Florida Statute 11.0431 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title III
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH; COMMISSIONS

Chapter 11
LEGISLATIVE ORGANIZATION, PROCEDURES, AND STAFFING

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11.0431 Legislative records; intent of legislation; exemption from public disclosure.—

(1) It is the policy of the Legislature that every person has the right to inspect and copy records of the Senate and the House of Representatives received in connection with the official business of the Legislature as provided for by the constitution of this state. To that end, public records shall be open to personal inspection and copying at reasonable times except when specific public necessity justifies that public records be exempt from such inspection and copying.

(2) The following public records are exempt from inspection and copying:

(a) Records, or information contained therein, held by the legislative branch of government which, if held by an agency as defined in s. 119.011, or any other unit of government, would be confidential or exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1), or otherwise exempt from public disclosure, and records or information of the same type held by the Legislature.

(b) A formal complaint about a member or officer of the Legislature or about a lobbyist and the records relating to the complaint, until the complaint is dismissed, a determination as to probable cause has been made, a determination that there are sufficient grounds for review has been made and no probable cause panel is to be appointed, or the respondent has requested in writing that the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives make public the complaint or other records relating to the complaint, whichever occurs first.

(c) A legislatively produced draft, and a legislative request for a draft, of a bill, resolution, memorial, or legislative rule, and an amendment thereto, which is not provided to any person other than the member or members who requested the draft, an employee of the Legislature, a member of the Legislature who is a supervisor of the legislative employee, a contract employee or consultant retained by the Legislature, or an officer of the Legislature.

(d) A draft of a bill analysis or fiscal note until the bill analysis or fiscal note is provided to a person other than an employee of the Legislature, a contract employee or consultant retained by the Legislature, or an officer of the Legislature.

(e) A draft, and a request for a draft, of a reapportionment plan or redistricting plan and an amendment thereto. Any supporting documents associated with such plan or amendment until a bill implementing the plan, or the amendment, is filed.

(f) Records prepared for or used in executive sessions of the Senate until 10 years after the date on which the executive session was held.

(g) Portions of records of former legislative investigating committees whose records are sealed or confidential as of June 30, 1993, which may reveal the identity of any witness, any person who was a subject of the inquiry, or any person referred to in testimony, documents, or evidence retained in the committee’s records; however, this exemption does not apply to a member of the committee, its staff, or any public official who was not a subject of the inquiry.

(h) Requests by members for an advisory opinion concerning the application of the rules of either house pertaining to ethics, unless the member requesting the opinion authorizes in writing the release of such information. All advisory opinions shall be open to inspection except that the identity of the member shall not be disclosed in the opinion unless the member requesting the opinion authorizes in writing the release of such information.

(i) Portions of correspondence held by the legislative branch which, if disclosed, would reveal: information otherwise exempt from disclosure by law; an individual’s medical treatment, history, or condition; the identity or location of an individual if there is a substantial likelihood that releasing such information would jeopardize the health or safety of that individual; or information regarding physical abuse, child abuse, spouse abuse, or abuse of the elderly.

(3) Any record created prior to July 1, 1993, which was not available to the public from the house, commission, committee, or office of the legislative branch that created the record, is exempt from inspection and copying until July 1, 1993. Prior to July 1, 1993, the presiding officer of each house shall determine which records held by that house should remain exempt from inspection and copying. The presiding officers of both houses shall jointly determine which records held by joint committees should remain exempt from inspection and copying. No later than July 1, 1993, the presiding officers shall publish a list of records that remain exempt from inspection and copying.

(4) For purposes of this section, “public record” means all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by the legislative branch.

(5) Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the authority of each house of the Legislature to adopt rules pursuant to s. 24, Art. I of the State Constitution.

History.—s. 1, ch. 93-405.

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Amendments to 11.0431

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 11.0431

Total Results: 3 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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League of Women Voters v. Florida House of Representatives, 132 So. 3d 135 (Fla. 2013).

Cited 7 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2013 WL 6570903

...camera, with explanatory testimony as to their nature and how they compare or contrast with the plan ultimately adopted. We agree that the first issue to be decided is whether the draft plans fall within the scope of the public records exemption in section 11.0431(2)(e), Florida Statutes (2012), and that this exemption should be strictly construed in favor of disclosure....

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Media Gen. Operation, Inc. v. Feeney, 849 So. 2d 3 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003).

Cited 2 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2003 WL 366762

...y without redaction. We hold that under the circumstances of this case, appellants are entitled to receipt of the redacted phone numbers for those designated as public calls, but are not entitled to receipt of the redacted private calls, pursuant to section 11.0431, Florida Statutes (2002)....

...The Republican Party argues that the cellular phone billing records at issue are its property and arise out of the business of the Republican Party, not on behalf of a public agency, and therefore are not governed by the disclosure provisions of Art. I, § 24 of the Florida Constitution or section 11.0431, Florida Statutes....

...Constitution require disclosure of documents made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business. Id. at 846 (quoting section 119.011(1), Fla. Stat. (2000) and Art. I, § 24(a), Fla. Const.); see § 11.0431(4), Fla....

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Florida House of Representatives v. Romo, 113 So. 3d 117 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013).

Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2013 WL 2232315, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 8188

...r legislative staff member based on legislative privilege. The motion also sought to preclude the discovery of unfiled draft reapportionment maps and any related supporting documents based on legislative privilege and the public records exemption in section 11.0431(2)(e), Florida Statutes (2012)....

...ctive’] thoughts or impressions.” The trial court determined that this subjective/objective dichotomy also applied to the draft maps and supporting documents the Legislature sought to protect from discovery based on the legislative privilege and section 11.0431(2)(e)....

...pporting documents. That, however, does not end our analysis of the issue because Florida has a broad public records law pursuant to which most legislative records are open to the public for inspection and copying, see art. I, § 24(a), Fla. Const.; § 11.0431, Fla....

...mption cannot be withheld based on a claim of legislative privilege and therefore must be produced in discovery. Here, in seeking to preclude discovery of draft maps and supporting documents, the Legislature relied on the public records exemption in section 11.0431(2)(e)....

...This statute exempts the following records from public inspection and copying: A draft, and a request for a draft, of a reapportionment plan or redistricting plan and an amendment thereto. Any supporting documents associated with such plan or amendment until a bill implementing the plan, or the amendment, is filed. § 11.0431(2)(e), Fla....

...s compared to the Plan ultimately adopted by the Legislature. The court suggested that this information could be provided as part of the in camera review of any disputed documents. We agree with this analysis as far as it goes. The first sentence of section 11.0431(2)(e) exempts from public disclosure in perpetuity draft reapportionment plans, draft amendments, and requests for such drafts....

...tory exemption. Accordingly, the initial focus of the in camera review to be conducted by the trial court on remand with respect to any disputed document should be on the question of whether the document is subject to the public records exemption in section 11.0431(2)(e)....

...1.280(b)(1) (“Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter of the pending action _”) (emphasis added). Thus, even if a document falls within the scope of the public records exemption in section 11.0431(2)(e), it will have to be produced in discovery unless it falls within the scope of the legislative privilege or if a balancing of the parties’ interests weighs in favor of keeping the document confidential....

...discovery in a civil action in exceptional circumstances and where the trial court takes all precaution to ensure the confidentiality of the records”). All of that being said, it is quite possible that the scope of the public records exemption in section 11.0431(2)(e) and the legislative privilege are coextensive such that all documents that are exempt from public disclosure are likewise protected from discovery in this case....

...draft maps and supporting documents for an in camera review under the erroneous, unworkable objective/subjective dichotomy adopted by the trial court. On remand, before ordering the production of any documents withheld by the Legislature pursuant to section 11.0431(2)(e), the trial court shall conduct an in camera review to determine whether such documents fall within the scope of the public records exemption in that statute and, if so, whether the documents fall within the scope of the legislative privilege as explicated in this opinion and Expedia....