Florida Senate - 2020                      CS for CS for SB 1718
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Criminal Justice; and Senator Brandes
       
       
       
       
       585-03389-20                                          20201718c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public meetings and records;
    3         amending s. 945.0912, F.S.; exempting from public
    4         meetings requirements that portion of a meeting at
    5         which the exempt or confidential information of
    6         specified inmates being considered for the conditional
    7         aging inmate release program are discussed; exempting
    8         from public records requirements certain records used
    9         by the reviewing panel to make a determination of the
   10         appropriateness of conditional aging inmate release
   11         and the recordings and transcripts of closed panel
   12         review hearings; providing for legislative review and
   13         repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of
   14         public necessity; providing a contingent effective
   15         date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Present subsection (7) of section 945.0912,
   20  Florida Statutes, as created by SB 574 or other similar
   21  legislation, 2020 Regular Session, is redesignated as subsection
   22  (8), and a new subsection (7) is added to that section, to read:
   23         945.0912 Conditional aging inmate release.—
   24         (7)PUBLIC MEETINGS AND RECORDS EXEMPTIONS.—
   25         (a)That portion of a panel review hearing conducted in
   26  accordance with this section during which the panel will discuss
   27  information that is exempt from public inspection and copying
   28  requirements under state law or confidential under federal law,
   29  such as protected health information covered by the Health
   30  Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is exempt from s.
   31  286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. If the
   32  panel must discuss exempt or confidential information during the
   33  course of its meeting, the following requirements must be met:
   34         1.The panel must announce at the public meeting that, in
   35  connection with the performance of the panel’s duties, exempt or
   36  confidential information must be discussed;
   37         2.The panel must declare the specific reasons that it is
   38  necessary to close the meeting, or a portion thereof, in a
   39  document that is a public record and filed with the official
   40  records of the program; and
   41         3.The entire closed hearing must be recorded. The
   42  recording must include the times of commencement and termination
   43  of the closed hearing or portion thereof, all discussion and
   44  proceedings, and the names of the persons present.
   45         (b)1.That portion of the records the panel uses to
   46  determine the appropriateness of conditional aging inmate
   47  release which includes any exempt or confidential information is
   48  confidential and exempt from disclosure under s. 119.07(1) and
   49  s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
   50         2.Any audio or video recording or transcript of, and any
   51  minutes and notes generated during, a closed hearing of the
   52  panel or closed portion of a hearing of the panel are
   53  confidential and exempt from disclosure under s. 119.07(1) and
   54  s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Such audio or video
   55  recording, transcript, minutes and notes must be retained
   56  pursuant to the requirements of s. 119.021.
   57         (c)Only members of the panel, staff supporting the panel’s
   58  functions, the inmate for whom the panel has convened, and
   59  licensed medical personnel called by the panel to provide
   60  testimony regarding exempt or confidential information shall be
   61  allowed to attend the closed portions of panel hearings. The
   62  panel shall ensure that any closure of its meetings as
   63  authorized by this section is limited so that the policy of the
   64  state in favor of public meetings is maintained.
   65         (d)This subsection is subject to the Open Government
   66  Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand
   67  repealed on October 2, 2025, unless reviewed and saved from
   68  repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
   69         Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
   70  necessity that the hearings or portions of hearings during which
   71  exempt or confidential information is discussed by the review
   72  panel considering an inmate’s conditional aging inmate release
   73  be made exempt from s. 286.011, Florida Statutes, and s. 24(b),
   74  Article I of the State Constitution. The Legislature finds that
   75  the rights of an inmate afforded under other state or federal
   76  laws that deem certain personal information confidential, such
   77  as protected health information covered by the Health Insurance
   78  Portability and Accountability Act, be upheld and that the
   79  inmate’s exempt or confidential information not be disclosed to
   80  the public during such hearings. The Legislature also finds that
   81  the recordings and transcripts of a panel review hearing and the
   82  records used by the panel to make its determination be made
   83  confidential and exempt from disclosure under s. 119.07(1),
   84  Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State
   85  Constitution. The inmate’s exempt or confidential information,
   86  if publicly available, could be used to invade his or her
   87  personal privacy. Making these reports and discussions of such
   88  information confidential and exempt from disclosure will protect
   89  information of a sensitive personal nature, the release of which
   90  could cause unwarranted damage to the privacy rights of the
   91  inmate. The Legislature therefore finds that it is a public
   92  necessity that such information be made confidential and exempt.
   93         Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
   94  SB 574 or similar legislation relating to conditional aging
   95  inmate release takes effect, if such legislation is adopted in
   96  the same legislative session or an extension thereof and becomes
   97  a law.