HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 7043 PCB EEG 24-08 OGSR/Agency Personnel Information
SPONSOR(S): Ethics, Elections & Open Government Subcommittee, Arrington
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 7030
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
Orig. Comm.: Ethics, Elections & Open 16 Y, 0 N Skinner Toliver
Government Subcommittee
1) State Affairs Committee 18 Y, 0 N Skinner Williamson
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The Open Government Sunset Review Act requires the Legislature to review each public record exemption
and each public meeting exemption five years after enactment. If the Legislature does not reenact the
exemption, it automatically repeals on October 2nd of the fifth year after enactment.
Current law provides public record exemptions for specified personal identification and location information of
certain current or former agency personnel — often due to the nature of their employment — and their spouses
and children. Examples of agency personnel to which the exemptions apply include law enforcement
personnel, state attorneys, public defenders, various investigators, code enforcement officers, firefighters,
emergency medical technicians, and paramedics.
In 2019, the Legislature expanded the public record exemptions by creating a definition of “home address,” to
encompass descriptive property information, including parcel and plot identification numbers, legal property
description, neighborhood name and lot number, and GPS coordinates. It also clarified that the public record
exemption for law enforcement personnel applies to civilian personnel employed by a law enforcement agency.
The bill saves from repeal the public record exemptions that protect this specified identification and location
information of certain current or former agency personnel and their spouses and children, which will repeal on
October 2, 2024, if the bill does not become law.
The bill does not appear to have a fiscal impact on state or local governments.
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
Open Government Sunset Review Act
The Open Government Sunset Review Act (OGSR Act) 1 sets forth a legislative review process for
newly created or substantially amended public record or public meeting exemptions. It requires an
automatic repeal of the exemption on October 2nd of the fifth year after creation or substantial
amendment, unless the Legislature reenacts the exemption. 2
The OGSR Act provides that a public record or public meeting exemption may be created or
maintained only if it serves an identifiable public purpose. In addition, it may be no broader than is
necessary to meet 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.
 Protect trade or business secrets.3
If, and only if, in reenacting an exemption that will repeal, the exemption is expanded, then a public
necessity statement and a two-thirds vote for passage are required.4 If the exemption is reenacted with
grammatical or stylistic changes that do not expand the exemption, if the exemption is narrowed, or if
an exception to the exemption is created, then a public necessity statement and a two-thirds vote for
passage are not required.
Agency Personnel Information
Current law provides that certain personal identification and location information of specified individuals
— often due to the nature of their employment — held by an agency5 is exempt6 from public record
requirements.7 The exempt information includes home addresses,8 telephone numbers,9 dates of birth,
1 Section 119.15, F.S.
2 Section 119.15(3), F.S.
3 Section 119.15(6)(b), F.S.
4 Article I, s. 24(c), FLA. CONST .
5 “Agency” means any state, county, district, authority, or municipal officer, department, division, board, bureau, commission, or other
separate unit of government created or established by law including, for the purposes of ch. 119, F.S., the Commission on Ethics, the
Public Service Commission, and the Office of Public Counsel, and any other public or private agency, person, partnership,
corporation, or business entity acting on behalf of any public agency. Section 119.011(2), F.S.
6 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 th e
persons or entities specifically designated in statute. See Op. Att’y Gen. Fla. 04- 09 (2004).
7 See s. 119.071(4)(d )2., F.S. The public record exemptions under review are contained within s. 119.071(4)(d)2.a. -v., F.S., However,
sub-subparagraphs e. and v. are not a part of this review. See ss. 119.071(4)(d )2.e. and 119.071(4)(d)2.v., F.S.
8 “Home addresses” means the dwelling location at which an individual resides and includes the physical address, mailing addres s,
street address, parcel identification number, plot identification number, legal property description, neigh borhood name and lot number,
GPS coordinates, and any other descriptive property information that may reveal the home address. Section 119.071(4)(d)1.a., F.S.
9 “Telephone numbers” includes home telephone numbers, personal cellular telephone numbers, personal pager telephone numbers,
and telephone numbers associated with personal communications devices. Section 119.071(4)(d)1.c., F.S.
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 and in many instances, the employee’s photograph.10 The public record exemptions protect certain
information regarding the spouses and children of such employees, including their names,11 home
addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and places of employment, as well as the names and
locations of schools and day care facilities attended by the children. 12 Photographs of the spouses and
children are also exempt from public record requirements in several instances. The current or former 13
personnel to which this exemption applies include: 14
 Sworn law enforcement or civilian personnel employed by a law enforcement agency.
 Correctional and correctional probation officers.
 Department of Children and Families personnel who investigate abuse, neglect, exploitation,
fraud, theft, or other criminal activities.
 Department of Health personnel who support the investigation of child abuse or neglect.
 Department of Revenue or local government personnel who enforce and collect revenue or
enforce child support.
 Nonsworn investigative personnel of the Department of Financial Services who investigate
fraud, theft, workers’ compensation coverage requirements and compliance, other related
criminal activities, or state regulatory requirement violations.
 Nonsworn investigation personnel of the Office of Financial Regulation’s Bureau of Financial
Investigations who investigate fraud, theft, other related criminal activities, or state regulatory
requirement violations.
 State attorneys, assistant state attorneys, statewide prosecutors, or assistant statewide
prosecutors.
 General magistrates, special magistrates, judges of compensation claims, administrative law
judges of the Division of Administrative Hearings, and child support enforcement hearing
officers.
 Certain human resource, labor relations, or employee relations directors, assistant directors,
managers, or assistant managers of any local government agency or water management
district.15
 Code enforcement officers.
 Guardians ad litem.16
 Certain personnel of the Department of Juvenile Justice. 17
 Public defenders, assistant public defenders, criminal conflict and civil regional counsel, and
assistant criminal conflict and civil regional counsel.
 Investigators or inspectors of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
 County tax collectors.
 Department of Health personnel who determine or adjudicate eligibility of social security
disability benefits, the investigation or prosecution of complaints filed against health care
practitioners, or the inspection of DOH licensed health care practitioners or health care facilities.
10 Section 119.071(4)(d)2.a.-v., F.S. The exemptions for current or former guardians ad litem and current or former staff and domestic
violence advocates of domestic violence centers also exempt their places of employment. See ss. 119.071(4)(d)2.j. and
119.071(4)(d)2.u., F.S.
11 The names of the spouses and children of certain addiction treatment personnel are not exempt. See s. 119.071(4)(d)2.s., F.S.
12 Section 119.071(4)(d)2.a.-v., F.S.
13 The exemptions in most cases apply to current or former personnel, however, in some cases an exemption applies only to currently
employed personnel. The following personnel exemptions apply only to currently employed persons: general magistrates, special
magistrates, judges of compensation claims, administrative law judges of the Division of Admin istrative Hearings; child support
enforcement hearing officers; and county tax collectors. See ss. 119.071(4)(d)2.g. and 119.071(4)(d)2.n., F.S.
14 Section 119.071(4)(d)2., F.S.
15 Such personnel include those whose duties include hiring and firing employees, labor contract negotiation, administration, or other
personnel-related duties. Section 119.071(4)(d)2.h., F.S.
16 See s. 39.820(1), F.S.
17 Such personnel include juvenile probation officers, juvenile probation supervisors, detention superintendents, assistant detention
superintendents, juvenile justice detention officers I and II, juvenile justice d etention officer supervisors, juvenile justice residential
officers, juvenile justice residential officer supervisors I and II, juvenile justice counselors, juvenile justice counselor supervisors,
human services counselor administrators, senior human services counselor administrators, rehabilitation therapists, and social services
counselors. Section 119.071(4)(d )2.k., F.S.
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  Impaired practitioner consultants retained by an agency as well as certain employees of such
persons.18
 Certified19 firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics.
 Agency inspector general or internal audit department personnel who audit or investigate waste,
fraud, abuse, theft, exploitation, or other activities that could lead to criminal prosecution or
administrative discipline.
 Certain personnel of addiction treatment facilities.20
 Certain personnel of child advocacy centers, as well as Child Protection Team members who
support the investigations of child abuse or sexual abuse, child abandonment, child neglect, and
child exploitation or provide services a part of a multidisciplinary case review team. 21
 Domestic violence center staff and domestic violence advocates. 22
In order for such personnel within an exempt category to have their information protected from public
record requirements by an agency that is not their employer, such personnel must submit, under oath,
a written and notarized request for the information to be kept exempt.23 The request must confirm that
the individual is eligible for the exemption and state the statutory basis for the exemption.24
Public Record Exemption under Review
In 2019, the Legislature expanded the public record exemptions for the identification and location
information of certain agency personnel by creating a broad definition of “home address.”25 Home
address was defined to mean:
[T]he dwelling location at which an individual resides and includes the physical
address, mailing address, street address, parcel identification number, plot
identification number, legal property description, neighborhood name and lot
number, GPS coordinates, and any other descriptive property information that may
reveal the home address.26
The 2019 public necessity statement27 provided:
[T]he current exemptions do not provide protection for various forms of descriptive
property information that may be used on its own, or in conjunction with other
information, to reveal the home addresses that otherwise should be protected from
public disclosure. Therefore, the Legislature finds that it is a public necessity to
specifically define the term ‘home addresses’ so that the safety and privacy of
various personnel and their family members are not compromised. 28
18 Employees of current or former impaired practitioners whose duties result in a determination of a person’s skill and safety to
practice a licensed profession are captured by the exemption. Section 119.071(4)(d)2.p., F.S.
19 The exemption applies to firefighters certified in compliance with s. 633.408, F.S., and emergency medical technicians and
paramedics certified under ch. 401, F.S.; see ss. 119. 071(4)(d)2.d. and 119.071(4)(d)2.q., F.S.
20 Such personnel include directors, managers, supervisors, nurses, and clinical employees of an addiction treatment facility.
“Addiction treatment facility” means a county government, or agency thereof, that is licensed pursuant to s. 397.401 and prov ides
substance abuse prevention, intervention, or clinical treatment, including any licensed service component described in s. 397.311(26),
F.S. Section 119.071(4)(d)2.s., F.S.
21 Such personnel include directors, managers, supervisors, and clinical employees of a child advocacy center t hat meets the standards
of s. 39.3035(2), F.S., and fulfills the screening requirements of s. 39.3035(3), F.S. Section 119.071(4)(d)2.t., F.S.
22 For the exemption to apply to those persons, the domestic violence center in question must be cert ified by DCF under ch. 39, F.S.
Section 119.071(4)(d)2.u., F.S.
23 Section 119.071(4)(d)3., F.S.
24 Id.
25 Chapter 2019-12, L.O.F.
26 Section 119.071(4)(d)1.a., F.S.
27 Article I, s. 24(c), FLA. CONST ., requires each public record exemption to “state with specificity the public necessity justifying the
exemption.”
28 Chapter 2019-12, L.O.F.
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 The Legislature also clarified that the public record exemption for law enforcement personnel applies to
civilian personnel employed by a law enforcement agency. 29
Pursuant to the OGSR Act, the exemptions will repeal on October 2, 2024, unless reenacted by the
Legislature.30
During the 2023 interim, as part of the review under the OGSR Act, House and Senate committee staff
sent questionnaires 31 to the various entities with authority over the categories of employees listed in the
public record exemption under review. Questionnaires were sent to the following entities:
 State agencies.
 City and county governments.
 County property appraisers’ offices.
 County tax collectors’ offices.
 School districts.
 State universities.
 Sheriffs’ offices.
 Police departments.
 Clerks of the circuit courts’ offices.
 State attorneys’ offices.
 Public defenders’ offices.
 Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel regions.
 Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office.
Regarding the new definition of “home address,” the vast majority of responses indicated that there had
not been any issues interpreting or applying the definition, nor had there been any questions or
concerns.32 Regarding the agency personnel exemptions themselves, the vast majority of responses
that suggested action recommended the exemption be reenacted as is. 33 Many of the responses cited
employee safety as the basis for this recommendation.
Effect of the Bill
The bill removes the s