Florida Senate - 2013                              CS for SB 824
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Senator Garcia
       
       
       
       585-04019-13                                           2013824c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; creating s.
    3         916.1065, F.S.; creating an exemption from public
    4         records requirements for a forensic behavioral health
    5         evaluation filed with a court; providing a definition
    6         for the term “forensic behavioral health evaluation”;
    7         providing a statement of public necessity,
    8         applicability, and construction; providing an
    9         effective date.
   10  
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 916.1065, Florida Statutes, is created
   14  to read:
   15         916.1065 Confidentiality of forensic behavioral health
   16  evaluations:
   17         (1) A forensic behavioral health evaluation filed with the
   18  court under this chapter is confidential and exempt from s.
   19  24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
   20         (2) As used in this section, the term “forensic behavioral
   21  health evaluation” means any record, including supporting
   22  documentation, derived from a competency, substance abuse,
   23  psychosexual, psychological, psychiatric, psychosocial,
   24  cognitive impairment, sanity, or other mental health evaluation
   25  of an individual.
   26         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   27  necessity that forensic behavioral health evaluations filed with
   28  the court pursuant to chapter 916, Florida Statutes, be
   29  confidential and exempt from disclosure under s. 24(a), Art. I
   30  of the State Constitution. The personal health of an individual
   31  and the treatment he or she receives is an intensely private
   32  matter. An individual’s forensic behavioral health evaluation
   33  should not be made public merely because it is filed with the
   34  court. Protecting forensic behavioral health evaluations is
   35  necessary to consistently protect the health care privacy rights
   36  of all persons. Making these evaluations confidential and exempt
   37  will protect information of a sensitive personal nature, the
   38  release of which would cause unwarranted damage to the
   39  reputation of an individual. Further, the knowledge that
   40  sensitive personal information is subject to disclosure could
   41  have a chilling effect on mental health experts who conduct the
   42  evaluations for use by the court. Therefore, making these
   43  evaluations confidential and exempt allows courts to effectively
   44  and efficiently make decisions relating to the competency of
   45  individuals who interact with the state courts system.
   46         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.