Florida HB 473: Pub. Rec./Civilian Contractors and Government Employees

Bill Text

HB 473 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb473-00
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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to public records; amending s. 2
119.071, F.S.; defining the terms "civilian 3
contractor" and "government employee"; providing an 4
exemption from public records requirements for certain 5
current and former civilian contractors and government 6
employees and their spouses and dependents; providing 7
for retroactive application; providing for future 8
legislative review and repeal of the exemption; 9
providing a statement of public necessity; providing 10
an effective date. 11
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
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Section 1. Paragraph (k) of subsection (5) of section 15
119.071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 16
119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of 17
public records.— 18
(5) OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION.— 19
(k)1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term: 20
a. "Civilian contractor" or "government employee" means 21
any person who is authorized to access information that is 22
deemed "secret" or "top secret" by the Federal Government. 23
b.a. "Identification and location information" means the: 24
(I) Home addresses, telephone numbers, and dates of birth 25

HB 473 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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of current and former civilian contractors, government 26
employees, and military personnel, and the telephone numbers 27
associated with the personal communication devices of current 28
and former civilian contractors, government employees, and 29
military personnel. 30
(II) Home addresses, telephone numbers, and dates of birth 31
of the spouses and dependents of current and former civilian 32
contractors, government employees, and military personnel, and 33
the telephone numbers associated with the personal communication 34
devices of such spouses and dependents. 35
(III) Names and locations of schools attended by the 36
spouses of current and former civilian contractors, government 37
employees, and military personnel and schools or day care 38
facilities attended by dependents of current and former civilian 39
contractors, government employees, and military personnel. 40
c.b. "Military personnel" means persons employed by the 41
United States Department of Defense who are authorized to access 42
information that is deemed "secret" or "top secret" by the 43
Federal Government or who are servicemembers of a special 44
operations force. 45
d.c. "Special operations force" has the same meaning as 46
provided in s. 943.10(22). 47
2. Identification and location information held by an 48
agency is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the 49
State Constitution if the current or former civilian contractor, 50

HB 473 2026

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government employee, or military personnel member submits to an 51
agency that has custody of the identification and location 52
information: 53
a. A written request to exempt the identification and 54
location information from public disclosure; and 55
b. A written statement that he or she has made reasonable 56
efforts to protect the identification and location information 57
from being accessible through other means available to the 58
public. 59
3. This exemption applies to identification and location 60
information held by an agency before, on, or after the effective 61
date of this exemption. 62
4. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset 63
Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 64
on October 2, 2031 2029, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 65
through reenactment by the Legislature. 66
Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 67
necessity that the identification and location information of 68
current and former civilian contractors and government employees 69
who are authorized to access information that is deemed "secret" 70
or "top secret" by the Federal Government, and their spouses and 71
dependents, which is held by an agency be made exempt from s. 72
119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the 73
State Constitution. Such current and former civilian contractors 74
and government employees are at risk of being threatened by 75

HB 473 2026

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terrorist groups because of their access to such information. 76
The Legislature finds that allowing continued public access to 77
the identification and location information of such current and 78
former civilian contractors and government employees, and their 79
spouses and dependents, jeopardizes the