Florida Senate - 2014                              CS for SB 656
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Senator Montford
       
       
       
       
       585-02891-14                                           2014656c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to a review under the Open Government
    3         Sunset Review Act; amending s. 1008.24, F.S., relating
    4         to an exemption from public records requirements for
    5         certain information held by the Department of
    6         Education during active investigations of allegations
    7         of testing impropriety; saving the exemption from
    8         repeal under the Open Government Sunset Review Act;
    9         providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section
   14  1008.24, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   15         1008.24 Test administration and security; public records
   16  exemption.—
   17         (4)
   18         (b) The identity of a school or postsecondary educational
   19  institution, personal identifying the personally identifiable
   20  information of any personnel of any school district or
   21  postsecondary educational institution, or any specific
   22  allegations of misconduct obtained or reported pursuant to an
   23  investigation conducted by the Department of Education of a
   24  testing impropriety are confidential and exempt from s.
   25  119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until
   26  the conclusion of the investigation or until such time as the
   27  investigation ceases to be active. For the purpose of this
   28  paragraph, an investigation is shall be deemed concluded upon a
   29  finding that no impropriety has occurred, upon the conclusion of
   30  any resulting preliminary investigation pursuant to s. 1012.796,
   31  upon the completion of any resulting investigation by a law
   32  enforcement agency, or upon the referral of the matter to an
   33  employer who has the authority to take disciplinary action
   34  against an individual who is suspected of a testing impropriety.
   35  For the purpose of this paragraph, an investigation is shall be
   36  considered active so long as it is ongoing and there is a
   37  reasonable, good faith anticipation that an administrative
   38  finding will be made in the foreseeable future. This paragraph
   39  is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in
   40  accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2,
   41  2014, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment
   42  by the Legislature.
   43         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2014.