Florida SB 1650: Child Welfare

Bill Text

1650 
Public Records/Commission on Ethics 
2026-01-09T09:00:12Z 
Providing an exemption from public records requirements for information received by the commission or derived from its investigations; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1650 

 By Senator Gaetz 

 1-01701-26 20261650__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 
 3 112.3243, F.S.; providing an exemption from public 
 4 records requirements for information received by the 
 5 commission or derived from its investigations; 
 6 providing for future legislative review and repeal of 
 7 the exemption; providing a statement of public 
 8 necessity; providing a contingent effective date. 
 9 
 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 11 
 12 Section 1. Present subsection (5) of section 112.3243, 
 13 Florida Statutes, as created by SB 92 or similar legislation, 
 14 2026 Regular Session, is redesignated as subsection (6), and a 
 15 new subsection (5) is added to that section, to read: 
 16 112.3243 Investigative procedures in response to prohibited 
 17 personnel actions against ethics complaints.— 
 18 (5) CONFIDENTIALITY.—All information received by the 
 19 commission or information produced or derived from fact-finding 
 20 or other investigations conducted by the commission is 
 21 confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I 
 22 of the State Constitution if the information is received or 
 23 derived from allegations as set forth in s. 112.3242 relating to 
 24 an active investigation. This subsection is subject to the Open 
 25 Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and 
 26 shall stand repealed on October 2, 2031, unless reviewed and 
 27 saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. 
 28 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 
 29 necessity that all information received by the Commission on 
 30 Ethics or information produced or derived from fact-finding or 
 31 other investigations conducted by the commission be made 
 32 confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and 
 33 s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution until the 
 34 investigation is terminated or ceases to be active. The 
 35 premature release of such records could frustrate or thwart an 
 36 investigation and impair the ability of the commission to 
 37 effectively and efficiently administer ss. 112.324, 112.3242, 
 38 and 112.3243, Florida Statutes. In addition, the release of such 
 39 records before completion of an active investigation could 
 40 jeopardize an ongoing investigation, thereby affecting the 
 41 ability of the commission to effectively and efficiently 
 42 administer the investigation. Therefore, the Legislature finds 
 43 that the harm that may result from the release of all 
 44 information received by the commission or information produced 
 45 or derived from fact-finding or other investigations conducted 
 46 by the commission pursuant to s. 112.3242, Florida Statutes, 
 47 outweighs the public benefit that may be derived from the 
 48 disclosure of the information. 
 49 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that 
 50 SB 92 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation 
 51 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension 
 52 thereof and becomes a law.