constraints, and the Okeechobee
School in 2020.
More than 400 men sent to the Dozier School or the Okeechobee School in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s have
come forward to recount their experiences. Calling themselves the “White House Boys” after a white structure
on Dozier School property where many beatings reportedly occurred, these men recounted brutal whippings,
sexual abuse, disappearances, deaths, and other tortures they either witnessed or suffered personally. In
recognition of their suffering, CS/HB 21 (2024) creates the Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School
Victim Compensation Program (“Program”) within the Department of Legal Affairs (“DLA”) to compensate living
persons who were confined to the Dozier School or the Okeechobee School at any time between 1940 and
1975 and who were subjected to mental, physical, or sexual abuse perpetrated by school personnel while they
were so confined.
This bill creates a public record exemption to protect certain identifying information in an application submitted
to DLA by a person seeking compensation through the Program. Under the bill, such information is confidential
and exempt from public record requirements, with one exception. The bill provides that, in accordance with the
Open Government Sunset Review Act, the exemption stands repealed on October 2, 2029, unless reviewed
and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. The bill also provides a statement of public
necessity as required by the Florida Constitution.
The bill may have an insignificant fiscal impact on state government, but does not appear to affect local
governments.
Article I, s. 24(c) of the Florida Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting
for final passage of a newly-created or expanded public record exemption. The bill creates a public record
exemption; thus, it requires a two-thirds vote for final passage.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Florida Reform School History
Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys
In 1900, the State opened the Florida State Reform School in Marianna, Florida.1 In 1967, the name
changed to the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys (“Dozier School”). The Dozier School housed children
as young as five years old who were committed for criminal and other offenses ranging from theft and
murder to “incorrigibility” and truancy, as well as orphaned and abandoned children.2
Allegations of abuse at the Dozier School began as early as 1901, with reports of children being
chained to walls in irons, whippings, and peonage.3 There were more than six state led investigations
during the first 13 years of operation.4 Reports of inadequate medical care, sexual abuse, beatings,
torture, and mysterious deaths at the Dozier School continued in the subsequent decades, and a
succession of reports and commissions called for reforms at the schools with little success.5 However,
the United States Department of Justice reported in 2011 that it had found “harmful practices” that put
the reform school’s residents at “serious risk of avoidable harm.” 6 The state closed the Dozier School in
2011, citing budget constraints.7
Florida School for Boys at Okeechobee
In 1955, the state opened a new reform school in south Florida, the Florida School for Boys at
Okeechobee (“Okeechobee School”), to address overcrowding at the Dozier School.8 Staff members
of the Dozier School were transferred to the Okeechobee School where they instituted the same
degrading policies and abusive practices as those implemented at the Dozier School. 9 The
1 Erin H. Kimmerle, Richard W. Estabrook, E. Christian Wells, and Antoinette T. Jackson, Documentation of the Boot Hill Cemetery
(8JA1860), at the Former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, Marianna, Florida, University of South Florida Department of Anthropology,
(December 2012), https://cloud.usf.edu/usf-news-archive/article/articlefiles/5042-boot-hill-cemetery-interim-report-12-12.pdf (last visited
Feb. 15, 2024).
2
Id. Note that until 1968, the Dozier School was segregated into two campuses, one for white students and one for African-American
and other “non-white” students. University of South Florida, Florida’s Industrial Reform School System: Arthur G. Dozier School for
Boys 1900-Present, https://guides.lib.usf.edu/dozier (last visited Feb. 15, 2024).
3 Digital Commons @University of South Florida, Arthur G. Dozier School For Boys, https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/dozier_school/ (last
visited Feb. 15, 2024). A report from 1903 described the Dozier School not as a reform school but as a “prison for children,” with some
children chained to the wall in irons, and others beaten like “common criminals.” Ben Montgomery and Waveny Ann Moore, They Went
to the Dozier School for Boys damaged. They came out destroyed, Tampa Bay Times, Aug. 18, 2019,
https://www.tampabay.com/investigations/2019/08/18/they-went-to-the-dozier-school-for-boys-damaged-they-came-out-
destroyed/#:~:text=In%20March%201958%2C%20a%20Miami,Eugene%20Byrd%20testified . (last visited Feb. 15, 2024).
4 Digital Commons @University of South Florida, Arthur G. Dozier School For Boys, https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/dozier_school/ (last
visited Feb. 15, 2024).
5 In its first two decades, investigators discovered that Dozier School administrators hired out the children to work with state convicts
and brutally beat children with a leather strap attached to a wooden handle. In 1914, at least six children and two staff members died in
a fire at the Dozier School while trapped on the top floor of their locked and burning dormitory; A grand jury learned that the
superintendent and staff were in town for a “pleasure bent” when the fire began, and differing reports meant that the actual number of
children lost could not be determined. Id. See also Supra Note 1.
6 U.S. Dept. of Justice, Investigation of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys and the Jackson Juvenile Offender Center, Marianna,
Florida, Dec. 1, 2011, https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/12/02/dozier_findltr_12 -1-11.pdf (last visited Feb. 16,
2024).
7 Id.
8 Erin H. Kimmerle, Ph.D., E. Christian Wells, Ph.D., and Antoinette Jackson, Ph.D.; Florida Institute for Forensic Anthropolog y &
Applied Sciences, University of South Florida, Report on the Investigation into the Deaths and Burials at the Former Arthur G. Dozier
School for Boys in Marianna, Florida, pg. 22 (January 18, 2016), http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wusf/files/201601/usf-final-
dozier-summary-2016.pdf (last visited Feb. 16, 2024).
9 Id.
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Okeechobee School was privatized in 1982 amid allegations of abuse and deplorable living conditions
and finally closed in December 2020 when the State declined to renew its service contract.10
Recent Events
In 2005, former students of the Dozier School began to publish accounts of the abuse they experienced
at the school.11 These stories prompted Governor Charlie Crist to direct the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement to investigate the Dozier School and the deaths that were alleged to have occurred at the
school.12 More than 400 men confined to the Dozier School in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s have come
forward to recount their experiences.13 Many victims became part of the White House Boys Survivors
Organization (“White House Boys”) — named after a white structure on the Dozier School property
where many abuses reportedly occurred — these men recounted brutal whippings, sexual batteries,
disappearances, deaths, and other tortures they either witnessed or suffered personally while confined
to the Dozier School.14
CS/HB 21 (2024)
CS/HB 21 creates the Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program
(“Program”) within the Department of Legal Affairs (“DLA”) to compensate living persons who were
confined to the Dozier School or the Okeechobee School at any time between 1940 and 1975 and who
were subjected to mental, physical, or sexual abuse perpetrated by school personnel while they were
so confined. To accomplish this, CS/HB 21 creates a process whereby a victim of the Dozier School or
the Okeechobee School can apply for compensation through the Program on a DLA-approved form.
Public Records
The Florida Constitution sets forth the state’s public policy regarding access to government records,
guaranteeing every person a right to inspect or copy any public record of the legislative, executive, and
judicial branches of government.15 The Legislature, however, may provide by general law an
exemption16 from public record requirements provided that the exemption passes by a two-thirds vote,
states with specificity the public necessity justifying the exemption, and is no broader than necessary to
meet its public purpose.17
Current law also addresses the public policy regarding access to government records by guaranteeing
every person a right to inspect and copy any state, county, or municipal record, unless the record is
exempt.18 Furthermore, the Open Government Sunset Review (OGSR) Act 19 provides that a public
record exemption may be created, revised, or maintained only if it serves an identifiable public purpose
and the “Legislature finds that the purpose is sufficiently compelling to override the strong public policy
10 Richard Marion, OYDC closure b rings an end to troub led history, South Central Florida Life, July 15, 2020,
https://www.southcentralfloridalife.com/stories/oydc-closure-brings-an-end-to-troubled-history,9159 (last visited Feb. 16. 2024).
11 Id.
12 Id.
13
James Call, Dozier School for Boys survivors want state to pay, Tallahassee Democrat, August 1, 2017,
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/08/01/dozier-school-boys-survivors-want-state-pay/529991001/ (last visited Feb. 16,
2024).
14 Ben Montgomery and Waveny Ann Moore, They Went to the Dozier School for Boys damaged. They came out destroyed, Tampa
Bay Times, Aug. 18, 2019, https://www.tampabay.com/investigations/2019/08/18/they-went-to-the-dozier-school-for-boys-damaged-
they-came-out-destroyed/#:~:text=In%20March%201958%2C%20a%20Miami,Eugene%20Byrd%20testified. (last visited Feb. 15,
2024).
15 Art. I, s. 24(a), FLA. C ONST.
16 A “public record exemption” means a provision of general law which provides that a specified record, or portion thereof, is n ot subject
to the access requirements of s. 119.07(1), F.S., or s. 24, Art. I of the Florida Constitution. See s. 119.011(8), F.S.
17 Art. I, s. 24(c), FLA. C ONST.
18 See s. 119.01, F.S.
19 S. 119.15, F.S.
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of open government and cannot be accomplished without the exemption.” 20 An identifiable public
purpose is served if the exemption meets one of the following purposes:
Allow the state or its political subdivisions to effectively and efficiently administer a
governmental program, which administration would be significantly impaired without the
exemption;
Protect sensitive personal information that, if released, would be defamatory or would
jeopardize an individual’s safety; however, only the identity of an individual may be exempted
under this provision; or
Protect trade or business secrets.21
Pursuant to the OGSR Act, a new public record exemption, or the substantial amendment of an existing
public record exemption, is repealed on October 2nd of the fifth year following enactment, unless the
Legislature reenacts the exemption.22
Effect of Proposed Changes
The bill creates a public record exemption for the names, dates of birth, driver license numbers, home
and mailing addresses, telephone numbers, or electronic mail addresses in an application submitted to
DLA by a person seeking compensation through the Program. Under the bill, such information is
confidential and exempt23 from public record requirements.
The bill also:
Authorizes the release of the confidential and exempt information to the Department of
Education to facilitate the award of standard high school diplomas to persons compensated
through the Program.
Specifies that, in accordance with the OGSR Act, the exemption stands repealed on October 2,
2029, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
Provides a statement of public necessity as required by the Florida Constitution.
Provides an effective date that is contingent upon the passage of CS/HB 21 or similar
legislation.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1: Creates s. 16.64, F.S., relating to applications for compensation through the Program;
public records exemption.
Section 2: Provides a statement of public necessity.
Section 3: Provides a contingent effective date.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
20 S. 119.15(6)(b), F.S.
21 Id.
22 S. 119.15(3), F.S.
23 There is a difference between records the Legislature designates exempt from public record requirements and those the Legislature
designates confidential and exempt. A record classified as exempt from public disclosure may be disclosed under certain
circumstances. See WFTV, Inc. v. Sch. Bd. of Seminole, 874 So.2d 48, 53 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), review denied, 892 So.2d 1015 (Fla.
2004); State v. Wooten, 260 So. 3d 1060, 1070 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018); City of Rivera Beach v. Barfield, 642 So.2d 1135 (Fla. 4th DCA
1994); Williams v. City of Minneola, 575 So.2d 683, 687 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991). If the Legislature designates a record as confidential and
exempt from public disclosure, such record may not be released by the custodian of public records to anyone other than the pe rsons or
entities specifically designated in statute. See Op. Att’y Gen. Fla. 04- 09 (2004).
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2. Expenditures:
The bill may have an insignificant negative fiscal impact on DLA for workload related to the
redaction of confidential and exempt information in responding to public record requests. However,
these additional costs will likely be absorbed within existing resources.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
None.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
Not applicable. The bill does not appear to affect county or municipal governments.
2. Other:
Vote Requirement
Article I, section 24(c) of the Florida Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the members present
and voting for final passage of a newly-created or expanded public record exemption. The bill
creates a public record exemption; thus, it requires a two-thirds vote for final passage.
Public Necessity Statement
Article I, section 24(c) of the Florida Constitution requires a public necessity statement for a newly
created or expanded public record exemption. The bil