Florida2026Active
SB7004
Keeping Conviction Integrity Unit Reinvestigation Files Private
Last scannedAug 24, 2026, 10:35 AM
In one sentence
This law keeps information created during new innocence investigations private for as long as the investigation is active and ongoing.
What it does
- Removes a rule that would have ended privacy protection for certain files in October 2026, keeping them exempt from public records laws instead.
- Defines 'conviction integrity unit reinvestigation information' as materials created during a new investigation after the unit formally accepts an innocence claim.
- Exempts these specific investigation files from state and constitutional requirements to show public records for a reasonable time while the case is active.
- Clarifies that this privacy rule does not cover old criminal investigative files, petitions filed by applicants, or materials made during other legal motions.
Who it affects
- State attorney offices in Florida
- Conviction integrity units within those offices
- People who request public records about these specific investigations
Limits and unknowns
- The privacy rule applies only for a reasonable time while the investigation is active, ongoing, and done in good faith.
- This law does not protect information from other types of legal motions or old case files created before this new review began.
Plain language
Terms to know
- Conviction Integrity Unit
- A team inside a state attorney's office set up to review plausible claims that someone is actually innocent.
- Reinvestigation Information
- New documents or evidence created only after the unit officially agrees in writing to look at an innocence claim again.
Official record
Sources
Official summary
OGSR/Conviction Integrity Unit Reinvestigation Information
Official activity
Bill history
- Chapter No. 2026-152