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CS/HB 21 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to public records; amending s. 2
119.071, F.S.; providing definitions; providing an 3
exemption from public record requirements for certain 4
identifying and location information of current or 5
former agency employees and the spouses and children 6
of such employees; providing for retroactive 7
application; specifying that the exemption does not 8
limit certain existing exemptions; providing for 9
future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 10
amending ss. 28.2221, 119.0714, 409.2577, and 11
744.21031, F.S.; conforming cross-references to 12
changes made by the act; providing a statement of 13
public necessity; providing an effective date. 14
15
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16
17
Section 1. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subsection (4) of 18
section 119.071, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 19
paragraphs (e) and (f), respectively, and a new paragraph (d) is 20
added to that subsection to read: 21
119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of 22
public records.— 23
(4) AGENCY PERSONNEL INFORMATION.— 24
(d)1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term: 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
a. "Home addresses" means the dwelling location at which 26
an individual resides and includes the physical address, mailing 27
address, and street address. 28
b. "Telephone numbers" includes home telephone numbers, 29
personal cellular telephone numbers, personal pager telephone 30
numbers, and telephone numbers associated with personal 31
communications devices. 32
2. The home addresses, telephone numbers, personal 33
electronic mail addresses, and dates of birth of current or 34
former agency employees; the names, home addresses, telephone 35
numbers, personal electronic mail addresses, dates of birth, and 36
places of employment of the spouses and children of such 37
employees; and the names and locations of schools and day care 38
facilities attended by the children of such employees held by 39
the employing agency are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), 40
Art. I of the State Constitution. This exemption applies to such 41
information held by an employing agency before, on, or after the 42
effective date of this exemption. 43
3. The exemption provided in subparagraph 2. does not 44
limit any exemption contained in paragraph (e). 45
4. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset 46
Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 47
on October 2, 2031, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 48
through reenactment by the Legislature. 49
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) and paragraph 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(b) of subsection (6) of section 28.2221, Florida Statutes, are 51
amended to read: 52
28.2221 Electronic access to official records.— 53
(2) 54
(b) Unless otherwise required by the court, a county 55
recorder may not remove the grantor name, grantee name, or party 56
name from the register of the Official Records, as described in 57
s. 28.222(2), and the index on the publicly available Internet 58
website on the basis of an exemption as defined in s. 119.011 59
unless the name of the grantor or grantee includes the street 60
address portion of the home address as defined in s. 61
119.071(4)(e) s. 119.071(4)(d), in which case the county 62
recorder must remove the street address portion from display. 63
Home addresses, as defined in s. 119.071(4)(e) s. 119.071(4)(d), 64
which are exempt from inspection or copying under s. 119.071 65
must be included within the Official Records as described in s. 66
28.222(2) but may not be included within the index or otherwise 67
displayed on the county recorder's publicly available Internet 68
website on which images or copies of the county's official 69
records are placed. 70
(6) 71
(b)1. For the purpose of conducting a title search, as 72
defined in s. 627.7711(4), of the Official Records, as described 73
in s. 28.222(2), and upon presentation of photo identification 74
and affirmation by sworn affidavit consistent with s. 92.50 to 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
the county recorder, information restricted from public display, 76
inspection, or copying under paragraph (5)(a) pursuant to a 77
request for removal made under s. 119.071(4)(e) s. 119.071(4)(d) 78
may be disclosed to: 79
a. A title insurer authorized pursuant to s. 624.401 and 80
its affiliates as defined in s. 624.10; 81
b. A title insurance agent or title insurance agency as 82
defined in s. 626.841(1) and (2), respectively; or 83
c. An attorney duly admitted to practice law in this state 84
and in good standing with The Florida Bar. 85
2. The photo identification and affirmation by sworn 86
affidavit may be delivered in person, by mail, or by electronic 87
transmission to the county recorder. 88
3. The affiant requestor must attest to his or her 89
authority and the authorized purpose to access exempt 90
information pursuant to this section for the property specified 91
within the sworn affidavit. 92
4. The affiant requestor must identify the Official 93
Records book and page number, instrument number, or the clerk's 94
file number for each document requested within the sworn 95
affidavit and must include a description of the lawful purpose 96
and identify the individual or property that is the subject of 97
the search within the sworn affidavit. 98
5. Affidavits submitted by a title insurer, title 99
insurance agent, or title insurance agency must include the 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Florida Company Code or the license number, as applicable, and 101
an attestation to the affiant requestor's authorization to 102
transact business in this state. Affidavits submitted by an 103
attorney authorized under this section must include the affiant 104
requestor's Florida Bar number and a statement that the affiant 105
requestor has an agency agreement with a title insurer directly 106
or through his or her law firm. 107
6. The county recorder must record such affidavit in the 108
Official Records, as described in s. 28.222(2), but may not 109
place the image or copy of the affidavit on a publicly available 110
Internet website for general public display. 111
7. Upon providing a document disclosing redacted 112
information to an affiant requestor under this section, the 113
county recorder must provide a copy of the affidavit requesting 114
disclosure of the redacted information to each affected party at 115
the address listed on the document or on the request for removal 116
made by the affected party under s. 119.071. The county recorder 117
must prepare a certificate of mailing to be affixed to the 118
affidavit and must receive the statutory service charges as 119
prescribed by s. 28.24 from the affiant requestor. 120
8. Any party making a false attestation under this section 121
is subject to the penalty of perjury under s. 837.012. 122
Section 3. Paragraph (f) of subsection (2) and paragraph 123
(f) of subsection (3) of section 119.0714, Florida Statutes, are 124
amended to read: 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
119.0714 Court files; court records; official records.— 126
(2) COURT RECORDS.— 127
(f) A request for maintenance of a public records 128
exemption in s. 119.071(4)(e)2. s. 119.071(4)(d)2. made pursuant 129
to s. 119.071(4)(e)3. s. 119.071(4)(d)3. must specify the 130
document type, name, identification number, and page number of 131
the court record that contains the exempt information. 132
(3) OFFICIAL RECORDS.—A person who prepares or files a 133
record for recording in the official records as provided in 134
chapter 28 may not include in that record a social security 135
number or a bank account, debit, charge, or credit card number 136
unless otherwise expressly required by law. 137
(f) A request for maintenance of a public records 138
exemption in s. 119.071(4)(e)2. s. 119.071(4)(d)2. made pursuant 139
to s. 119.071(4)(e)3. s. 119.071(4)(d)3. must specify the 140
document type, name, identification number, and page number of 141
the official record that contains the exempt information. 142
Section 4. Section 409.2577, Florida Statutes, is amended 143
to read: 144
409.2577 Parent locator service.—The department shall 145
establish a parent locator service to assist in locating parents 146
who have deserted their children and other persons liable for 147
support of dependent children. The department shall use all 148
sources of information available, including the Federal Parent 149
Locator Service, and may request and shall receive information 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
from the records of any person or the state or any of its 151
political subdivisions or any officer thereof. Any agency as 152
defined in s. 120.52, any political subdivision, and any other 153
person shall, upon request, provide the department any 154
information relating to location, salary, insurance, social 155
security, income tax, and employment history necessary to locate 156
parents who owe or potentially owe a duty of support pursuant to 157
Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. This provision shall 158
expressly take precedence over any other statutory nondisclosure 159
provision which limits the ability of an agency to disclose such 160
information, except that law enforcement information as provided 161
in s. 119.071(4)(e) s. 119.071(4)(d) is not required to be 162
disclosed, and except that confidential taxpayer information 163
possessed by the Department of Revenue shall be disclosed only 164
to the extent authorized in s. 213.053(16). Nothing in this 165
section requires the disclosure of information if such 166
disclosure is prohibited by federal law. Information gathered or 167
used by the parent locator service is confidential and exempt 168
from the provisions of s. 119.07(1). Additionally, the 169
department is authorized to collect any additional information 170
directly bearing on the identity and whereabouts of a person 171
owing or asserted to be owing an obligation of support for a 172
dependent child. The department shall, upon request, make 173
information available only to public officials and agencies of 174
this state; political subdivisions of this state, including any 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
agency thereof providing child support enforcement services to 176
non-Title IV-D clients; the parent owed support, legal guardian, 177
attorney, or agent of the child; and other states seeking to 178
locate parents who have deserted their children and other 179
persons liable for support of dependents, for the sole purpose 180
of establishing, modifying, or enforcing their liability for 181
support, and shall make such information available to the 182
Department of Children and Families for the purpose of diligent 183
search activities pursuant to chapter 39. If the department has 184
reasonable evidence of domestic violence or child abuse and the 185
disclosure of information could be harmful to the parent owed 186
support or the child of such parent, the child support program 187
director or designee shall notify the Department of Children and 188
Families and the Secretary of the United States Department of 189
Health and Human Services of this evidence. Such evidence is 190
sufficient grounds for the department to disapprove an 191
application for location services. 192
Section 5. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 193
744.21031, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 194
744.21031 Public records exemption.— 195
(1) For purposes of this section, the term: 196
(c) "Telephone numbers" has the same meaning as provided 197
in s. 119.071(4)(e)1.c. s. 119.071(4)(d)1.c. 198
Section 6. The Legislature finds that it is a public 199
necessity that the home addresses, telephone numbers, personal 200
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
electronic mail addresses, and dates of birth of current or 201
former agency employees; the names, home addresses, telephone 202
numbers, personal electronic mail addresses, dates of birth, and 203
places of employment of the spouses and children of such 204
employees; and the names and locations of schools and day care 205
facilities attended by the children of such employees held by 206
the employing agency be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida 207
Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. 208
Current or former agency employees and their spouses and 209
children may be targets of harassment, stalking, intimidation, 210
threats, or other forms of harm due to the nature of the 211
employees' public duties. The public release of home addresses, 212
telephone numbers, and personal electronic mail addresses could 213
enable a person intent on harming or harassing such employee or 214
the employee's family to directly contact, locate, or surveil 215
such individuals. Protecting such information reduces the risk 216
of unwanted contact, cyberstalking, and other privacy invasions. 217
In addition, the public release of the names and places of 218
employment of the spouses and children of current or former 219
agency employees poses additional risks of harm to such 220
individuals. Disclosure of such information increases the 221
ability of malicious actors to directly target or locate the 222
family members of current or former agency employees. Protecting 223
this information reduces the risk of harassment, stalking, or 224
physical harm to the spouses and children of such employees. 225
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Additionally, the release of dates of birth of current or former 226
agency employees and their spouses and children poses a risk of 227
identity theft, fraud, and impersonation. Dates of birth are 228
commonly used as a means of verifying identity and, when 229
combined with other identifying information, may be used by 230
malicious actors to falsely represent themselves as the 231
individual and gain unauthorized access to financial accounts or 232
otherwise misuse the individual's identity for unlawful 233
purposes. Protecting this information is therefore essential to 234
reducing the risk of identity theft, fraud, impersonation, and 235
other unlawful use of such information. Furthermore, the release 236
of the names and locations of schools and day care facilities 237
attended by the children of current or former agency employees 238
poses a risk to the safety of such children. Disclosure of this 239
information would enable a person to locate the children of such 240
employees at predictable times and places. Protecting this 241
information is therefore essential to preventing potential harm, 242
including stalking, harassment, kidnapping, or other threats to 243
the well-being of such employees' minor children. Finally, the 244
Legislature finds that current or former agency employees and 245
their families should not be subject to increased safety risks 246
or other privacy invasions solely because the employee works or 247
worked for an agency. 248
Section 7. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 249