Florida Public Records Exemptions: Staying in Compliance in 2025

Staying in compliance with Florida’s public records laws protects you, your agency, and the public.

But keeping up with new exemptions—and tracking which ones have been renewed—can be tricky. Under Florida’s Open Government Sunset Review Act, exemptions must be reviewed and renewed every five years, or they expire. This means that each year’s legislative session brings a mix of new exemptions and existing ones that remain in effect.

The Florida Legislature passed several public records bills in 2024, introducing new protections for personal information, business data, and investigative records, while also renewing key exemptions set to expire.

What does this mean for your agency? Read on to find out what’s changed and what stays the same in 2025.

Disclaimer

While we’ve made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this information, we are not lawyers, and this article does not constitute legal advice.

This is not an exhaustive list or explanation of the updates to Forida legislation in 2024.
There are exceptions for outlined purposes in the cited updates.
We encourage you to consult with your attorney/legal counsel for a full interpretation of each new exemption.

PII of Certain Public Employees and Military Personnel

Public employees, military personnel, and their families face unique risks due to the nature of their work. To protect them from harassment or retaliation, Florida lawmakers have expanded exemptions for personally identifiable information (PII).

Several newly passed bills exempt the PII of these individuals and their spouses and children, including:

Home addresses
Phone numbers
Dates of birth
Photographs
Spouses’ workplaces
Names and locations of their children’s schools or daycare facilities

The relevant laws are:

CS/HB 103: Current county attorneys, assistant county attorneys, deputy county attorneys, city attorneys, assistant city attorneys, and deputy city attorneys.
CS/SB 983: Current clerks of the circuit court, deputy clerks of the circuit court, and clerk of the circuit court personnel.
SB 548: Military personnel and their families involved in sensitive roles, including Department of Defense employees with classified access and special operations service members.
CS/SB 692: Current and former Florida Gaming Control Commission members.

Information Related to of Private Individuals

Many public records contain information about private citizens, including those involved in sensitive legal or personal matters. Recent legislative updates ensure that victims of past abuses and individuals in certain programs have their information shielded from public access.

CS/CS/HB 23: Dozier/Okeechobee School Victims. Dozier School for Boys & Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program provides compensation for people who were harmed at the school mentioned. People who might have been eligible for compensation were able to submit information to the Department of Legal Affairs from September through December of 2024. Their personally identifiable information is exempt from public record under CS/CS/HB 23.
CS/CS/CS/SB 86: Hope Card Program. A Hope Card is a digital or physical, wallet-sized card provided to a person who has been issued a “final injunction for protection” against a perpetrator of domestic violence or certain other crimes. According to CS/CS/CS/SB 86, which instituted the program for the State of Florida, “Displaying the card is expected to facilitate the law enforcement response to a violation of the order.” Like most information about domestic violence cases, details about Hope Cards issued are exempt from public record under Title XLIII Chapter 741.30 in order to protect victims.
CS/CS/HB 273: Animal Adoptions. CS/CS/HB 273 exempts information about people who adopt animals from shelters or animal control agencies run by a humane society or local government. This is to prevent an animal’s previous owner from attempting to contact the new owner.
CS/CS/HB 988: My Safe Florida Home Program. Applicants to the My Safe Florida Home Program provide detailed descriptions and pictures of the inside and outside of their homes. The bill exempts most information on the application from public record, stating that making these details public record is a violation of privacy and could increase the risk of home invasions.
CS/SB 474: Suicide Victims. CS/SB 474 exempts photographs, videos, audio recordings, and autopsy reports related to a person’s suicide. Access to these records is restricted to specific surviving family members—spouse, parents (if no spouse), or adult children/siblings (if no spouse or parents).
SB 7026: Tax and Credit History. SB 7026 exempts tax return and credit history information held by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, except in an aggregated and anonymized format.
CS/HB 715: Court Program Records. CS/HB 715 exempts specified veterans’ treatment court program records and mental health court program records.

Business Data Protection

Beyond personal privacy protections, new laws also impact business data security. While transparency in government contracting is important, certain financial and business details must remain confidential to prevent fraud or unfair competition. These new exemptions protect trade secrets, financial disclosures in bidding processes, and personal information of those using fraud prevention services.

CS/CS/HB 285: Recording Notification Services. Property appraisers and clerks of court sometimes offer property owners or business owners the opportunity to receive an electronic notification if a document is recorded in official records that may concern them. This allows for faster detection of possible fraud. Under CS/CS/HB 285, the following information about the person requesting the notification is exempt from public record: Email addresses, phone numbers, personal and business names, and parcel identification numbers.
CS/HB 379: Financial Information Regarding Competitive Bidding. When bidding for a public works project, businesses must typically provide financial information showing that they are capable of carrying out the project. CS/HB 379 exempts certain financial information prospective bidders submit to an agency.
CS/HB 85: New State Banks & State Trust Companies. Setting up a new bank or trust company requires submitting information such as personal financial information, identification numbers, and business plans to the Office of Financial Regulation (OFR). CS/HB 85 exempts such information until the charter is issued.

Information Related to Investigations

Two bills establish procedures for investigating complaints. Documents related to these active investigations are exempt from public record to ensure due process and prevent interference.

HB 601 relates to complaints against law enforcement or correctional officers.
CS/CS/HB 1491 relates to complaints against social media companies regarding age verification.

Removing Scheduled Repeals

Florida’s Open Government Sunset Review Act requires each public record exemption to be reviewed five years after enactment to determine if they are still necessary. If they are not renewed, they are automatically repealed.

These exemptions were set to expire in 2024 but have been renewed. This means that there is no change in how you should handle these records.

CS/HB 7003. PII of preregistered minor (ages 16 or 17) voter registration applications
HB 7009. Court orders and related records and PII regarding mental health treatment and services, whether voluntary or involuntary.
HB 7001. All identifying information of a person reporting child abuse, abandonment, or neglect.
HB 7005. Commission on Ethics login credentials and certain information entered into the electronic filing system for financial disclosure
CS/SB 7008. Certain information held by the Florida Department of the Lottery related to the operations and processes of the department.
HB 7007. Information related to a campus emergency response plan.

Staying in Compliance with JustFOIA

Failing to comply with public records laws in Florida can lead to serious consequences:

Civil penalties up to a $500 fine for accidental violations
Suspension or removal from your position
1 year in prison or fine of up to $1000 for intentional infractions

That’s why JustFOIA offers tools to help you stay in compliance.

Redaction: Automated and manual redaction functionality helps you find and permanently remove every exemption. You can require redactions to be approved by a supervisor or legal counsel before documents are released.
Audit Logs: With detailed information about actions on a request, you have the information to prove compliance if challenged.

Want to see JustFOIA in action? Take a personalized product tour!