Title: Pub. Rec./Forensic Behavioral Health Evaluations

Summary: Provides exemption from public records requirements for forensic behavioral health evaluation filed with court; provides for retroactive applicability; provides statement of public necessity.

Full Text:
An act relating to public records; creating s. 916.1065, F.S.; providing a definition; providing an exemption from public records requirements for a forensic behavioral health evaluation filed with a court; providing for retroactive applicability; providing a statement of public necessity; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Sectio n916.1065, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 916.1065 Confidentiality of forensic behavioral health evaluations.-(1) As used in this section, the term "forensic behavioral health evaluation" means any record, including supporting documentation, derived from a competency, substance abuse, psychosexual, psychological, psychiatric, psychosocial, cognitive impairment, sanity, or other mental health evaluation of an individual. (2) A forensic behavioral health evaluation filed with the court under th is chapter is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. (3) The exemption in this section applies to forensic behavioral health evaluations filed with a court before, on, or CS/CS/HB 2014 after the effective date of thi ssection. Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public necessity that forensic behavioral health evaluations filed with the court pursuant to chapter 916, Florida Statutes, be made confidential and exempt from disclosure under s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. The personal health of an individual and the treatment he or she receives are intensely private matters. An individual's forensic behavioral health evaluation should not be made public mere ly because it is filed with the court. Protecting forensic behavioral health evaluations is necessary to consistently protect the health care privacy rights of all persons. Making these evaluations confidential and exempt will protect information of a sens itive personal nature, the release of which would cause unwarranted damage to the reputation of an individual. Further, the knowledge that sensitive personal information is subject to disclosure could have a chilling effect on mental health experts who con duct the evaluations for use by the court. Therefore, making these evaluations confidential and exempt allows courts to effectively and efficiently make decisions relating to the competency of individuals who interact with the state courts system. Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.