Florida Senate - 2026                                     SB 332
       
       
        
       By Senator Bradley
       
       
       
       
       
       6-00375-26                                             2026332__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public meetings; amending s.
    3         286.011, F.S.; providing that specified entities may
    4         meet in private with their attorneys to discuss
    5         certain claims concerning private property rights;
    6         specifying what may be discussed during such closed
    7         meetings; requiring that such meetings be transcribed;
    8         providing that such transcripts become public records
    9         at specified times; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 286.011, Florida
   14  Statutes, is amended to read:
   15         286.011 Public meetings and records; public inspection;
   16  criminal and civil penalties.—
   17         (8) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), any
   18  board or commission of any state agency or authority or any
   19  agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation, or
   20  political subdivision, and the chief administrative or executive
   21  officer of the governmental entity, may meet in private with the
   22  entity’s attorney during the 90-day-notice period specified in
   23  s. 70.001(4) to discuss claims submitted in accordance with that
   24  subsection, and may meet in private with the entity’s attorney
   25  to discuss pending litigation to which the entity is presently a
   26  party before a court or administrative agency, provided that the
   27  following conditions are met:
   28         (a) The entity’s attorney shall advise the entity at a
   29  public meeting that he or she desires advice concerning the
   30  litigation or concerning a claim submitted in accordance with s.
   31  70.001(4).
   32         (b) The subject matter of the meeting must shall be
   33  confined to settlement negotiations or strategy sessions related
   34  to litigation expenditures or relating to a claim submitted in
   35  accordance with s. 70.001(4).
   36         (c) The entire session must shall be recorded by a
   37  certified court reporter. The reporter shall record the times of
   38  commencement and termination of the session, all discussion and
   39  proceedings, the names of all persons present at any time, and
   40  the names of all persons speaking. No portion of the session may
   41  shall be off the record. The court reporter’s notes must shall
   42  be fully transcribed and filed with the entity’s clerk within a
   43  reasonable time after the meeting.
   44         (d) The entity shall give reasonable public notice of the
   45  time and date of the attorney-client session and the names of
   46  persons who will be attending the session. The session must
   47  shall commence at an open meeting at which the persons chairing
   48  the meeting shall announce the commencement and estimated length
   49  of the attorney-client session and the names of the persons
   50  attending. At the conclusion of the attorney-client session, the
   51  meeting must shall be reopened, and the person chairing the
   52  meeting shall announce the termination of the session.
   53         (e) The transcript must shall be made part of the public
   54  record upon conclusion of the litigation, upon settlement of a
   55  claim under s. 70.001, or upon the expiration of the statute of
   56  limitations for the claim arising under chapter 70 in the event
   57  that no litigation is filed and there is no settlement of a
   58  claim under s. 70.001.
   59         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.