While public records help with transparency, some people might consider it sensible that not everyone’s personal information should be made public. As of October 1, House Bill 7043 keeps specified agency personnel, their spouses, and their children exempt from having their personal information listed as public record for protection purposes.
This law encompasses any information that could be used to identify the personnel or their families. This type of information can include phone numbers, childcare facility locations, home addresses, and birthdays.
House Bill 7043 will continue to cover more than 23 different kinds of personnel and their families both during active duty and after retirement. These personnel members include law enforcement officers, firefighters, state attorneys, paramedics, and more. For a complete list of the personnel detailed in this law, click here.
The bill was originally prepared by the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, filed on January 18, 2024; and voted through in the Senate and House with votes of 38-1 and 114-0, respectively. It was presented to Governor DeSantis on March 27, 2024, and he approved it on April 2, 2024.
For complete details on this new law, click here to read all 16 pages of House Bill 7043. For the official summary, click here.