7-FSS 119.071 - 2020 version.pdf
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- RFP No. 2026-014
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- Palm Beach County, Florida
About this file
This file is a public records exemption statute from the 2020 Florida Statutes (Chapter 119.071) that establishes which documents and records held by Florida government agencies are exempt from public disclosure requirements. The statute provides exemptions for examination materials used for licensure and employment purposes, sealed bids and proposals submitted in response to competitive solicitations until an intended decision notice is issued or 30 days after opening bids (whichever is earlier), financial statements required for prequalification on public works projects, attorney work product and legal strategy documents prepared for litigation or adversarial proceedings, video materials produced by licensed broadcast stations, certain data processing software, and United States Census Bureau address information. The exemptions remain in effect until specified conditions are met, such as conclusion of litigation, agency notice of intended decision on a procurement, or legislative reenactment deadlines for provisions subject to sunset review.
The statute includes specific procedural requirements for agencies asserting these exemptions, including the obligation to identify potential parties to any litigation when withholding documents under the attorney work product exemption and provisions allowing courts to award reasonable attorney's fees and costs if documents are found to have been improperly withheld. Certain exemptions permit limited disclosure between public agencies for purposes such as the Local Update of Census Addresses Program. The statute establishes that exemptions may be waived under specific circumstances and subjects some provisions to the Open Government Sunset Review Act, with designated provisions scheduled for repeal unless reenacted by the legislature on specified dates such as October 2, 2021 and October 2, 2023.
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Text version
The 2020 Florida Statutes
Title X
PUBLIC OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND RECORDS
Chapter 119
PUBLIC RECORDS
View Entire Chapter
119.071 General exemptions from inspection or copying of public records.—
(1) AGENCY ADMINISTRATION.—
(a) Examination questions and answer sheets of examinations administered by a governmental agency for the purpose of licensure, certification, or employment are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and
s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. A person who has taken such an examination has the right to review his or her own completed examination.
(b)1. For purposes of this paragraph, “competitive solicitation” means the process of requesting and receiving sealed bids, proposals, or replies in accordance with the terms of a competitive process, regardless of the method of procurement.
2. Sealed bids, proposals, or replies received by an agency pursuant to a competitive solicitation are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until such time as the agency provides notice of an intended decision or until 30 days after opening the bids, proposals, or final replies, whichever is earlier.
3. If an agency rejects all bids, proposals, or replies submitted in response to a competitive solicitation and the agency concurrently provides notice of its intent to reissue the competitive solicitation, the rejected bids, proposals, or replies remain exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until such time as the agency provides notice of an intended decision concerning the reissued competitive solicitation or until the agency withdraws the reissued competitive solicitation. A bid, proposal, or reply is not exempt for longer than 12 months after the initial agency notice rejecting all bids, proposals, or replies.
(c) Any financial statement that an agency requires a prospective bidder to submit in order to prequalify for bidding or for responding to a proposal for a road or any other public works project is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
(d)1. A public record that was prepared by an agency attorney (including an attorney employed or retained by the agency or employed or retained by another public officer or agency to protect or represent the interests of the agency having custody of the record) or prepared at the attorney’s express direction, that reflects a mental impression, conclusion, litigation strategy, or legal theory of the attorney or the agency, and that was prepared exclusively for civil or criminal litigation or for adversarial administrative proceedings, or that was prepared in anticipation of imminent civil or criminal litigation or imminent adversarial administrative proceedings, is exempt from
s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until the conclusion of the litigation or adversarial administrative proceedings. For purposes of capital collateral litigation as set forth in http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Index&Title_Request=X#TitleX http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0119/0119ContentsIndex.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0119/0119.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.07.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.07.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.07.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.07.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.07.html
s. 27.7001, the Attorney General’s office is entitled to claim this exemption for those public records prepared for direct appeal as well as for all capital collateral litigation after direct appeal until execution of sentence or imposition of a life sentence.
2. This exemption is not waived by the release of such public record to another public employee or officer of the same agency or any person consulted by the agency attorney. When asserting the right to withhold a public record pursuant to this paragraph, the agency shall identify the potential parties to any such criminal or civil litigation or adversarial administrative proceedings. If a court finds that the document or other record has been improperly withheld under this paragraph, the party seeking access to such document or record shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in addition to any other remedy ordered by the court.
(e) Any videotape or video signal that, under an agreement with an agency, is produced, made, or received by, or is in the custody of, a federally licensed radio or television station or its agent is exempt from s. 119.07(1).
(f) Data processing software obtained by an agency under a licensing agreement that prohibits its disclosure and which software is a trade secret, as defined in s. 812.081, and agency-produced data processing software that is sensitive are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the
State Constitution. The designation of agency-produced software as sensitive does not prohibit an agency head from sharing or exchanging such software with another public agency. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2021, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
Legislature.
(g)1. United States Census Bureau address information, including maps showing structure location points, agency records that verify addresses, and agency records that identify address errors or omissions, which is held by an agency pursuant to the Local Update of Census Addresses Program authorized under 13 U.S.C. s. 16, is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
2. Such information may be released to another agency or governmental entity in the furtherance of its duties and responsibilities under the Local Update of Census Addresses Program.
3. An agency performing duties and responsibilities under the Local Update of Census Addresses
Program shall have access to any other confidential or exempt information held by another agency if such access is necessary in order to perform its duties and responsibilities under the program.
4. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with
s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed October 2, 2023, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0000-0099/0027/Sections/0027.7001.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.07.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0800-0899/0812/Sections/0812.081.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.07.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.15.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.07.html http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0119/Sections/0119.15.html
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