Florida SB 876: Direct Filing of an Information

Bill Text

876 
Public Records and Public Meetings/Hearings Relating to Mental Health and Substance Abuse 
2025-12-11T05:30:14Z 
Providing that all hearings relating to mental health examination or treatment and substance abuse treatment or assessment and stabilization, respectively, are confidential and closed to the public; providing that certain information is exempt from public records requirements; authorizing disclosure of certain confidential and exempt documents to certain service providers; authorizing courts to use a respondent’s name for certain purposes; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing statements of public necessity, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 876 

 By Senator Gaetz 

 1-01157-26 2026876__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to public records and public meetings; 
 3 amending ss. 394.464 and 397.6760, F.S.; providing 
 4 that all hearings relating to mental health 
 5 examination or treatment and substance abuse treatment 
 6 or assessment and stabilization, respectively, are 
 7 confidential and closed to the public; providing 
 8 exceptions; providing that certain information is 
 9 exempt from public records requirements; revising a 
 10 public records exemption to include certain petitions 
 11 and applications; authorizing disclosure of certain 
 12 confidential and exempt documents to certain service 
 13 providers; authorizing courts to use a respondent’s 
 14 name for certain purposes; revising applicability; 
 15 providing for future legislative review and repeal of 
 16 the exemption; making technical changes; providing 
 17 statements of public necessity; providing a contingent 
 18 effective date. 
 19 
 20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 21 
 22 Section 1. Section 394.464, Florida Statutes, is amended to 
 23 read: 
 24 394.464 Court proceedings and records; confidentiality.— 
 25 (1) Absent the respondent’s consent or a finding of good 
 26 cause by a judge or an administrative law judge, all hearings 
 27 conducted under this part are confidential and closed to the 
 28 public. 
 29 (2)(a) The respondent’s name, at a hearing or on appeal, 
 30 and all petitions or applications for voluntary and involuntary 
 31 admission for mental health examination or treatment, court 
 32 orders, and related records that are filed with or by a court 
 33 under this part are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) 
 34 and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Pleadings and 
 35 other documents made confidential and exempt by this section may 
 36 be disclosed by the clerk of the court, upon request, to any of 
 37 the following: 
 38 1.(a) The petitioner. 
 39 2.(b) The petitioner’s attorney. 
 40 3.(c) The respondent. 
 41 4.(d) The respondent’s attorney. 
 42 5.(e) The respondent’s guardian or guardian advocate, if 
 43 applicable. 
 44 6.(f) In the case of a minor respondent, the respondent’s 
 45 parent, guardian, legal custodian, or guardian advocate. 
 46 7.(g) The respondent’s treating health care practitioner 
 47 and service provider. 
 48 8.(h) The respondent’s health care surrogate or proxy. 
 49 9.(i) The Department of Children and Families, without 
 50 charge. 
 51 10.(j) The Department of Corrections, without charge, if 
 52 the respondent is committed or is to be returned to the custody 
 53 of the Department of Corrections from the Department of Children 
 54 and Families. 
 55 11.(k) A person or an entity authorized to view records 
 56 upon a court order for good cause. In determining whether if 
 57 there is good cause for the disclosure of records, the court 
 58 shall must weigh the person’s person or entity’s need for the 
 59 information against potential harm to the respondent from the 
 60 disclosure. 
 61 (b)(2) This subsection section does not preclude the clerk 
 62 of the court from submitting the information required by s. 
 63 790.065 to the Department of Law Enforcement. 
 64 (c)(3) The clerk of the court may not publish personal 
 65 identifying information on a court docket or in a publicly 
 66 accessible file, but the court may use the respondent’s name to 
 67 schedule and adjudicate cases, including the transmission of any 
 68 court order to the parties or the service provider. 
 69 (d)(4) A person or an entity receiving information pursuant 
 70 to this subsection section shall maintain that information as 
 71 confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I 
 72 of the State Constitution. 
 73 (e)(5) The exemption under this subsection section applies 
 74 to all documents filed with a court before, on, or after July 1, 
 75 2019, and appeals pending or filed on or after July 1, 2026. 
 76 (f) This subsection applies to records held by the Division 
 77 of Administrative Hearings to the same extent as records held by 
 78 a court. 
 79 (g) This subsection is subject to the Op