Opinion ID: 1581877
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: New Subdivision (d), Procedures for Determining Confidentiality of Court Records

Text: New subdivision (d), Procedures for Determining Confidentiality of Court Records, is the cornerstone of the Access Committee's work. [18] It moves Florida courts a step closer to providing the public electronic access to court records by providing a mechanism that will allow clerks of court to more readily identify confidential information that must be screened from public view. [19] It also provides a procedure to ensure that confidential information that is not automatically screened from public view by the clerk will be the subject of a determination of confidentiality by the court. In its 2005 report, the Privacy Committee recommended a plan for providing the public with electronic access to court records, but recommended that implementation of the plan be deferred until rule 2.420 could be revised to reduce the scope of records that are automatically confidential under subdivision (c)(8) of the rule and that must be identified by court clerks and screened from public view. In Recommendation Two (Scope of Confidentiality), the Privacy Committee explained: Any system of access to court records must identify and protect information that is confidential. Confidentiality of Florida court records is controlled by Florida Rule of Judicial Administration [2.420]. The Committee has concluded that subdivision (c)(8) of the rule incorporates state and federal laws, making the relevant information confidential from disclosure under the rule. The Committee recognizes that to implement an electronic access system with the capacity to identify and redact all information in court files embraced by the current rule would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible given the foreseeable resources of the judicial branch. However, it is the further view of the Committee that some of the incorporated exemptions in Florida law may be unnecessary or overly broad in the judicial context where a strong presumption of openness exists. The Committee is of the opinion that it is within the rule-making power of the Supreme Court, and not contrary to the Florida Constitution, to effectively expand public access to court records by reducing the scope of confidentiality under subdivision (c)(8) of the rule. Protections provided by other subdivisions of the rule should remain in effect. The electronic access plan set out in [the report] should be deferred pending completion of this revision process. Privacy Committee Report at 47. Because the Committee concluded that implementation of a system that allows large volumes of court records to be released electronically cannot be responsibly achieved under the current rule, it urged a review of the scope of subdivision (c)(8) of the rule and revision of the rule to narrow its application to a finite set of exemptions that are appropriate in the court context and are readily identifiable. Id. New subdivision (d) implements that recommendation. Privacy Committee Recommendation Two is based on the Committee's conclusion that subdivision (c)(8) of the rule generally absorbs Florida statutory exemptions and federal confidentialities. Privacy Committee Report at 60. In other words, the Committee determined that subdivision (c)(8) incorporates by reference statutory exemptions of Florida and federal law, making the statutory exemptions rule-based confidentialities pursuant to the grandfather clause for rules of court in Section 24(d) of the Florida Constitution. Id.; see also id. at 29-33, 60-61. [20] This interpretation of the interplay between statutory public records exemptions and the subdivision (c)(8) exceptions to the mandate that the public shall have access to all judicial branch records has been referred to as the absorption doctrine. See Admin. Order AOSC06-27 at 2. In referring Recommendation Two to the Access Committee, the Court emphasized that it has not made a decision as to whether the absorption doctrine applies. Id. In adopting a procedure for identifying and segregating confidential information in court records, we, likewise, do not decide the adsorption issue here. As the Privacy Committee noted in Recommendation Fourteen of its report, the absorption issue is better left for a proper case and controversy. See Privacy Committee Report at 60 (noting that the interplay of the statutes and the rule presents substantial legal issues requiring resolution in properly contested cases or controversies). New subdivision (d) sets forth the procedure for the clerks of court to designate court records as confidential under subdivisions (c)(1) through (c)(8) and limits the subdivision (c)(7) and (c)(8) records that must be automatically designated confidential to a finite set of nineteen statutory exemptions. It also provides a mechanism for the filer to seek a judicial determination of confidentiality as to subdivision (c)(7) and (c)(8) records that are not automatically designated confidential by the clerk. In developing the new procedures for designating court records as confidential, the Access Committee reviewed the over 1000 statutory public records exemptions and identified nineteen exemptions it determined are applicable in the context of court records and readily identifiable to clerks of court. The Access Committee refers to confidential information covered by the nineteen identified exemptions as type I information. Examples of type I information include adoption records, social security numbers, and information identifying victims of sexual offenses. New subdivision (d)(1)(B) contains the nineteen exemptions identified by the Committee, with minor revision by the Court. [21] New subdivision (d)(1) requires the clerk of court to designate and maintain as confidential information governed by existing subdivisions (c)(1) through (c)(6) and information that is confidential or exempt under a subdivision (d)(1)(B) exemption (type I information). The clerk's responsibility under the new subdivision is independent of the responsibility of the filer. Subdivision (d)(2) requires a filer to identify type I information to the clerk at the time of filing by filing a Notice of Confidential Information Within Court Filing. [22] The notice form, which is added to the end of rule 2.420, identifies the applicable provision of subdivision (d)(1)(B) and the specific location of the confidential information within the document being filed. This subdivision is in response to Privacy Committee Recommendation Seventeen, addressing the duty of the filer to identify confidential information. Privacy Committee Report at 64. Under subdivision (d)(2), the clerk of court must review the information identified by the filer to determine whether the information is facially subject to the identified provision. If the clerk determines that the information is not facially subject to the provision, the clerk must give the filer written notice of the determination and maintain the information as confidential for ten days or until the court rules on a motion to determine the confidentiality of the information, if one has been filed. New subdivision (d)(3) applies to what the Access Committee refers to as type II information, which is information that may be confidential under subdivisions (c)(7) or (c)(8), but that is not automatically confidential under the new rule. Under this subdivision, the filer of a document has a duty to determine whether type II information is contained in the document being filed. If the filer has a good faith belief the document contains confidential information, the filer must file a Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Court Records, requesting a judicial determination of confidentiality, unless the filer is the only person whose confidential information is included in the document or is the attorney representing all such persons, and a waiver of confidential status is intended. Any interested person also may request that type II information be maintained confidential by filing a motion to determine confidentiality. The Court added new subdivision (d)(4) to require a filer to give a non-party notice of certain filings involving confidential information pertaining to the non-party. Under the new subdivision, a person filing a notice of confidential information or filing a motion under the rule must give notice of the filing to an affected non-party, as defined under new subdivision (b)(5).