Supreme Court of Florida

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No. SC2024-0059

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IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULE OF GENERAL 

PRACTICE AND JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION 2.420.

February 8, 2024

PER CURIAM.

In response to recent legislation, The Florida Bar’s Rules of

General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee 

(Committee) has filed a “fast-track” report proposing an amendment 

to Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 

2.420 (Public Access to and Protection of Judicial Branch Records).1 

The Board of Governors of The Florida Bar unanimously approved 

the Committee’s proposal. The Committee did not publish its 

proposal before filing it with the Court. 

After considering the Committee’s proposal and the relevant 

legislation, we add, as proposed by the Committee, subdivision (xxv) 

1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.; see 

also Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.140(e).
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to rule 2.420(d)(1)(B), providing that petitions, pleadings, and 

related documents filed for human trafficking victim expunction

under section 943.0583, Florida Statutes, must be maintained by 

the clerk of court as confidential information. The recent statutory 

change, effective July 1, 2023, provides that such filings are 

confidential and exempt from section 119.07, Florida Statutes, and 

article I, section 24(a) of the Florida Constitution. See ch. 2023-84, 

§ 1, Laws of Fla.

In addition, as proposed by the Committee, revisions are made 

throughout the subject rule to simplify language consistent with In 

re Guidelines for Rules Submissions, Florida Administrative Order 

No. AOSC22-78 (Fla. Oct. 24, 2022).

Accordingly, the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial 

Administration are amended as reflected in the appendix to this 

opinion. New language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are 

indicated by struck-through type. The amendments shall take 

effect immediately upon the release of this opinion. Because the 

amendments were not published for comment prior to their 
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adoption, interested persons shall have seventy-five days from the 

date of this opinion in which to file comments with the Court.2

It is so ordered.

MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, COURIEL, GROSSHANS, 

FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur.

THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER 

THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.

Original Proceeding – Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial 

Administration

Kristin A. Norse, Chair, Rules of General Practice and Judicial 

Administration Committee, Tampa, Florida, Joshua E. Doyle, 

2. All comments must be filed with the Court on or before 

April 23, 2024, with a certificate of service verifying that a copy has 

been served on the Committee Chair, Kristin Ann Norse, Kynes, 

Markman & Felman, P.A., P.O. Box 3396, Tampa, Florida 33601-

3396, knorse@kmf-law.com, and on the Bar Staff Liaison to the 

Committee, Kelly Noel Smith, 651 East Jefferson Street, 

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300, rules@floridabar.org, as well as a 

separate request for oral argument if the person filing the comment 

wishes to participate in oral argument, which may be scheduled in 

this case. The Committee Chair has until May 14, 2024, to file a 

response to any comments filed with the Court. If filed by an 

attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar, the comment must 

be electronically filed via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal (Portal). 

If filed by a nonlawyer or a lawyer not licensed to practice in 

Florida, the comment may be, but is not required to be, filed via the 

Portal. Any person unable to submit a comment electronically must 

mail or hand-deliver the originally signed comment to the Florida 

Supreme Court, Office of the Clerk, 500 South Duval Street, 

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1927.
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Executive Director, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida, and Kelly 

Noel Smith, Staff Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner
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APPENDIX

RULE 2.420. PUBLIC ACCESS TO AND PROTECTION OF 

JUDICIAL BRANCH RECORDS

(a)-(b) [no change]

(c) Confidential and Exempt Records. 

(1)-(8) [no change]

(9) Any court record determined to be confidential in 

case decision or court rule on the grounds that:

(A) [no change]

(B) the degree, duration, and manner of 

confidentiality ordered by the court shallmust be no broader than 

necessary to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c)(9)(A); 

and

 (C) [no change]

(10) [no change]

(d) Procedures for Determining Confidentiality of Court 

Records.

(1) Except as provided in this subdivision, the clerk of 

the court must designate and maintain the confidentiality of any 

information contained within a court record that is described in this 

subdivision.

(A) The clerk of the court must maintain as 

confidential information described by any of subdivisions (c)(1) 

through (c)(6) of this rule;.

(B) Except as provided by court order, the clerk of 

the court must maintain as confidential information subject to 
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subdivision (c)(7) or (c)(8) of this rule that is currently confidential 

or exempt from section 119.07, Florida Statutes, and article I, 

section 24(a) of the Florida Constitution as specifically stated in any 

of the following statutes or as they may be amended or renumbered:

(i)-(xxiv) [no change]

(xxv) Petitions, pleadings, and related 

documents for human trafficking victim expunction. § 

943.0583(12)(a), Fla. Stat. 

(C) [no change]

(2)-(5) [no change]

(e)-(m) [no change]

Committee Note & Court Commentary

[no change]

Appendix to Rule 2.420

[no change]