Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
CS for SB 1118
By
the Committee on Community Affairs; and Senator Avila
578-02479-26 20261118c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public records; amending s.
3 112.231, F.S.; providing an exemption from public
4 records requirements for information relating to the
5 plans, intentions, or interest of a person to locate a
6 data center; defining the term “proprietary
7 confidential business information”; providing for
8 future legislative review and repeal of the exemption;
9 providing a statement of public necessity; providing a
10 contingent effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Present subsection (5) of section 112.231,
15 Florida Statutes, as created by SB 484 or similar legislation,
16 2026 Regular Session, is redesignated as subsection (6), and a
17 new subsection (5) is added to that section, to read:
18 112.231 Data center nondisclosure agreements
;
19
confidentiality
.—
20
(5)(a) If a person, as defined in 1.01(3), requests in
21
writing that a county or municipality maintain the
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confidentiality of information that concerns the plans,
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intentions, or interests of such person to locate a data center
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within the jurisdiction of the county or municipality, any
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portion of a public record held by a county or municipality
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which contains such information is confidential and exempt from
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s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. The
28
request must be made during the timeframe in which the person
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plans, intends, or is interested in locating the data center and
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before any formal application is filed with the county or
31
municipality. The information is confidential and exempt for 12
32
months after the date a county or municipality receives a
33
request for confidentiality or until the person waives
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confidentiality or the information is otherwise disclosed.
35
However, the county or municipality must disclose that the
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project is a data center.
This
paragraph
applies to officers and
37
public employees of the county or municipality and any other
38
public or private agency, person, partnership, corporation, or
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business entity acting on behalf of the county or municipality.
40
(b)
The i
nformation
requested pursuant to paragraph (a)
may
41
be disclosed to
an agency
with decision-making or regulatory
42
responsibility regarding the data center, including
,
but not
43
limited to
,
regulation of the location, construction, or
44
operations.
45
(c)1. A person’s proprietary confidential business
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information related to a data center and held by an agency is
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confidential and exempt from
s
. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I
48
of the State Constitution
, until such information is otherwise
49
publicly available or is no longer treated by the proprietor as
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proprietary confidential business information.
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2. The term “proprietary confidential business information”
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means information that is owned or controlled by the person
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requesting confidentiality under this section; that is intended
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to be and is treated by the person as private in that the
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disclosure of the information would cause harm to the business
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operations of the person; and that has not been disclosed
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pursuant to a statutory provision or an order of a court or
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administrative body. Proprietary confidential business
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information includes all of the following:
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a. Business plans.
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b. Internal auditing controls and reports of internal
62
auditors.
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c. Reports of external auditors for privately held
64
companies.
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d. Security measures, systems, or procedures.
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e. Information relating to competitive interests, the
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disclosure of which would impair the competitive business of the
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provider of the information.
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(d) This subsection is subject to the Open Government
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Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand
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repealed on October 2, 2031, unless reviewed and saved from
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repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
73 Section 2.
The Legislature finds that it is
a
public
74
necessity to provide confidentiality for
a period of time for
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certain information concerning
persons locating a data center in
76
this state
which is contained in records of such
persons
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conducting business or attempting to conduct business with
a
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county or municipality
in
this state
. The disclosure of
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information such as
plans for locating
proprietary confidential
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business information, or other business
activities related to
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the data center
could injure a
person
in the marketplace by
82
providing competitors with detailed insights into the strategic
83
plans of the
person
or with confidential personnel information,
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thereby diminishing the advantage that the
person
maintains over
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those that do not possess such information. Without these
86
exemptions,
persons
whose records generally are not required to
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be open to the public might refrain from
locating a data center
88
in
this state
and instead choose to
conduct business activities
89
outside of
this
state, which would deprive the state and the
90
public of the potential economic benefits associated with
91
business activities in this state. The harm to
persons
caused by
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the public disclosure of such information outweighs the public
93
benefits derived from the release of the information.
94 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that
95 SB 484 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
96 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
97 thereof and becomes a law.